Philosopher's Stone Chapter Nine

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

Harry is chosen to be the Gryffindor Seeker and sneaks out at night to fight Malfoy

The Midnight Duel

 

*Harry never thought he would meet a boy he hated more than Dud – until he met Draco Malfoy.  All that has happened is that he has met Draco Malfoy nothing else!  Harry can certainly go mad with hatred on a bare minimum of provocation. 

 

*The idea of Malfoy is enough to make Harry speak “darkly,” when discussing flying.  Although Harry is totally uninterested in those around him and never ever even learns the names of all the Gryffindors in his year, he still takes in every detail of Draco’s little Munchausen stories with helicopters, just so it can drive him near crazy with hatred. 

 

*Oh shut up Finnigan, it’s obvious Harry is only interested in Malfoy!

 

*Sorry Ron, you will never be a magnet for Harry the way Malfoy is even at eleven...

 

*I got picked on for having a west ham bag (I knew and cared nothing for football - my gran had got it for me...).  Commiserations Dean.

 

*At least Neville will become more heroic than Harry is someday... still not much of a status though.

 

*And how is Hermione less provoking than Malfoy?

 

*Yes Malfoy, Dumbledore and Voldemort between them ensured Harry has no real family.  But it is your post Harry is really obsessing over.  He must stare at you with his binocular vision across the Great Hall without pause through every meal.

 

*What use is a Remembrall if you can’t remember what you’ve forgotten? :p

 

*Ah a pretext to attack Malfoy, even if it is a ropey one... aw why did that old harridan have to interfere?  I bet Harry wishes she were in plaster.  She could see Harry ready to tear out Malfoy’s throat so she interfered!  Goodness me, isn’t our designated hero a little savage?

 

*Dumblesnore is observing Harry and Malfoy and taking it all in.  At the end of this book he will draw the parallel between Draco and Harry with Snape and James Potter, without telling Harry that he, Harry, is analogous to young Snape.  Snape resented that arrogant little berk, James Potter, in part because James, like Malfoy had that indefinable air of being well cared for as a little boy - the air which Snape and Harry conspicuously lacked.  I wonder how the plot dumping old coot enjoys watching Harry and Draco as they grow older?

 

*Twenty broomsticks would indicate that there are a total of twenty Gryffindor and Slytherin first years... but it is best not to tie JKR down to any point involving numeracy.

 

*The school brooms are really no use for Quidditch.  The quality of a player in JKR’s world usually depends on how expensive their equipment is... unless they are Harry of course, but just wait for it...

 

*Madam Hooch has yellow eyes like Scrimgeour.  Ollivander has unusual eyes too.  It may have been an interesting aspect of magical phenotypes if JKR had been better at world building.

 

*Harry has an intuitive grasp on how to handle a broomstick.

 

*Right from the first, Malfoy’s failings cause Harry delight. 

 

*Malfoy laughs at Neville’s mishap.  How would Harry have reacted if Malfoy had had any mishap?

 

*Parvati and Pansy knew each other before Hogwarts it would seem, but they will very soon have severed all ties if they haven’t already done so, because of the enmity between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

 

*OK so Hermione criticises Harry for flying because it will get them all in trouble even though Malfoy is already flying... Not 100% sure how the reasoning works there, but once again she is being more provoking than Malfoy, if one were to take a purely objective view of the situation.

 

*Harry is like an idiot savant when it comes to flying a broomstick. 

 

*I’ll bet Malfoy is worried.  Harry really is prepared to knock him off his broom!

 

*In that light, Malfoy’s throwing the Remembrall to distract Harry is really in the spirit of self-preservation.

 

*I wonder what McGonagall would have said if she had been calm enough to finish her sentence?  Probably something like: “how dare you – might have broken your neck – you are a true Gryffindor!”

 

*Since Harry is new to the magical community it is a real fear for him that he might actually be chucked out for such a trivial matter as this and be consigned to Hagrid’s kind of drudgery.  Oh for the year when he can come close to disemboweling Malfoy and only get detention involving clerical work (foreshadowing...)

