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

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 188830

> CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Chapter 5: The Whomping Willow.
<snip summary>
> 
> 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?

Carol responds:
I think that Ron is like most kids: he listens selectively. If there's a loophole in the law against underage magic, he'll know it. Of course, the source of this information could very well be the Twins rather than Molly. :-)
> 
> 2.  Is Arthur just placating Molly when he agrees not to make car invisible or is he truly afraid of her?

Carol:
Interesting question. I don't think he's really afraid of her, but he does love her and he doesn't like fighting himself (unless his opponent is Lucius Malfoy!). He's probably just avoiding a scene, IMO.
> 
> 3. What was your first impression of Whomping Willow? Did you expect for it to make another appearance in the series?
> 
> 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"?

Carol:
Oh, well. "Would like to" and "will" are two different things. When he actually could have insisted on Harry's expulsion in HBP, he didn't do so. Since Snape doesn't have the authority to expel any students not in his own House, it's an empty threat, anyway. He surely knows that neither McGonagall nor Dumbledore will expel Harry in this instance. OTOH, it *is* a serious matter to breach the Statute of Secrecy, and he wants them to know that.
> 
> 
> 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?

Carol:
It's not clear just how much Snape can tell from his form of Legilimency, which isn't the violation of people's minds that we see when Voldemort enters poor old Gregorovitch's mind. But even if he knew that they couldn't get onto the platform, he certainly doesn't want them to know that he's a Legilimens or even that such a thing exists.
> 
> 6. What do you think was that "large, slimy something suspended in green liquid on a shelf behind Snape's desk?
> 
Carol:
Could be just about anything. Maybe a quintaped or even gillyweed! I don't think that it would be a snake, partly because that's the symbol of Slytherin and he wouldn't dishonor it and partly because Harry would know a snake when he saw one. I think that JKR deliberately keeps the contents of Snape's jars mysterious just as he himself is mysterious. At any rate, I'm sure that all the pickled animals and plants in his office are potential potion ingredients. He seems to enjoy research, and for all we know, he enjoys the embalming process!

Carol, who thinks this chapter is one of the most enjoyable in CoS