CHAPTER DISCUSSION: PS/SS 12, The Mirror of Erised

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 188449

Janelle:

1. Who did you think the Invisibility Cloak was from?

Potioncat:
I can't imagine not knowing it was DD--but I don't remember if I ever suspected it was from him--at least not until it was returned after the dragon incident.


2. Filch says that Snape asked him to inform him if anyone was prowling
the corridors at night- what did you think of this the first time you read it? Who did you think that Snape might suspect would be out of bed?

Potioncat: 
The wording really jumped out at me this time!  Filch says "You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering about at night 
" Snape responds with pronouns (it's only in TMTMNBN that anyone mentions a student being out of bed)  After all these years I think Snape was keeping a look-out for Quirrell, in the past I thought he was either always watching for students or was keeping a close watch on Harry.

3. Dumbledore says later that he didn't get the idea to use the Mirror of
Erised to hide the stone until after Harry's encounter with it- so why was it in
the school or in that classroom to begin with? What do you think is the origin
of the Mirror?

Potioncat:
Can you give the source for that? I can't find it. But it is odd that the mirror wasn't put in place until after Christmas.

4. Harry sees at least ten members of his family in the mirror. Two are
his parents, and we can assume that four are his grandparents. Who do you think
the remaining four-plus people are, and what happened to them? How could such a
large family all die so young in the wizarding world, leaving Harry alone?

Potioncat:
The mirror doesn't show the truth, it shows what you desire. It's reasonable that he would see his parents; he knows what they look like--but I think the others were from his imagination. It won't do to try to make too much sense out of the short life spans of Harry's family. He had to be an orphan so they all had to meet early ends.

5. Did you expect Ron to grow up to be Head Boy and Quidditch Captain? Do
you think he might have if events had unfolded differently and Voldemort hadn't
returned?

Potioncat:
Yes, I did think he would for a long time--especially after he made Prefect. If things had been different Harry probably would have been Best Boy, as he did become captain.

6. How did Dumbledore know that Harry had found the mirror and what Harry
and Ron had seen in it? What do you think are his ways of becoming invisible
without a cloak?

Potioncat:
I imagine he was watching to see what Harry would do with the IC. How did DD become invisible? There's the disillusionment charm (do I have that right?) and I'm sure DD knows more spells than we do.

7. Did you believe Dumbledore when he said he saw himself holding socks in
the mirror? What were your theories on what he might have seen?

Potioncat:
Yes I did, gullible me. Boy, did those socks generate a ton of theories! From a personal note, there was one Christmas that all of my husband's siblings and their children came to his mother's house for Christmas. What a crowd! She gave socks to everyone, wrapped up in surprising ways. Everyone got a big laugh out of it and I was quietly thinking that DD would be ecstatic.


8. What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised?

Potioncat:
Me, holding a pair of socks.

9. Just for fun, what do you imagine are some of the ways of getting Draco
expelled that Harry and Ron dreamed up by the Gryffindor fire?

Potioncat:
Make him think there's something curious in the Shrieking Shack and that he could get there by tricking the Whomping Willow?


Potioncat:
My question:
>From canon, after Harry tries on the IC. "I'd give anything for one of those," Ron said. "Anything." The IC is a Deathly Hallow and we know the story of the three brothers (as does Ron).  What does this tell us about Ron? What does it say about him that he isn't tempted by the Mirror?

Thanks for the discussion, Janelle!