deathtocapslock | Philosopher's Stone Chapter Six

urbanman1984.livejournal.com posting in

On the way to Hogwarts!

Philosopher’s Stone Chapter Six

*Harry does some reading of text books for the first time. It is also the last time he does so with any kind of eagerness.

*Dud’s tail has got to be removed my non-magical means since Hagrid couldn’t be bothered to get rid of it. This is another way the Dursleys are treated differently to other muggles. Not only are they spared mind wipes, but they are given constant reminders of the existence of the magical world they would much rather forget.

*JKR had forgotten the layout of King’s Cross Station. The sign for platform 9 ¾ has been placed on a wall a short distance away from the other platforms as its location in the book is totally inconsistent with the way the real platforms are positioned. They have also bolted half a trolley to the same wall :p Makes you think you are really in the Potterverse.

*Naturally Hagrid cannot be relied on even for the simplest thing.

*The conversation Molly is having with her kids is strange. Surely she can’t have forgotten that the Hogwart’s Express leaves from platform 9 ¾ seeing as she was there the previous summer...? Perhaps she is as innumerate as JKR.

*What must it be like to have twin sons who don’t have distinct personalities? Molly must really have trouble telling them apart.

*Ron is the quintessential sidekick. It is readily apparent that he will never be the sex magnet that Malfoy will become.

*The Twins are uncharacteristically helpful in assisting Harry with the trunk. Perhaps they only become really horrible as the series develops.

*Ron immediately greases up to Harry on the grounds of his being Harry Potter. Just imagine how differently the series would have progressed if it had been Ron and not Draco who was unaware that Harry was the Boy Who Lived on first meeting him.

*Oh don’t worry Ron, in my estimation you will at least compare favourably to Fred and George in the end.

*It clearly must be a passive-aggressive gesture on Molly’s part to give Ron Charlie’s old wand.

*Why is Ron shocked that Harry can say Voldemort’s title? Surely he realises that Harry was just that awesome, even from birth?

*Again, those horrible sandwiches must also be a sign of Molly’s displeasure. She really ought to get over it. She has had her Mary Sue (to be) daughter now after all, can’t she give Ron a break for being born a boy and a stereotypical sidekick?

*Chocolate Frog cards remind me of collectable football player stickers. And they are equally dull. Still, they are the most advanced children’s recreation the magical community seems to have.

*It’s Dumblesnore. I wonder how Harry would react to the card if he had been introduced to the magical community by the Malfoys. I began an AU fanfic on that topic as a matter of fact.

*Great idea, the every flavour beans including flavours that are unpalatable. I suppose the horrible flavours must be for Gryffindors to dare each other to eat them.

*Here’s Neville, the might have been. Push off Neville, Harry Potter’s the centre of this universe.

*Ron’s spell for turning Scabbers yellow does not sound remotely like any other incantation we read in the series. I suppose the fact that Ron doesn’t realise it is a fake is an indication that he is not all that bright?

*I can imagine that I would be very much more provoked by Hermione rudely butting in and insulting me than I would have been by Draco in Diagon Alley. And surely any gruesome girl must be much more irritating by very definition than a kid who is just a bit snobbish but not actually provoking in any way? I suppose we have to infer that Draco went wrong by reminding Harry of Dud at the beginning and the rest is just in the script.

*I suppose Ron might have unwittingly strengthened Harry’s prejudice against Slytherin house had that ship not already sailed.

*It must’ve been a powerful dark wizard to get round Gringotts? Arthur seriously overestimates Gringotts security in that case.

*Ron explains the rules of Quidditch to Harry. The ensuing conversation really ought to have unfolded like the very funny excerpt from a fan fiction that another member posted on my commentary to the previous chapter. What a joke the position of Seeker makes of the entire sport!

*Enter Malfoy again. Too late Malfoy, you already reminded Harry of Dud. And you didn’t introduce him to the magical world or buy him his first birthday present so his views are set in stone. It’s no good pointing out that Hagrid is riffraff or insulting the Weasleys now.

*JKR couldn’t be bothered to write out this entire vignette in a logical fashion, so Wormtail bites Goyle and then Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle just evaporate. It is odd as JKR could not have known when writing this that her work would be made into a video game which is a medium where this kind of thing can happen.

*Oh come on can’t you see Hermione’s angling for a fight much more than Malfoy was?

*Hagrid’s in charge of the entry ceremony to Hogwarts. Whose great idea was that...?

*It is ominous to be thrust into the same boat as both Neville and Hermione.

*We’re at Hogwarts!

Current Mood: anxious

Threaded | Flat

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

Harry does some reading of text books for the first time. It is also the last time he does so with any kind of eagerness.

Well, after Halloween he has Hermione to do his studying - and thinking - for him.

The conversation Molly is having with her kids is strange. Surely she can’t have forgotten that the Hogwart’s Express leaves from platform 9 ¾ seeing as she was there the previous summer...? Perhaps she is as innumerate as JKR.

