The Great Harry Potter Re-Read of 2005
Okay, so I had planned on re-reading the first five Harry Potter books before the sixth one comes out (41-days-from-now-but-who's-counting) but I keep getting distracted by shiny objects (and manga, and crossword puzzles, and computer games, and...yeah, you get the idea) so I may not be able to get through them all. We'll see.
I have, however, finished re-reading the first book. I do mean just re-reading it, too, as this was only my second time reading it from cover to cover. When I say "re-read" in reference to a Redwall novel or Watership Down or something, it's more like re-re-re-re-re-re-read. ;)
I jotted down some thoughts as I read.
Some of these points have almost certainly been made by other people before, but the fandom is so insanely huge and active that I haven't seen them. Other times I have some vague memory of reading about a theory somewhere, but don't remember the details other than a certain plot point was discussed.
I'm not citing page numbers for these quotes because everyone's version is slightly different, but they're basically in the order they appear, broken up by chapter. I don't have comments on every chapter, so some just aren't listed.
So, without further ado...
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Philosopher's Stone
Chapter One
The TV newscaster is named Ted (no last name given) and after giving a report on the strange behavior of owls that day he "allowed himself a grin." Does he know more than he's letting on? Could this possibly be Ted Tonks? Being a Muggle with a witch for a wife would explain that grin.
From Petunia's POV James was Lily's "good-for-nothing husband." Did James do something besides simply being a wizard to earn that low opinion? Was he rude to her?
Our first impression of Dumbledore is already that of someone who knows a lot more than he's letting on, and takes mischieveous pleasure in withholding that information from others (in this case, Minerva.)
Chapter Two:
Is there any connection between Dumbledore's love of sherbet lemons and the fact that the Dursleys are forced into buying Harry a "cheap lemon ice pop" at the zoo? Okay, that's probably reaaaaaally overthinking things, but with JKR you just never know.
Mrs. Figg gives Harry "a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as thought she'd had it for several years." Her extra stash in case of Dementors? ;)
Chapter Six:
Dumbledore's chocolate frog card says he "enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling." Bowling?! o_0 Can you picture Dumbledore bowling? Is this just a wacky piece of background info or will we ever see Albus hit the lanes? Very strange.
Did Ron's spell to turn Scabbers yellow (on the train) fail because his intent and the words of the spell regarded him as a rat, which we know he isn't?
Canon note: Molly and Arthur were apparently both in Gryffindor.
Chapter Seven:
Isn't is slightly odd that the first two times Minerva MacGonagall is described, she's wearing "emerald-green" robes? She's the head of Gryffindor, not Slytherin. O_o Did she lose a bet with Snape? ;)
Chapter Nine:
Fred and George complained about the school's brooms being so old and worn that "some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high or always flew slightly to the left." All I can say is, they can't possibly be as bad as the school-issued swimsuits we had to wear in middle school. *shudder* NOT good memories.
Fred and George also speak of discovering a secret passageway out of the castle in their first week at Hogwarts. Even allowing for hyperbole on the timeline, that would make them firstyears at the time. Did they have the Marauder's Map that early? We still don't know exactly when they got it, or how they learned to use it, do we?
Chapter Eleven:
Quidditch spectators at Hogwarts have binoculars. How Mugglish. I can't remember what they used at the World Cup in book four, but weren't they some sort of enchanted binoculars?
The banner Dean and company made for Harry said "Potter For President." President of WHAT? o_0 This ain't America, kids!
Part of the game is from Ron and Hermione's POV, distinctly not Harry's. This happens again in a later Quidditich match, too. Odd! I don't recall anyone bringing that up when talking about the few exceptions to the Harry-vision POV. (The other deviations being chapter one of book one and chapter one of book four, although the latter is partly Harry's dream/vision.)
Chapter Twelve:
Draco Malfoy says, "I do feel sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He's mocking Harry, but does anyone else think it likely that Snape was once in that situation, too? If we are to assume that the yelling man in the memory glimpsed during book five's Occlumency lessons was indeed Snape's father, and that the outburst in the memory was a frequent occurance instead of an isolated incident under extreme circumstances, it's hardly a stretch to say that a young Severus might have preferred the relative solitude and quiet of the school over holidays. I wonder if Draco would have made that comment in Snape's class if he had known that. We should also remember Tom M. Riddle wishing to stay at school during holidays rather than go back to the orphanage, as seen in the flashback he showed Harry in the diary. Draco also better watch his tongue around his father's boss if he knows what's good for him. ;)
Note that this chapter also contains the infamous phrase, "said Snape silkily." *cue fainting fangirls*
Why is Hagrid forced to strain and sweat to drag the Christmas trees into the castle? Why can't someone enchant them to float inside? Why give Hagrid a hernia? o_0
Odd that the Trio have such a hard time finding any mention of Nicholas Flamel in the library. He's a real person and a rather well-known one, at that--at least to scholars of medieval history. Did someone remove all mentions of his name from the Hogwarts library? Or were Harry, Ron and Hermione really that careless (or inexperienced) that they only looked in books covering more recent history? The only books they are specifically mentioned as having skimmed through are "Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century," "Notable Magical Names of Our Time," "A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," or "Important Modern Magical Discoveries" (italics mine). My, my, but JKR is tricky... Of course Flamel wouldn't be mentioned in any of those. He was already over half a millenium old when all those books were published--hardly a "modern" figure.