 

*Yes Wood, here is a new Seeker.  He has the kind of versatile talent that changes as the plot demands – the other teams will helpfully play worse so that he can win your matches in adversity.  Before we sneer at JKR’s apparent lack of writing skill, don’t forget that Frank Richards/ Charles Hamilton who inspired her, used the same device of players who had the kind of talent where opposing teams, even consisting of older boys, would play worse in order for the protagonist to be man of the match.  JKR’s take on this is let down by Quidditch being such a joke of a game.  It really draws attention to the artificiality of it all to create a position where Harry will be the only player on the team who even matters...

 

*Curiously McGonagall (or Dumblesnore) is going to get Harry a superior broom.  I suppose this is a display of favouritism on Dumbledore’s part that will make Harry more likely to commit suicide by dark wizard on Dumbledore’s orders.

 

*McGonagall remembers James Potter fondly.  Remember in 1997 we actually didn’t know that she was much older than James?  That isn’t revealed until Prisoner of Akaban.  On that topic, we also didn’t know Malfoy has silver blond hair until Prisoner of Azkaban was published either.  I actually assumed he had black hair to begin with.

 

*Fred reveals that Gryffindor hasn’t won the cup since Charlie left and in Prisoner of Azkaban JKR overreached herself by letting McGonagall say that by this time they hadn’t won for seven years... And yet Charlie is supposed to be only three years older than Percy who in Philosopher’s Stone is a fifth year... the definitive oh dear Maths.

 

*No such luck Malfoy, Harry is still at Hogwarts and will be pursuing you for years to come.  Just wait till sixth year :o

 

*I don’t know Harry, Malfoy displayed something resembling courage in the air when you were the one with supernatural flying skills who was prepared to kill him...

 

*Appease Harry, Malfoy.  Offer him the chance to kill you tonight, that will calm him down for the present.

 

*Ron explains that a second in a duel takes over if the combatant dies.  I wonder what the look on Harry’s face was that Ron noticed at that moment?  Was it a hungry sort of look?

 

*Here is someone much less welcome even than Malfoy or the twins... just gets worse and worse when trying to eat in peace, doesn’t it Ron?

 

*Hermione’s priorities are right according to the logic of Gryffindor house – recklessness and brutality are OK... as long as it doesn’t cost house points!  More of this later...

 

*Malfoy exerts a grip on Harry’s mind doesn’t he?  It can only be called pathological.  Harry can barely even remember the names of Dean, Seamus and Neville who share the dormitory, but he is now hallucinating that Malfoy’s sneering face is looming up out of the darkness...  What kind of hallucinations will he get in Half Blood Prince I wonder.  Incubi that resemble Draco seem too tame somehow...

 

*Oh great.  Hermione’s latched onto them and won’t go away.  Is this foreshadowing?

 

*I wonder how many points McGonagall gives to one of her own first years for answering Transfiguration questions correctly?

 

*The Fat Lady and Sir Cadogan really are a worse than useless idea!  Gryffindor’s entrance security is the most ridiculous out of all the houses.  They’d let a wanted fugitive in if he knew the password, but won’t admit first years who don’t... I suppose the risk must fit the ethos of Gryffindor house.

 

*Ron doesn’t know the curse of the Bogies, but I suspect Ginny has quite a precocious talent for it ;)

 

*It’s a trap.  Malfoy has arranged for Filch to be waiting for them.  Too bad little Harry is not as degenerate as his sixteen year old self who will stoop to attacking the old squib in a surreptitious manner!

 

*Eleven year old Malfoy is the best schemer in the series – except perhaps for Dumbledore.

 

*Fluffy’s door can be opened by any first year.  So all that prevents students from being eaten by the monster is Dumbledore’s weak and cryptic warning...

 

*Peeves’ loyalties shift to the Gryffindor kids at the last moment. 

 

*It wouldn’t have been so bad if Hermione had been expelled...

 

*And Harry’s worked out where the Philosopher’s Stone is hidden.  I wonder how many students in total worked it out over the course of the year?  It really doesn’t seem to be all that difficult.

Comments

[sunnyskywalker]

Since we know some wizards have non-human ancestry, the odd-colored eyes could be a clue to that. I suppose during OotP Umbridge might have been getting on Hooch's case for being part whatever while we weren't looking because we were too busy with Grawp. (Plus, the Veela!Malfoy theory, silly as it is, would somewhat explain Harry's fixation.)

