CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 9, THE MIDNIGHT DUEL

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 188289


<snip summary>
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1. Why do you think the Gryffindors are forced to do flying lessons with the Slytherins? and why is this the only time flying lessons are even mentioned?

Carol responds:

I don't think they're *forced* to have flying lessons with the Slytherins. That's just how the classes happen to be arranged (and, of course, JKR's plot requires it--she doesn't need Harry to interact with any Ravenclaws until fourth year, so she doesn't include any classes with them. We do need to meet some Hufflepuffs in second year, so she puts the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs together in Herbology). As for why the flying lessons aren't mentioned again, there's no need. Harry can already fly (a natural gift inherited from his father, apparently), so he has nothing to learn, and they've served their purpose by getting him onto the Quidditch team (about which, IMO, the less said, the better).
> 
> 2. Would you like to have a Remembrall ? Why or why not? What would you like to make sure you remember?

Carol responds:
I think that a Remembrall is pointless since it can't tell you what you're forgetting, and, if you're forgetful like Neville, you'll just forget where you've put the darn thing. What would I like to remember, besides where I put things I need (my sunglasses, at the moment, though I won't need them today)? Something that a Remembrall couldn't help me with--remembering words and names ("noun loss," as someone called it, though occasionally the forgotten word is a verb or adjective). It's annoying to younger people that I talk with who don't understand that the neurons don't fire as rapidly as they used to when you reach a certain age.
> 
> 3. Do you think Neville is naturally clumsy and somewhat scatterbrained? or do you think his grandmother had a role in that?

Carol responds:
It's hard to say. I think it might be a combination of being naturally somewhat timid (though with a seed of courage that sprouts when its needed). He's a slightly fat little boy who lacks confidence and his family's suspicion that he might be a Squib can't have helped matters, nor can Gran's constant reminders of what a great Wizard his father was. Having his father's wand, which clearly isn't suited to him and didn't "choose" him can't help, either. He makes his fear of Snape (and perhaps of Potions as a subject) altogether obvious before Snape has even noticed him by somehow melting Seamus's cauldron, and he seems almost equally inept and fearful in McGonagall's class. A modern educator would say that he lacks self-esteem; McGonagall is probably closer to the mark in saying that he lacks confidence (though her remarks in fourth year about his Switching Spells don't help). I think that his inadequacies (the wand aside) are primarily a combination of self-perception and perceptions of others, which he's internalized, but also he seems to be a late bloomer who requires some sort of crisis to bring out his courage and confidence, at which point he just does what he has to do. (I suspect that the Neville we see in DH has finally gained the confidence he needs, but that his natural modesty will prevent him from glorying in his celebrity as the killer of Nagini. I hope that he returns the Sword of Gryffindor to the headmaster's office rather than keeping it.)
> 
> 4. Malfoy chooses Crabbe as his second. If Crabbe and Goyle are both his friends, why do you think he picks Crabbe over Goyle?

Carol responds:

He has to choose one over the other to make it look as if he intends to fight the duel, and possibly Crabbe is a shade bigger and stronger (I think that's Harry's perception) or a shade meaner or smarter. Certainly, we find that it's Crabbe, not Goyle, who argues with Draco in HBP (apparently wanting to know what he's up to in the RoR if he's going to continuing masquerading as a girl) and Crabbe who goes over completely to Voldemort's side, whereas Goyle continues to mindlessly do whatever Draco tells him (and casts no Dark spells in the RoR). Maybe it's a distinction without a difference and Draco just flipped a mental coin because the choice didn't matter, but I think that JKR is hinting that they're not as (mentally) identical as they seem.
> 
> 5. Duels are written into many books and stories. More often than not, they are between a good and a bad person and they do not end on a happy note. What were your thoughts as soon as the duel was scheduled to happen? Did you think Ron, Harry, Malfoy, or even Crabbe might have died or gotten hurt?

Carol responds:
It never occurred to me that they could get hurt considering how little magic any of them knew at the time. (Harry, of course, had to survive as the hero of the series, but I didn't think about that, either.) I thought it would just be sparks flying and everyone getting in trouble because they were spotted by Filch. I was as naive as Harry in not expecting a set up.

On a sidenote, I think that this introduction to duels, followed by the short-lived Dueling Club in CoS, foreshadows the duels and fights in the later books. What I don't understand is why they would wield their wands like swords when all they need to do is fire spells at each other and parry the other person's spells. Apparently, there's a lot of weaving and dodging. With the exception of the long-distance duel (twenty feet?) in which Snape trounces Harry in HBP, the actual fights are nothing like the ritualized duels that we see briefly in CoS and to which Draco seems to be referring. Those seem to be based on Muggle duels like the one in which Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton, or on fencing matches.

Carol, noting that Movie!Snape's (and Draco's) dueling posture in CoS is absurdly backwards, an error that Book!Snape would never make