PS Chapter Eight: "The Potions Master"
* I do feel rather sorry for Harry here. Even if his Chosen One status does get lots of things handed to him on a platter, it can’t be very nice having everybody gawp at him like an animal in a zoo.
* OK, on the one hand, I do like the idea of Hogwarts having magic doors and trick corridors and the like, as it’s rather cool in its own way. On the other hand, it’s also completely ridiculous for any real establishment which wants its pupils to be able to find their classrooms and arrive on time for their lessons. I can only suppose that this elaborate system of ways to catch you out is supposed to be character-building in some way.
* I’m not sure what Filch has really done to earn all the students’ hatred. All we see him do is (here) yell at Harry and Ron for trying to get into a room they were explicitly told not to go into, and (later on) yell at students for leaving mess in the corridors. Really he ought to be nothing more than a minor annoyance, and he certainly shouldn’t be described as “[e]ven worse than Peeves”.
* Incidentally, and as with the magic stairs, I can only suppose that Dumbledore lets Peeves stay because he thinks being assaulted by a ghost builds young students’ character.
* “There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.” Unfortunately for the interestingness of Rowling’s world-building, this statement turns out to mean “There were lots of subjects on the Hogwarts curriculum which didn’t require the use of a wand,” rather than “Wand-based magic required a lot more than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.”
* Not sure why students need to study astronomy from their first year, given that they never seem to use it for anything. It would be one thing (and also rather cool) if certain spells worked better or worse depending on the conjunctions of the planets, and it was important to keep track of this so that you didn’t try using the wrong spell at the wrong time, but as it is wizarding astronomy seems to consist of nothing more than simply looking through a telescope and drawing what you see.
* Maybe I’m just a history geek, but I always thought history of magic sounded like a rather fun topic.
* I can’t help but think that squealing in excitement and falling off his pile of books would cost Flitwick quite a lot of respect IRL. As he’s fanboying over Harry, though, I suppose everybody gives him a pass.
* McGonagall changes her desk into a pig and back again, both continuing the long tradition of wizarding cruelty and making me wonder why these selfish gits haven’t done anything to help solve world hunger yet.
* Defence against the dark arts is “[t]he class everyone had really be looking forward to”. If it were me I’d be looking forward to every class, ’cause I’d be in a frigging magic school learning how to cast magic spells. Even if this is all dull and familiar to the pureblood kids, I feel that the muggle-raised children ought to be more excited.
* Not sure why Quirrell’s turban has to smell of garlic... Is he worried that people will smell Voldemort or something? Or is the vampire explanation actually true?
* Also, Harry doesn’t believe that Quirrell really got his turban for dealing with a zombie, because “they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well.” Sure, I mean, it’s not like somebody would put garlic in something they got as a present, right? That would just be absurd.
* Do we ever hear of the difference between zombies and inferi?
* “There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn’t have much of a head start.” Maybe Ron didn’t, but if Lucius Malfoy is anything like the pushy parent beloved of fandom, there’s no way he hasn’t already given Draco plenty of tutoring in casting spells.
* Maybe he paid Snape to do it during the school holidays, given that he and Draco apparently get on already.
* Having owls fly around during breakfast sounds quite unhygienic. Wouldn’t they just scatter droppings all over people’s food?
* After what we learn of Snape’s background in later books, I find it fun to imagine his little potions speech given in a broad Yorkshire accent.
* As I recall, this first lesson with Snape is the only time we ever see somebody giving or taking points other than in multiples of five.
* “Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown.” Or an academically mediocre seventeen-year-old, although admittedly the two can be difficult to tell apart on occasion.
* “Harry thought that none of the lessons he’d had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid.” So basically, none of his lessons had given him any more than two things to think about.
* OK, on the one hand, I do like the idea of Hogwarts having magic doors and trick corridors and the like, as it’s rather cool in its own way. On the other hand, it’s also completely ridiculous for any real establishment which wants its pupils to be able to find their classrooms and arrive on time for their lessons. I can only suppose that this elaborate system of ways to catch you out is supposed to be character-building in some way.
* I’m not sure what Filch has really done to earn all the students’ hatred. All we see him do is (here) yell at Harry and Ron for trying to get into a room they were explicitly told not to go into, and (later on) yell at students for leaving mess in the corridors. Really he ought to be nothing more than a minor annoyance, and he certainly shouldn’t be described as “[e]ven worse than Peeves”.
* Incidentally, and as with the magic stairs, I can only suppose that Dumbledore lets Peeves stay because he thinks being assaulted by a ghost builds young students’ character.
* “There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.” Unfortunately for the interestingness of Rowling’s world-building, this statement turns out to mean “There were lots of subjects on the Hogwarts curriculum which didn’t require the use of a wand,” rather than “Wand-based magic required a lot more than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.”
* Not sure why students need to study astronomy from their first year, given that they never seem to use it for anything. It would be one thing (and also rather cool) if certain spells worked better or worse depending on the conjunctions of the planets, and it was important to keep track of this so that you didn’t try using the wrong spell at the wrong time, but as it is wizarding astronomy seems to consist of nothing more than simply looking through a telescope and drawing what you see.
* Maybe I’m just a history geek, but I always thought history of magic sounded like a rather fun topic.
* I can’t help but think that squealing in excitement and falling off his pile of books would cost Flitwick quite a lot of respect IRL. As he’s fanboying over Harry, though, I suppose everybody gives him a pass.
* McGonagall changes her desk into a pig and back again, both continuing the long tradition of wizarding cruelty and making me wonder why these selfish gits haven’t done anything to help solve world hunger yet.
* Defence against the dark arts is “[t]he class everyone had really be looking forward to”. If it were me I’d be looking forward to every class, ’cause I’d be in a frigging magic school learning how to cast magic spells. Even if this is all dull and familiar to the pureblood kids, I feel that the muggle-raised children ought to be more excited.
* Not sure why Quirrell’s turban has to smell of garlic... Is he worried that people will smell Voldemort or something? Or is the vampire explanation actually true?
* Also, Harry doesn’t believe that Quirrell really got his turban for dealing with a zombie, because “they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well.” Sure, I mean, it’s not like somebody would put garlic in something they got as a present, right? That would just be absurd.
* Do we ever hear of the difference between zombies and inferi?
* “There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn’t have much of a head start.” Maybe Ron didn’t, but if Lucius Malfoy is anything like the pushy parent beloved of fandom, there’s no way he hasn’t already given Draco plenty of tutoring in casting spells.
* Maybe he paid Snape to do it during the school holidays, given that he and Draco apparently get on already.
* Having owls fly around during breakfast sounds quite unhygienic. Wouldn’t they just scatter droppings all over people’s food?
* After what we learn of Snape’s background in later books, I find it fun to imagine his little potions speech given in a broad Yorkshire accent.
* As I recall, this first lesson with Snape is the only time we ever see somebody giving or taking points other than in multiples of five.
* “Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown.” Or an academically mediocre seventeen-year-old, although admittedly the two can be difficult to tell apart on occasion.
* “Harry thought that none of the lessons he’d had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid.” So basically, none of his lessons had given him any more than two things to think about.