If four students can whip up a map that accurately identifies people despite polyjuice, animagus transformations, etc., then I can't imagine why a thousand years of Hogwarts professors couldn't work out a similar identification system to protect the House common rooms. Unless sneaking into other Houses' common rooms is a time-honored tradition they don't want to interfere with, regardless of the risk of escaped murderers sneaking in. Or maybe JKR knew she needed Harry and Ron to get into the Slytherin common room in CoS, so the security system had to be shoddy, the end.

It would too have been bad if Hermione had been expelled! How long do you think until she figured out how to do magic the MoM couldn't trace? She already scars people for life while in school and supposedly monitored - can you imagine what she'd get up to as a rogue agent among helpless Muggles?

The other students probably figured out the PS mystery and decided it was obviously a trap, so best to let whomever was supposed to get trapped do so instead of risking the whole plan by blundering into it. Maybe Neville wasn't just worried about House points when he tried to stop them.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Neville was always the most sensible one of that lot.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

Unless sneaking into other Houses' common rooms is a time-honored tradition they don't want to interfere with, regardless of the risk of escaped murderers sneaking in.

It seems odd that, despite all the talk of house solidarity, students are forbidden from going to see their friends/girlfriends/boyfriends in other houses.

Common Rooms

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

It is possible to get into the Ravenclaw Common Room just by answering a koan. Possibly the Hufflepuff Common Room is even easier to get into. I strongly get the impressiont that only Gryffindor and Slytherin House are territorial.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

can you imagine what she'd get up to as a rogue agent among helpless Muggles?

That problem would exist with any muggle or half-blood student expelled from Hogwarts, really. Although Hermione might be more dangerous than most, given her independent study habits. It makes it seem sensible for Dumbledore to intervene to keep Hagrid at Hogwarts. He would also be much more dangerous if left to make a non-magical life for himself.

But I would guess that's one of the major functions of Azkaban. You need a place to contain people who might expose the magical world.

Hermione and expulsion

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

It would have been best if Hermione had been killed that night. It certainly would have been worse if she had been expelled than if she had been killed!

Re: Hermione and expulsion

[sunnyskywalker]

Without Hermione, Harry and Ron would have been toast pretty quickly, leaving Neville (and maybe whoever else was useful - Cedric, maybe) to take on Voldemort. We'd have been done much quicker!

Re: Hermione and expulsion

[oryx_leucoryx]

Ron and Harry get strangled by the Devil's Snare. Dumbledore finds their bodies and thinks his problems are over ....

I suppose Scabbers gets strangled too? Does Dumbledore meet Quirrell who is languishing in front of the mirror?

Re: Hermione and expulsion

[oryx_leucoryx]

Neville might be capable of seeing through Dumbledore, despite the latter's likely attempts to make him into another Harry. I doubt Neville would have been impressed if he realized how Dumbledore knew there was a basilisk on the loose and never warned the students about eye protection.

Yet another example of my shameless pro-Draco bias

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

I know that Racist!Draco seems to be received wisdom for many, but reading about his helicopter stories in this chapter, I couldn't help but think that, if one looks at his actual actions, as opposed to what JK Rowling wants us to think about him, Draco doesn't actually seem that racist, at least by wizarding standards. For a start, he seems to know more about Muggles than most other Purebloods do (he knows what helicopters are, for example, and I think he mentions ballet somewhere else in the books, which is more than the Weasleys seem to know), and it would be a bit odd for someone who thinks of Muggles as inherently inferior to bother learning about their culture. Secondly, although he calls Hermione a "Mudblood" several times, we never see him using it on anyone else IIRC, and he's never shown bullying any Muggleborns for being Muggleborn, suggesting that he dislikes Hermione personally rather than because her parents were Muggles. Finally, his attitude towards members of staff doesn't seem to be overly influenced by their family: he doesn't seem to have any problems with the part-goblin Professor Flitwick; he has a good relationship with the Squib Filch (unlike Harry, who repeatedly hexes him in front of a laughing audience); and Snape, his favourite teacher, is half-Muggle. Bearing in mind that the WW seems pretty racist in general -- even the "good" characters think of Muggles as being like children, and Hagrid uses the term "Squib" as an insult (arguably worse than "Mudblood", as Squibs have a lower status in wizarding society than Muggle-borns do, and therefore suffer more from prejudice) -- I think that Draco's attitudes towards Muggles and other races aren't particularly bad compared to other wizards'.