I've seen anti-Ginny/Molly/Dumbledore fans quote that dialogue as proof that Molly was in on some sort of plan to deliberately snare Harry's attention and bind him to the Weasleys. I guess that *is* possible, it's an interesting notion to explore in fan fiction. But it's also quite routine for adults to ask redundant questions to keep young children engaged or amused, and that works in this case too IMO.

The Twins are uncharacteristically helpful in assisting Harry with the trunk.

Their author knew in advance that Harry would be anointed as a fellow Gryffindor. :-)

Actually, it would have been nice to have seen the twins be more *helpful* in the series, maybe, rather than agents of mayhem purely for their own pleasure. Like they helped Harry in OotP firecall Sirius? Sort of Gryffindor Robin Hoods? But instead they even pranked their own housemates, like poor Neville.

Why is Ron shocked that Harry can say Voldemort’s title?

What bothered me is how quickly Hermione became indoctrinated into not saying the name. It's only in book 5, when she's trying to urge Harry to form the D.A., that she manages to say it, stammering and all. Which is silly, because (a) anyone muggle-raised wouldn't attach any stigma to the name, and (b) Hermione of all people would refuse to be intimidated by what is only emotional hysteria of the wizarding public. Oh, and (c) Dumbledore tells Harry (and others?) not to fear the name, and Hermione very much tried to follow the dictates of authority figures?

I suppose the fact that Ron doesn’t realise it is a fake is an indication that he is not all that bright?

Heh, that really has to be the case; he'd spent all his life around people learning and casting authentic magical spells, after all. Stupid Ron. Or silly author.

I can imagine that I would be very much more provoked by Hermione rudely butting in and insulting me --

But how did Hermione *insult* anyone? Yes, she was rude, by butting in and being bossy, but she wasn't trying to put anyone down, as Draco did?

From:

detritius.livejournal.com

*The Twins are uncharacteristically helpful in assisting Harry with the trunk. Perhaps they only become really horrible as the series develops.*

The only people who didn't become more horrible as the series developed were the actual antagonists.

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

"*It clearly must be a passive-aggressive gesture on Molly’s part to give Ron Charlie’s old wand."

Surely I can't be the only one to have noticed that the Weasleys are only ever as poor as the script wants them to be? Here, for example, and throughout Book 2, they are allegedly so poor that they cannot even afford a wand for Ron, but they never seem to have any trouble feeding and looking after Harry when he turns up to stay with them.

From:

lissa2.livejournal.com

Not a word on how annoying Ginny is in this chapter? *spits* you bring great shame and dishonor upon the DTCL name.

Just kidding.

"*The conversation Molly is having with her kids is strange. Surely she can’t have forgotten that the Hogwart’s Express leaves from platform 9 ¾ seeing as she was there the previous summer...? Perhaps she is as innumerate as JKR."

You'd think Ginny was 3 years old here: where is the train, honey? platfortm 9 3/4/? clever girl! and how does the doggy do? clever girl! and how does the horsey do?

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

The more I think about this chapter, the less difference I start to see between Ron and Malfoy. Both seem to get their views from the parents (and, in Ron's case, elder siblings), but we're obviously meant to think that Draco's all evil and prejudiced whereas Ron's open-minded and tolerant, even though that's just because Draco happened to be born into a more/differently prejudiced family, rather than any moral difference between them.

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

I note that Harry's first response to Malfoy's taunts is to threaten physical violence. And the Hat is supposed to have difficulty sorting him?

(PS, I hope you do the next chapter soon, I've been really enjoying your commentaries. :) )

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Since I have grown impatient for the next spork I'll add a few comments:

The Twins are uncharacteristically helpful in assisting Harry with the trunk. Perhaps they only become really horrible as the series develops.

Ron says of them:"Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny". Note that Ron reports 'everyone's opinion, not his own. By now the twins have already transfigured Ron's teddy bear, thus giving him lifelong arachnophobia, given him the acid pop that burnt a hole through his tongue and attempted to trick him into making an Unbreakable Vow to Fred. (Just imagine this had gone through - would Ron have died when Fred got crushed by masonry?). They also gave him a fake spell to use on Scabbers and, as Ron would find out in the following chapter, gave him incorrect and frightening information about Sorting at Hogwarts.

Well, Hagrid thought of them as funny, I think. I'm not really sure about anyone else.

But in this scene, to the twins' credit, they helped Harry before figuring out who he was, or so it appears.

Anyway, they go from getting good marks in their first two years to barely passing 3 OWLs each. It looks like they changed their priorities at some point.

*It must’ve been a powerful dark wizard to get round Gringotts? Arthur seriously overestimates Gringotts security in that case.

Like Mr Twinkle, the goblins mostly have their reputation (and that rhyme) going for them. Nobody breaks into the bank because nobody thinks it can be done.