CHAPTER DISCUSSION Chamber of Secrets Ch. 5. The Whomping Willow

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 188791

 
> 1.  Not only Ron knows that underage wizards can use magic in case of emergency, he quotes the chapter of the law to that effect. Was Molly's home schooling that effective or does Ron really like to study more than we were lead to believe?

Annemehr:
I think I'd like to credit Fred and George, who would doubtless take pains to know every possible loophole and excuse to use magic while underage.  A bit like their father that way.

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> 2.  Is Arthur just placating Molly when he agrees not to make car invisible or is he truly afraid of her?

Annemehr:
Neither.  He'd like to make it invisible for fun, but not if it's going to upset her.  Because he likes her.

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> 3. What was your first impression of Whomping Willow? Did you expect for it to make another appearance in the series?

Annemehr:
I think I was mostly worried about the car.

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> 4. Snape implies that he would like to expel Harry. How can this be reconciled with the commitment to help Dumbledore protect Harry we saw him make in "The Prince's Tale"?

Annemehr:
I never figured that out, really.  At this point in the story, Harry is at Hogwarts because Dumbledore wants him there, and Harry will not be leaving Hogwarts unless DD wants him out, no matter what Snape or anyone says.  Now, this changes somewhat by OoP when the Ministry goes hostile and starts interfering.  Even though Harry (and DD) were entirely in the right, obviously it still took quite some effort on DD's part to get Harry through that hearing and back to school.  So I just have to think that Snape knows just how high the stakes are and is trying to impress a sense of this on Harry.

 
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> 5. "This was not the first time Snape had given Harry the impression of being able to read minds". We know now that this impression was absolutely correct. If Snape used Legilimency and knew that they indeed could not get through 9 3/4 by regular means, why does he say what he says?

Annemehr:
Snape wasn't angry at them for not going through the barrier; he was angry because they flew the car -- and were seen by Muggles.  That's really serious and could draw the Ministry in.  And as McGonagall points out a few minutes later, they had an owl, and they didn't think.  They didn't fly the car because they had to, but because they wanted to.

Yes, so did Fred and George.  But they did it with more finesse; I'm sure they took care to know what they were doing first, and they weren't seen.  Also, they didn't get caught, and they aren't Harry Potter.


Annemehr