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

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 187986

Geoff:

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?

Potioncat:
Plan B? This is Dumbledore you're talking about. He doesn't need a Plan B. At least, I can't imagine he'd ever think he needed one.

I've always wondered how soon Hogwarts knew that Harry and Ron were not on the Express their second year and how much longer before they knew about the car. If DD knew, he seemed to content to let them continue on their own. 

If Vernon had refused to take Harry, I think he would have sent an owl, or come up with a plan on his own. He's pretty good at that.


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?

Potioncat:
I don't think it was arranged. It sounds as if the Weasleys were arriving about the same time as Harry. And it's pretty close cut if you ask me. Harry is being his resilient self, thinking about how to locate 9 3/4. So he hears "Muggles" and follows the family. When Molly asks the gate number, it sounds more like a mother quizzing a child rather than really asking the question for herself. Especially since Ginny pipes up with the answer. 



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?

Potioncat:
I'm sure I knew she would be important. I'm not sure if I expected a friendship. She could have been another antagonist, like Draco.


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?

Potioncat:
I think Draco wanted to meet the Boy Who Lived. Maybe he wanted to see for himself if this was going to a powerful Dark Wizard--and maybe he wanted to make sure they were cohorts if that was to be the case. It's a shame we never got to even see the discussion between Draco and Theo that was supposed to happen early in this book.

Geoff:
This is not intended to be a prescriptive list. If you have questions of your own which you would like to discuss, please include them in your posts.

Potioncat:
Not a question, just an observation. In this chapter, Ron is worried that he might end up in Slytherin and it sounds like a fate worse than death. It also sounds just like his nephew in a few decades.

Ron tells us the twins make good marks, I'd forgotten that. We often fault the twins for their treatment of others, but they are being very kind to a little first year, and they are the ones Molly asks to look after Ron. She doesn't ask Percy.