(Also, I'm not sure if this is the right place to raise the question, but apparently a lot of fans thought that Draco/Hermione was a likely 'ship. I never saw it myself, but I'm quite curious to know what the evidence was, and I was wondering if anyone had a link to an essay on the topic?)

Re: Yet another example of my shameless pro-Draco bias

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

Yes, Draco shows much less contempt for muggles than the muggle born Hermione does, that's for certain. He also displays significantly less contempt for non human magical creatures than Harry does.

Another ff.net member suggested that a lot of readers envisioned themself as being Hermione before the character became a monster. I expect alot of them also imagined Draco as being a young Tom Felton. Hence the ship.

Re: Yet another example of my shameless pro-Draco bias

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

He does shout "You'll be next, Mudbloods!" when the chamber is opened. But even that is 12-year-old bravado rather than genuine bigotry.

Re: Yet another example of my shameless pro-Draco bias

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

I have no link as to the Draco-Hermione shipping, but - apart from what the above posters said - off the top of my head I'd say:
- Hermione is the only girl (as far as we know) Draco ever bothers to insult, who really seems to get under his skin
the same applies to Hermione - Draco is the one to make her lose her temper (she slaps him - most uncharacteristic of her)
- Hermione's parents being dentists, going to France and skiing as well as her general behaviour suggest an at least middle class upbringing, which would make her much better suited in a posh surrounding like Malfoy Manor than amidst the chewing with open mouths Weasley clan whose vulgarity even I found off-putting while reading it and I'm certainly less prissy than Hermione comes off.
- in pre-DH-days when Draco's redemption seemed just a matter of how and when but not a matter of yes or no (nobody believed JKR was going to be as ridiculously deterministic as she turned out in the end) in combination with her obsession to pair everybody off at a very young age indeed made it necessary to come up with a suitable female for Draco - and there just weren't many to chose from: Ginny was obviously going to be the reincarnated Lily and thus Harry's girl (as disturbing as it is)- so that left Hermione and (to a lesser extent, but at least she was more than a mere extra) Luna. Following the usual trope of pairing the most dominant representative of two opposing camps (and as Draco wasn't a girl which would have resulted in him/ her being with Harry) that made Hermione the much more likely candidate for Draco.
- the "brain thing": Hermione being the brain of the trio doesn't need any explanation. Apart from her momentary transformation into Lara Croft during parts of DH even her more aggressive actions before were more of the detached rationalistic sort (e.g. cursing Marietta via a document is a much more hands-offish method than divising something like tongue-tying her as soon as she tried to blab.). The same applies for Draco: he too seems to be quite good in class, especially in Potions - even in Slughorn's class who definitly did not favour him (because he favoured someone else as we all know)he still remained one of the top students. And in CoS Lucius stresses that Draco had been bested by a Muggleborn - obviously something unexpected and it reads as if Draco was bested just by Hermione and not by half the other students as well. Draco comes up with the Potter stinks badges that change colour and reading and even if Hermione uses the protean charm first (but didn't invent it), Draco doesn't seem to have difficulties in using it as well. Just like Hermione his way of aggression is mostly verbal or distant (see his ways to try and kill dumbledore).
- Their ambition. If Slytherin is supposed to be the House of ambition, Percy certainly is not the only Gryffindor who "has been sorted too soon". Just imagine: Hermione and Draco in the Ministry, working as politicians? No big stretch. Hermione and Ron doing anything together apart from hanging onto Harry? Um, no...
So yes, I'd say there are several arguments for a Hermione/Draco ship - and hardly any for Ron-Hermione.

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

"*Harry never thought he would meet a boy he hated more than Dud – until he met Draco Malfoy. All that has happened is that he has met Draco Malfoy nothing else! Harry can certainly go mad with hatred on a bare minimum of provocation."

