CHAPDISC: PS/SS 1, The Boy Who Lived

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 187676

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "trianarose" <powerbabe7 at ...> wrote:
>
> CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone/Philosopher Stone
> 
> Chapter One, The Boy Who Lived
> 
<snip admirably concise summary>

Carol:
I'm answering these questions without having read anyone else's responses. I'll come back later and respond to the responses if I find anything interesting.
 
> 1. Why do you think Dumbledore did not want to take away Harry's scar?

Carol responds:
Because, despite his apparent skepticism regarding the Prophecy, he believes that Harry is "the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord" because the Dark Lord has "marked him as his equal" via the scar. He may not yet suspect that the scar contains a soul bit, but he knows that it marks the spot where the curse was deflected (or the AK burst out of Harry), and he may suspect that it gives Harry powers that no one else has, powers specifically related to Voldemort.

> 2. Why do you think Dumbledore just left Harry with a note, instead of actually talking to the Dursleys?

Carol responds:
Because Uncle Vernon would have shouted him off the premises and Aunt Petunia would have screamed and slammed the door in his face. This way, Petunia is confronted by a sleeping baby instead of a flamboyantly dressed old wizard. She would see the note and her curiosity would be aroused. Also, what's left of her compassion and her love for her sister, or her conscience, would force her to take in the baby, creating a binding magical contract. (Of course, if Vernon had found the baby, matters might have been different. DD might have had Mrs. Figg watching just to be sure.)

> 3. Why do you think Harry's scar was shaped like a lightning bolt?

Carol responds:
I used to think that it resembled an Eihwaz rune (protection--also associated with the yew tree and therefore with LV's wand), but now I think (thanks to JKr's interviews and the absence of any follow up to Hermione's remarks about Eihwaz and Ehwaz)that it's just a "cool" and easily distinguishable shape. Also, if the AK spell entered his skin (magically prevented from entering his skull and killing him by Lily's sacrifice), it would probably have created a jagged cut rather than a smooth one as it flew out again.

> 4. Do you think it was really necessary for Professor McGonagall to stay a cat all day?

Carol responds:
If she knew that Hagrid and DD were coming at midnight rather than during the day, she should have stayed at Hogwarts and taught her classes. Which takes us back to the "missing twenty-four hours" recently discussed on the Movie List. How did McG even know that Hagrid would be there since he apparently didn't return to Hogwarts? (I've concluded that JKR can reason from A to B but not from B to C--anyone who's read "The Daughter of Time" should recognize the allusion.)

Carol, curious to read other people's responses to these questions