CHAPTER DISCUSSION Chamber of Secrets Ch. 6, Gilderoy Lockhart

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 188841


> 1. What did you think of the human-like characteristics and development of the mandrakes in light of the fact that they are ground up and used in potions?
> 

Annemehr:
I remember so many past discussions about this!  When you think about it, most of us use so many plants and animals for food and "potions" (i.e. anything from medicines to make-up).  A lot of us in real life may tread the line between uneasiness at the use of animals, farm practices, etc. and the idea that carnivorousness is completely natural.

But here JKR is just pushing a traditional linkage of mandrake roots and human anatomy to the limit.  What squicks us a little is the resulting very *human* behavior they enact, and even more so that we see them as "babies" to "adolescents." 

But this is Herbology, not CoMC. In the end, they're just plants.  Any resemblance to persons real or imaginary is just...magic.

Harry had a talking mirror in his room at the Leaky Cauldron the following year.  Do you think it was a member of a union?

Annemehr