When Harry's in the library in his Invisibilty Cloak and encounters "faint whispering" and the screaming book, alarm bells go off in my head. What's going on here? It's never explained. At least, not yet. The screaming book is creepy, and the whole thing is very, very mysterious. Knowing JKR I doubt it's just there for ambiance. It has to mean something...
Another hugely significant point that's revealed but never brought up again or elaborated upon is Dumbledore's admission that he doesn't need an Invisibility Cloak to become invisible. Yikes! o_0
Chapter Thirteen:
Anyone else get the sense that Snape's more angry that an eleven-year-old can outfly him on a broomstick than he was about anything to do with Quirrell and the Stone? XD Harry comes thisclose from slamming into him and potentially knocking him off his broomstick in his headlong dash for the Golden Snitch. I don't imagine that makes him feel really great about his flying skills. ;)
Chapter Sixteen:
It's probably nothing, but when Harry learns that Snape got past Hermione, presumably to go steal the Stone, and resolves to go stop him, he is described thus: "He was pale and his eyes were glittering." Glittering? Probably just artistic license, but we know there's something significant about Harry's (Lily's) eyes...
Chapter Seventeen:
Voldemort says "there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds." Always? As in, pre-10/31/1980? Did he go around possessing people before he clashed with baby Harry? We know from the battle in the Department of Mysteries that he can possess people now, even while retaining his new body, but what about before?
I recently read a very, very interesting theory that perhaps Voldemort didn't die when the killing curse backfired because he wasn't in his own body at the time, but was possessing someone else's. When the host body was destroyed he was ejected in such a way that it was impossible for him to return to his own. Interesting thought, anyway.
Also, Voldemort himself says that Lily "needn't have died." But...WHY?!?!?! That's at the heart of the entire septology, I just know it! ARG!
Especially noteworthy to a Severus/Lily shipper is the fact that Dumbledore does NOT give a definite yes-or-no answer when Harry asks him: "Quirrel said [Snape] hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?" Dumbledore replies, "Well, they did rather detest each other." Not a yes or a no, just a "Well..." and then he changes the subject by bringing up the life debt. The debt is certainly a part of why Severus and James hated each other, but the way Dumbledore skirts the question without really explaining or confirming or denying is highly suspicious to me.
Even more oddly, when Harry "tried to understand this [the life debt thing]. . . it made his head pound, so he stoppped." Is it just confusing to him, or is there a memory charm or a similar enchantment keeping him from thinking too deeply about the James vs. Severus issue? It's his head, not specifically his scar, that bothers him, you'll note. So it's a different reaction than the one he gets from Voldie-related things.
And thus end my book one ramblings. ^_^
I have, however, finished re-reading the first book. I do mean just re-reading it, too, as this was only my second time reading it from cover to cover. When I say "re-read" in reference to a Redwall novel or Watership Down or something, it's more like re-re-re-re-re-re-read. ;)
I jotted down some thoughts as I read.
Some of these points have almost certainly been made by other people before, but the fandom is so insanely huge and active that I haven't seen them. Other times I have some vague memory of reading about a theory somewhere, but don't remember the details other than a certain plot point was discussed.
I'm not citing page numbers for these quotes because everyone's version is slightly different, but they're basically in the order they appear, broken up by chapter. I don't have comments on every chapter, so some just aren't listed.
So, without further ado...
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Philosopher's Stone
Chapter One
The TV newscaster is named Ted (no last name given) and after giving a report on the strange behavior of owls that day he "allowed himself a grin." Does he know more than he's letting on? Could this possibly be Ted Tonks? Being a Muggle with a witch for a wife would explain that grin.
From Petunia's POV James was Lily's "good-for-nothing husband." Did James do something besides simply being a wizard to earn that low opinion? Was he rude to her?
Our first impression of Dumbledore is already that of someone who knows a lot more than he's letting on, and takes mischieveous pleasure in withholding that information from others (in this case, Minerva.)
Chapter Two:
Is there any connection between Dumbledore's love of sherbet lemons and the fact that the Dursleys are forced into buying Harry a "cheap lemon ice pop" at the zoo? Okay, that's probably reaaaaaally overthinking things, but with JKR you just never know.
Mrs. Figg gives Harry "a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as thought she'd had it for several years." Her extra stash in case of Dementors? ;)
Chapter Six:
Dumbledore's chocolate frog card says he "enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling." Bowling?! o_0 Can you picture Dumbledore bowling? Is this just a wacky piece of background info or will we ever see Albus hit the lanes? Very strange.
Did Ron's spell to turn Scabbers yellow (on the train) fail because his intent and the words of the spell regarded him as a rat, which we know he isn't?
