CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 6, The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarter

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 187947

CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer's Stone
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> Chapter Six: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
<snip excellent summary>

> 1. Dumbledore seems to have left contact with Harry in the hands of Hagrid. What do you think would have happened if the Dursleys had refused to take Harry to Kings Cross? Was there a Plan B available? Being a special case, would it have made more sense to arrange to take Harry directly to Hogwarts?

Carol:
After the pig's tail incident, I doubt that the Dursleys would have caused trouble. Certainly, they didn't want Hagrid showing up on their doorstep! If Vernon had balked at taking Harry to King's Cross, I'm sure that Petunia would have spoken up and offered some argument that would have convinced him (without necessarily revealing her true motivation related to whatever was in the letter that DD left with Baby!Harry). As for a plan B, DD would certainly have come up with one if needed, but I think he knew it would not be necessary.
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> 2. It seems strange that Harry should just happen to overhear Molly mentioning Muggles and particularly strange that she should ask for the platform number considering that all three of the boys had made at least one previous trip on the Hogwarts Express. Could this be a discreet way of manipulating Harry so that he meets the "right" people on his way who will slant his thinking towards Gryffindor?

Carol:
Coincidence is common, almost routine, in the HP books. Whether it's related to Harry's luck, which is usually good, or is merely a plot device designed to get Harry where he needs to be, plausibly or not, I don't know. I don't think that Harry could have overlooked the Weasleys regardless of Molly's words--an oddly dressed mother with five red-haired kids, four of them with trunks and one with a caged owl. As for Molly's remark about Platform 9 3/4 (not strictly necessary for the plot since Harry could have followed them, anyway, and motherly Molly would have spotted him and helped him regardless), I think it's partly JKR informing a child reader unfamiliar with the WW that these people are a Wizarding family and partly just Molly preparing *Ginny* for next year, or possibly making sure that "ickle Ronnie" found his way to the train. Obviously, the Twins and Percy don't need help in that regard.
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> 3. Suppose Harry had not overheard this conversation? What then? Was there a Plan B here as well?

Carol:
As I said, I'm sure that he would have followed the Weasleys or spotted some other family that seemed out of place, especially it the kid involved was carrying a cat, a toad, or an owl. (Granted, a lot of them would be taken directly to Platform 9 3/4 by side-along Apparition, assuming that the parents knew how to reduce the trunk to manageable size, but the Muggle-borns would have arrived by taxi or car and he would have spotted someone. I rather think, though, that DD counted on his spotting the very conspicuous Weasleys.)
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> 4. When Hermione first appears, she is described as having a "bossy voice" and she seems to behave in this way when she returns to the compartment after the incident with Malfoy. What was your first impression of Hermione? Did later events confirm this for you or not?

Carol:
I didn't like her contempt for Ron's spell (even though it was pretty clearly a fake one) or her "Let's see it, then." It's possible to be a leader without being bossy, but I don't think Hermione ever learned that lesson. She just takes charge whether others want her to or not. (At least, she learns how to get along with people and develops some understanding of psychology--notably Cho's and Sirius Black's--but she'll never be a people person.
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> 5. At this point in the story, do you see the friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione taking off as it did later after the troll incident at Hallowe'en? On first reading, how would you have expected things to proceed?

Carol:
It was clear from the outset that Ron and Harry would be friends, but I don't think I expected Hermione to join in the friendship. She seemed like a secondary character, a stereotyped bossy know-it-all, as did Neville, who was just the forgetful boy who kept losing his toad.
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> 6. What do you think prompted Draco's visit to the compartment? Do you think he genuinely wanted to make a friendly contact with Harry? If not, how do you interpret the contact? If he did want to strike up a relationship, what effect do you consider Harry's rejection had? What long term implications did there seem to be at this point in time?

Carol:
Draco had, of course, already met Harry, and he was probably a bit embarrassed not to have recognized the Boy who Lived (odd that he didn't, come to think of it, considering Harry's reception in the Leaky Cauldron). Now that he knows who Harry is, he's probably curious about him and thinks it would add to his prestige to be the friend of someone famous, especially if he can make that friend one of *his* gang and introduce him to the WW. He's probably heard the DE speculations that Potter must be a powerful Dark Wizard to have defeated the Dark Lord when he, Potter, was only a baby. And his father may have talked with him and encouraged him to offer his friendship, either to be "prudent" (disguising his true loyalties) or to find out more about him. At any rate, I'm quite sure that Draco is unaware that he's a snob and a bully, taking his own behavior for granted as normal for a Pure-Blood "aristocrat," and views Harry's rejection of him (especially in favor of a Weasley) as a slap in the face. It probably motivates or at least intensifies his obnoxiousness toward Harry (and Ron) throughout the books, but he's also clearly jealous of Harry and later contemptuous of his and Ron's friendship with Hermione. Altogether, I think that Draco from the beginning is more complex than he appears to be (we glimpse his feelings in CoS), but since we see him through Harry's eyes, his emotions remain unexplored until HBP when he undergoes his own identity crisis.

Sidenote:
I find it interesting that Draco in an earlier chapter divides the WW into Us and Them, our kind and "the other kind," with "the other kind" meaning Muggle-borns. Half-Bloods are either left out of the picture or classed with Us as having Wizarding blood. (Note Lucius Malfoy's sneer at Hermione as "a girl of no Wizarding family" in CoS.) So the unknown boy in Madam Malfoy's shop (on whom he reserves judgment until he learns his surname) may not be from one the "best" families, but Draco has no objection to chatting with him about Hogwarts, Houses, and Hagrid as long as he has at least one Wizarding parent.

Carol, who can't think of any other questions for this chapter at the moment