Odd, isn't it? Dudley spends ten years physically abusing Harry and anyone who looks close to him, thereby preventing Harry from having any real friends and removing any chance of his having a normal social life. Malfoy makes some snotty remarks about Hagrid and the Weasleys, and apparently he's worse than Dudley. Still, unrequited love can affect people in funny ways, I suppose.

Hermione's approach to flying, like her approach to everything, seems to be "Memorise as much of any relevant book as you can". She never seems to show any aptitude for original thinking, or any love of knowledge for its own sake. Perhaps JKR, who with the best will in the world doesn't give off the impression of being too bright, wanted to write a really intelligent character, but didn't quite know how to do it. Sort of like her inability to write proper romance from a male perspective. (I'm a man, I know what we're like, and we're not like Harry and the chest monster.)

"*Yes Malfoy, Dumbledore and Voldemort between them ensured Harry has no real family. But it is your post Harry is really obsessing over."

Perhaps he's just jealous that Malfoy's actually got family to send him things, which would also explain why he thinks Malfoy's opening his packages "gloatingly".

"*Dumblesnore is observing Harry and Malfoy and taking it all in. At the end of this book he will draw the parallel between Draco and Harry with Snape and James Potter, without telling Harry that he, Harry, is analogous to young Snape. Snape resented that arrogant little berk, James Potter, in part because James, like Malfoy had that indefinable air of being well cared for as a little boy - the air which Snape and Harry conspicuously lacked. I wonder how the plot dumping old coot enjoys watching Harry and Draco as they grow older?"

That's interesting, because I always thought Harry was more like James -- i.e., taking an immediate (and not entirely rational) dislike to someone and maintaining it throughout the course of his school career. The parallel becomes even stronger in HBP, when Harry goes around hexing people for fun.

"*The school brooms are really no use for Quidditch."

Because obviously, an institution where pupils sleep in four-poster beds and eat their meals off of golden plates couldn't possibly afford decent brooms. Especially not since flying a faulty, malfunctioning broom couldn't possibly be dangerous in any way.

"*Right from the first, Malfoy’s failings cause Harry delight."

That's the power of love for you.

"*Since Harry is new to the magical community it is a real fear for him that he might actually be chucked out for such a trivial matter as this and be consigned to Hagrid’s kind of drudgery."

Remember, though, that it's Malfoy and not Harry who looks down on Hagrid and thinks of him as a sort of servant.

"Oh for the year when he can come close to disemboweling Malfoy and only get detention involving clerical work (foreshadowing...)"

This reminds me of a comment somebody made in a previous discussion about how Malfoy must have been lying in the bathroom thinking "He finally did it, then..."

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

Because obviously, an institution where pupils sleep in four-poster beds and eat their meals off of golden plates couldn't possibly afford decent brooms. Especially not since flying a faulty, malfunctioning broom couldn't possibly be dangerous in any way.

Excellent point. Although in fairness, brooms would get worn and damaged through use; the wind would bend and even break bristles. Whereas the beds and plates are more durable (gold plates wouldn't break, after all), and could well be fairly old.

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

"Odd, isn't it? Dudley spends ten years physically abusing Harry and anyone who looks close to him, thereby preventing Harry from having any real friends and removing any chance of his having a normal social life. Malfoy makes some snotty remarks about Hagrid and the Weasleys, and apparently he's worse than Dudley."

It's just another "like the Muggle world but better/more extreme/more worthy of attention and thought" piece, no doubt. Dudley is only a Muggle and so couldn't possibly be meaner or more dangerous than a mean wizard, no matter what each may do to Harry.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

>the definitive oh dear Maths.<

No it isn't. Thatwas back in chapter 7 when she announced that there were only three more students to be sorted and then told us all four of their names.

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

They seem to have corrected this in my edition, as the only names mentioned are Lisa Turpin, Ron Weasley and Blaise Zabini. (Out of interest, who was the fourth?)

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

"*Curiously McGonagall (or Dumblesnore) is going to get Harry a superior broom."

