Chapter Discussion Chamber of Secrets Ch. 8 The Deathday Party

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 188988


> 2.	What was your first thought when you realized that Filch was taking Kwikspell course?

Pippin:
I thought it was  a funny parody of those ads in the back of magazines (Learn the piano instantly!) -- it didn't occur to me that Filch was magically impaired. 
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> 3.	 500th anniversary of Nick's death is one of the few dates (or is an only date?) that can help us place Harry Potter in time. And we debated the timeline many many times in the past. Do you feel that JKR made a wise decision to actually place it in time or would it have been better to let the reader place the action in time as they see fit and not give any definite dates in the book?

Pippin:
Since Grindelwald's defeat in 1945 is no coincidence, and important if we are to understand what would have happened if Voldemort hadn't been stopped, I think the dates are necessary. I wish JKR would have let someone help her with the math, since it bothers some people so much and she doesn't seem too concerned about getting them exact. But Tolkien obsessed over dates and still got them inconsistent. 

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> 4.	Would you like to go to Deathday party?

Pippin:
Whose? :) Too bad Harry's not interested in history. 

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> 5.	Obviously we know now that Draco was not Slytherin Heir, but what do you think was the reason for him saying that?

Pippin:
Draco likes being the center of attention. I don't think he thought anyone was going to suppose *he's* the heir of Slytherin. After all his ancestry is well-known. 

> 6.	Ginny is pale at the beginning of the chapter and Percy bullies her into taking the medicine. We find out later about the diary and Tom, but at this point, we don't know. Did Percy seem out of character in "bullying" her?

Pippin:
He's always bossy. But the practice of medicine is outside his authority and that qualifies it as bullying.  

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> 7.	Filch is a Squib as we know now and he is expected to clean up the messes that magical kids make all the time. Do you think it is too much to expect of him?
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Pippin:
He's able to use Magical Mess Remover. It would certainly be too much to expect him to clean up the whole castle, but apparently he's only responsible for emergency clean ups in the corridors and classrooms, maybe during the day when the Elves are busy with their cooking. The rest of the time he seems to spend patrolling for students out of bounds and contraband. 

Pippin