CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 2: Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

[willsonteam]

No: HPFGUIDX 189436


> Megan:
> 6. Anything else that caught your eye in this chapter that should be discussed?

Potioncat:
Thanks for the short summary and interesting questions. If I just answered each one, I'd only repeat what others have said. So this post is responding to the thread in general.

The section of the chapter that jumped out at me was Marge's dinner monologue which ended with the comment that Harry's father was probably a drunk.  It's the old "I'm a social drinker, he's a drunk" mentality that many people have. As for the poor puppy Marge drowned, the ratty runt of a thing--doesn't that sound like Pettigrew?

Marge's rant about Harry's blood line was uncomfortable and I felt for Petunia. Although up till this reading I always thought that Vernon and Petunia had told Marge stories about the Potters that had given her the ideas she held. I'm not sure that's supported in canon, but they must have implied  there was something wrong with Harry--we do see the Dursleys doing that in canon. In either case Petunia was in a stew of her own making. She could hardly defend a sister that she had bad-mouthed; or if she stood up for Lily, it would imply Petunia had done a bad job of raising Harry. I've never decided what Petunia really felt for Lily, but she did sit there in silence.

Marge is just like Snape, DD, McGonagall, Sirius, Slughorn and a few others. They each attributed certain of Harry's qualities to one of his parents. In some cases it was completely mistaken; in others it was right on the mark. Marge was working on misinformation, but she was right in the opposite way. It would be Lily's ability to love  and sacrifice herself that would be an important aspect  of Harry later on.

I hate to say it, but Marge's overall theory may be correct (at least in this series of books.) Do we ever see any character who isn't a lot like his parents/family? The only ones I can think of who aren't alike are Lily and Petunia. 

Potioncat