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

[garqueen]

No: HPFGUIDX 188805

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" <dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:

*delurks* Hello, nice to meet you all. Thought I'd jump in, here. ;)

> 
> 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?
> 

I think Molly taught him what underage wizards are and are not allowed to do as part of her home schooling.

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

Neither. I don't think Arthur is truly afraid of her or is just placating her. Arthur may think it will go fine, but Molly feels very strongly that it won't, and that it isn't worth the risk in broad daylight. So Arthur is differing to her out of consideration of her feelings and to err on the side of caution. I think a part of him likes that she keeps him somewhat grounded.

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

I loved the Whomping Willow! I thought it added a touch of dangerous whimsy to the grounds of Hogwarts. It's such a nifty thing, that I wasn't surprised to see it make another appearance. I didn't suspect it would play quite such an important role (or contain such secrets), but I wasn't really surprised. It does seem much more ominous now, though, after all that has happened. 

> 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"?
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I personally don't believe Snape really wanted Harry expelled, in light of him being dedicated to protecting him (and despite his hatred of him). In 'The Prince's Tale' Snape says that "Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter's son safe." I think that statement is the evidence of Snape not really wanting Harry expelled. To get Harry expelled would go against Dumbledore's plan, and likely put Harry in danger since he wouldn't be getting the wizarding training that he would need to defend himself. So, I personally don't see how Snape (being a clever man) would seriously ever want Harry expelled. I think he would really *like* to to expel Harry, but realizes that he must not.

However... If you believe that Snape wanted Harry expelled, regardless... I can only think that Snape's desire to expel Harry was sincere only in the heat of the moment. He lost his temper and wanted the boys out, despite it being contrary to his promise and desire to protect Harry's life.

Personally, I think that Snape just threatened expulsion for these reasons: 
1) to impress the seriousness of the situation on them, and hopefully scare them straight
2) out of petty and vengeful spite, to scare them and stick it to them for being daredevil rule breakers, from his [Snape's] POV (like James and Sirius were)
3) to vent his anger at them for insulting him (when they said that they hoped Snape had left or was sacked and that everyone hates him...that last bit had to hurt a little)

So, one part altruistic and two parts petty, LOL.

> 
> 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?
> 

In this instance, I think Snape didn't care about why they took the car, just that they took it and were seen (and were reckless). Harry and Ron could have done something other than take the car (like send an owl, and wait, perhaps). 

Harry thought Snape was "reading his mind" about the car, not the reason for his taking it, anyway. Even if Snape was using Legilimency in this particular instance (he could have been: even though Snape had seen the newspaper article and knew about the car ahead of time, he could have Legilimensed Harry in addition), reading minds isn't like reading pages from a book, so Snape may only have gotten flashes of the truth and not the complete story from Harry's mind. IMO. 

> 6. What do you think was that "large, slimy something suspended in green liquid on a shelf behind Snape's desk?
> 

Dead magical critter (preserved a la Formaldehyde, or perhaps pickled for potion use). Snape seems a bit like Grissom (from CSI) in that he likes to collect various specimens for his office. Likely some things are also potions ingredients (maybe all of them). Perhaps Snape even has a few experiments or homemade/homegrown supplies "aging" in some of the jars. Either way, Snape probably sees the fact that they intimidate and creep the bejesus out of most people, as a positive side benefit.

- Sailor Lum