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

[jelly92784]

No: HPFGUIDX 188006

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?

Janelle:
I think that if the Dursleys would have refused to take Harry to London, he would have written to Hagrid.  If not- I'm sure that Dumbledore would be paying attention and make sure that Harry got to school one way or another.  I think that Dumbledore wanted Harry to ride the train, like someone else said, so that he could have as normal an experience as possible, and so as not to draw any special attention to him (aside from the attention he would naturally get, being who he is).


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?

Janelle:
I think that saying Dumbledore or anyone else set up Harry's meeting with the Weasleys is going too far.  I think it was just lucky that he happened to arrive at the same time as them.  As far as Molly asking what the platform number is, I like to think that was for Ginny's benefit.  Ginny is just a little girl excited/jealous about her brothers all going off to Hogwarts and wanting to be a part of it.

3. Suppose Harry had not overheard this conversation? What then? Was there a Plan B here as well?

Janelle:
I agree that Harry is a pretty smart kid- he's had to take care of himself in a lot of different situaitons in the past.  Before finding the Weasleys he was already trying to figure out what he was supposed to do- he asked people and wondered about possible magic barriers like the bricks at The Leaky Cauldron.  He would have found someone magical to help him.

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?

Janelle: I don't really remember my thoughts on first reading this part, but I think I probably would have assumed that they would all be friends, Neville included.

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? 

Janelle: I think Draco had two reasons for going into that compartment.  1: he was curious.  "The Boy Who Lived" was on the train and Draco wanted to get a look at him.  Once he realizes that this is the kid from Madam Malkins, he probably felt a bit of superiority over the other kids because he had met Harry before.  If Harry had shaken Draco's hand, Draco would have been bragging about their "close" friendship to whoever would listen.  I don't think Draco was thinking about the Dark Lord and Harry's possible dark powers- Harry was just a famous kid who would be a good connection for Draco and raise his own popularity.