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

[Jean Lamb]

No: HPFGUIDX 188484

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

--It seemed pretty obvious to me that it was from Dumbledore. Hagrid would
have given it to Harry right away if he'd had it. I can't think of any
teacher (even McGonagall) irresponsible enough to give that to an
eleven-year-old kid. 
 
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?
 
--My bet's on the twins. I'm surprised that they didn't try to make it
through the challenges myself, actually. However, Snape didn't say just
students, he said anyone, and that would include Quirrell.

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?
 
--I think that was in the same vault at Gringotts' as the Stone, and Hagrid
took them both (although it would have served the bad guys rights if they'd
taken the Mirror; they could easily have ended up trapped in its allure as
anybody at Hogwarts). I think Flamel knows a great deal about the Mirror,
too. Both would have been perfectly safe if Flamel had kept either one,
unless he and his wife have already been attacked by those looking for it. 

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?
 
--I think they are all past members of the Potter family, only from the far
past. Harry really longs for a large family like the Weasleys, so I suspect
he didn't actually care or know about any other members as long as his
parents were there as well. One hopes there are some Evans members in there,
of course--but a magical mirror might not show Muggles. 

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?

--No. He would have had to become a bit more like Percy to do so (although
if he'd known about James Potter he might have taken heart)--and he spent
several years watching the twins harass, spy on, and in general make Percy's
life a living hell for daring to be different. Ron quickly learned to go
along, and even once he was Prefect, he made a horrible job of it. Also,
even without Voldemort, Harry would have been there. Without Voldemort,
Harry would still have been a child of the Marauders. Between that and
becoming Seeker so early, the light still would have shone on Harry and not
on Ron. Ron learned early that he and Ginny should do what the twins told
them, unless they wanted to be treated like Percy. And since the twins could
not be named Co-Head-Boy, as far as I know, neither one would have liked to
split up the set. 
 
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?
 
Obviously, there are spells to make one invisible. If Snape could learn to
fly, then Dumbledore could learn spells to Disillusion himself. 

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?
 
--I think he saw Gellert Grindelwald and himself together when they were
young, along with Ariana still alive and his brother still caring for him. 

8. What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised?
 
--My son, no longer schizophrenic. 

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?
 
--Probably getting caught doing the same stuff that they plan to do <G>. 
 

Jean Lamb

Do UPS workers learn Parceltongue?

tlambs1138 at charter.net

excessivelyperky at www.fanfiction.net 

 


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