Chapter Discussion: Goblet of Fire Ch 1: The Riddle House

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 191347

Thank you, Meg, for the questions!
 
> 1. The first time you read the book, did you have a sense of the timeframe of
> the story, and therefore when "fifty years ago" would have been? Did you
> attribute any significance to that era?
>

No, I didn't think about the actual year it was, although I did connect it with the time the Chamber of Secrets was originally opened as we knew from CoS.
 
> 2. What was your initial impression of the Riddle family?
> 

Like many, it did take me a few moments to work out who the "grownup son Tom" was.  Other than that, I took them as unpleasant and standoffish; just cardboard characters really.

> 3. What or who did you think had caused their deaths?
> 

I recall I knew it was magic as I was sure the teenage boy was Tom Riddle (the younger).

> 4. The Hanged Man is a pretty awesome pub name, considering the village is
> called Little Hangleton. What is your favorite pub name that comes up in the series?
> 

Another vote for the Hog's Head.

Regarding the word hogshead, Wikipedia gives us this:

"The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes that the hogshead was first standardized by an act of Parliament in 1423, though the standards continued to vary by locality and content. For example, the OED cites an 1897 edition of Whitaker's Almanack, which specified the number of gallons of wine in a hogshead varying by type of wine: claret (presumably) 46 imperial gallons (55 US gal; 209 L), port 57 imperial gallons (68 US gal; 259 L), sherry 54 imperial gallons (65 US gal; 245 L); and Madeira 46 imperial gallons (55 US gal; 209 L)."

How's that for a nice, clear standard of measure?

> 5. Prior to the end of the chapter, did you think Frank Bryce would go on to be
> a more major character in the series?
> 

As he was a Muggle, no, I didn't.

> 6. Do you think that Voldemort tried any other spells on his family before
> killing them with the AK?
> 

No, it seemed to have happened quite quickly.

> 7. Why do you think that Voldemort chose the house as his hideout?
> 

I think most people, if rejected by their father, would have wanted nothing to do with his house.  But LV is exceptional in his need for control.  It goes with his mental illness which is commonly known as psychopathy or sociopathy but nowadays goes by some multi-worded name I can never remember.  So I could well believe it pleased him to take control of the house where he was not welcome.

> 8. Recognizing that he has no say in what Voldemort calls him, do you think that
> Peter Pettigrew likes being called Wormtail instead of his original name?
> 

Oh, I am sure LV calls him that because Wormtail hates it.

Even in his teenage Marauder days, Wormtail must have known he was not quite a full part of the group, judging by the comments he receives in Snape's Worst Memory.  Still, they were the only friends he had.  The fact that he betrayed them in the end must have rankled as confirming that he wasn't quite good enough for them after all.  Then, LV calling him by the name given him by those same friends must have been like twisting a knife in the wound.  

"Wormtail" is now a name for a useless, cowardly traitor.

> 9. In Voldemort's comment about Bertha being useless, did you think it meant that
> she was useless in questioning, or that after the questioning methods, she was
> rendered useless.
> 

The latter.  I think Barty Crouch, Jr. as much as said her mind was gone.

> 10. Do you think that Voldemort knew Frank Bryce was there all along?
> 

There is no indication he did, but I find it impossible to believe they hadn't scouted around a little and noticed the caretaker's cottage on the premises, and that it was still inhabited.

Annemehr