Someone really should have told Rowling while she was writing this book that underdog stories only work if the underdog's got some sort of disadvantage to overcome. Fame, money and blatant favouritism from authority figures tends to ruin the effect somewhat.

"*No such luck Malfoy, Harry is still at Hogwarts and will be pursuing you for years to come. Just wait till sixth year :o"

Perhaps if Harry had been nicer towards Draco, then the latter would have joined the good side, meaning that Dumbledore might have survived. I quite like the idea of Harry's unfriendliness coming back to bite him on the backside like that. Shame the books didn't bother to examine this, instead chalking Malfoy's joining the Death Eaters up to an "infatuation with the dark arts".

"*Malfoy exerts a grip on Harry’s mind doesn’t he? It can only be called pathological."

Maybe Harry's deprived upbringing did affect his mental health after all.

"*I wonder how many points McGonagall gives to one of her own first years for answering Transfiguration questions correctly?"

Perhaps the amount of points given for certain activities are written down somewhere. Otherwise, the whole system would become pretty meaningless and arbitrary, and there'd be nothing to stop a teacher giving lots of points to their house and taking them away from the other houses for trivial things. ("Pass me that book, Potter. Good boy, thirty points to Gryffindor! Malfoy, you're waving your wand the wrong way, fifty points from Slytherin.")

"*Fluffy’s door can be opened by any first year. So all that prevents students from being eaten by the monster is Dumbledore’s weak and cryptic warning..."

Is alohamora part of the school curriculum, or is it something Hermione's been learning in her spare time? I suspect it's the latter, since I doubt Hogwarts would teach its pupils how to break into places they shouldn't be in.

I wonder what would have happened if the children had ran away and left the door open? Presumably Fluffy can't be disabled by normal magic (otherwise Quirrel wouldn't have had difficulty getting past him), so the thought of him loose in the castle isn't exactly an encouraging one.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

Is alohamora part of the school curriculum, or is it something Hermione's been learning in her spare time? I suspect it's the latter, since I doubt Hogwarts would teach its pupils how to break into places they shouldn't be in.

Well, you'd think. But this is Hogwarts. Defense Against the Dark Arts teaches a fair amount of offense -- which makes some sense, except that if this is the only school in Wizarding Britain, you could presumably decrease violence by only teaching really defensive magic like shielding charms (and probably stunning, even though that's going on the offense).

Of course, there's the argument that then only the bad, violent people would usually be able to fight agressively, because only people up to no good would go out of their way to learn how. I.e., "if guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns." But still, not everyone likes the idea of widespread gun ownership.

First year seems a bit early for something like alohamora, but I can certainly see them teaching it at some point. Probably most magic doors *are* better protected than that, and it's primarily used on Muggle locks. :-P After all, no one tries alohamora to get into the common rooms, not even Amycus.

Huh. Why didn't they put a portrait to guard that corridor? Better security, plus the portrait could report on anyone who tried to get in. I take this as definite evidence that the Stone was bait in a trap, not something that they were trying to keep away from Voldemort.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

I think the cerberus may have been chained by the trap door. But that could be from one of the do-overs.

[sunnyskywalker]

In OotP, didn't Sprout give Harry points for passing her a watering can after the Quibbler interview came out? If there is a list of points for tasks, it looks like it isn't binding.

Malfoy's Hair

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

*McGonagall remembers James Potter fondly. Remember in 1997 we actually didn’t know that she was much older than James? That isn’t revealed until Prisoner of Akaban. On that topic, we also didn’t know Malfoy has silver blond hair until Prisoner of Azkaban was published either. I actually assumed he had black hair to begin with.

Did we really not know that? I remember my nephew was quite upset that Tom Felton had blond hair, as he had imagined Malfoy being dark-haired as well. But I always thought of him as blond.

Re: Malfoy's Hair

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

I think he was described as being "pale", which could be taken to mean "blond with pale skin" or just "having pale skin".

Re: Malfoy's Hair

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

We did not have any indication at all until 1999 when Prisoner of Azkaban was first published. The fact that he had "pale skin" according to Harry is no indication whatsoever. There are people with black hair who could be described as being pale. For all we really knew he could have been red headed. We knew before the film though, that was released in about 2001, right?