Canon note: Molly and Arthur were apparently both in Gryffindor.
Chapter Seven:
Isn't is slightly odd that the first two times Minerva MacGonagall is described, she's wearing "emerald-green" robes? She's the head of Gryffindor, not Slytherin. O_o Did she lose a bet with Snape? ;)
Chapter Nine:
Fred and George complained about the school's brooms being so old and worn that "some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high or always flew slightly to the left." All I can say is, they can't possibly be as bad as the school-issued swimsuits we had to wear in middle school. *shudder* NOT good memories.
Fred and George also speak of discovering a secret passageway out of the castle in their first week at Hogwarts. Even allowing for hyperbole on the timeline, that would make them firstyears at the time. Did they have the Marauder's Map that early? We still don't know exactly when they got it, or how they learned to use it, do we?
Chapter Eleven:
Quidditch spectators at Hogwarts have binoculars. How Mugglish. I can't remember what they used at the World Cup in book four, but weren't they some sort of enchanted binoculars?
The banner Dean and company made for Harry said "Potter For President." President of WHAT? o_0 This ain't America, kids!
Part of the game is from Ron and Hermione's POV, distinctly not Harry's. This happens again in a later Quidditich match, too. Odd! I don't recall anyone bringing that up when talking about the few exceptions to the Harry-vision POV. (The other deviations being chapter one of book one and chapter one of book four, although the latter is partly Harry's dream/vision.)
Chapter Twelve:
Draco Malfoy says, "I do feel sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He's mocking Harry, but does anyone else think it likely that Snape was once in that situation, too? If we are to assume that the yelling man in the memory glimpsed during book five's Occlumency lessons was indeed Snape's father, and that the outburst in the memory was a frequent occurance instead of an isolated incident under extreme circumstances, it's hardly a stretch to say that a young Severus might have preferred the relative solitude and quiet of the school over holidays. I wonder if Draco would have made that comment in Snape's class if he had known that. We should also remember Tom M. Riddle wishing to stay at school during holidays rather than go back to the orphanage, as seen in the flashback he showed Harry in the diary. Draco also better watch his tongue around his father's boss if he knows what's good for him. ;)
Note that this chapter also contains the infamous phrase, "said Snape silkily." *cue fainting fangirls*
Why is Hagrid forced to strain and sweat to drag the Christmas trees into the castle? Why can't someone enchant them to float inside? Why give Hagrid a hernia? o_0
Odd that the Trio have such a hard time finding any mention of Nicholas Flamel in the library. He's a real person and a rather well-known one, at that--at least to scholars of medieval history. Did someone remove all mentions of his name from the Hogwarts library? Or were Harry, Ron and Hermione really that careless (or inexperienced) that they only looked in books covering more recent history? The only books they are specifically mentioned as having skimmed through are "Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century," "Notable Magical Names of Our Time," "A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," or "Important Modern Magical Discoveries" (italics mine). My, my, but JKR is tricky... Of course Flamel wouldn't be mentioned in any of those. He was already over half a millenium old when all those books were published--hardly a "modern" figure.
When Harry's in the library in his Invisibilty Cloak and encounters "faint whispering" and the screaming book, alarm bells go off in my head. What's going on here? It's never explained. At least, not yet. The screaming book is creepy, and the whole thing is very, very mysterious. Knowing JKR I doubt it's just there for ambiance. It has to mean something...
Another hugely significant point that's revealed but never brought up again or elaborated upon is Dumbledore's admission that he doesn't need an Invisibility Cloak to become invisible. Yikes! o_0
Chapter Thirteen:
Anyone else get the sense that Snape's more angry that an eleven-year-old can outfly him on a broomstick than he was about anything to do with Quirrell and the Stone? XD Harry comes thisclose from slamming into him and potentially knocking him off his broomstick in his headlong dash for the Golden Snitch. I don't imagine that makes him feel really great about his flying skills. ;)
Chapter Sixteen:
It's probably nothing, but when Harry learns that Snape got past Hermione, presumably to go steal the Stone, and resolves to go stop him, he is described thus: "He was pale and his eyes were glittering." Glittering? Probably just artistic license, but we know there's something significant about Harry's (Lily's) eyes...
Chapter Seventeen:
Voldemort says "there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds." Always? As in, pre-10/31/1980? Did he go around possessing people before he clashed with baby Harry? We know from the battle in the Department of Mysteries that he can possess people now, even while retaining his new body, but what about before?
I recently read a very, very interesting theory that perhaps Voldemort didn't die when the killing curse backfired because he wasn't in his own body at the time, but was possessing someone else's. When the host body was destroyed he was ejected in such a way that it was impossible for him to return to his own. Interesting thought, anyway.
Also, Voldemort himself says that Lily "needn't have died." But...WHY?!?!?! That's at the heart of the entire septology, I just know it! ARG!
Especially noteworthy to a Severus/Lily shipper is the fact that Dumbledore does NOT give a definite yes-or-no answer when Harry asks him: "Quirrel said [Snape] hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?" Dumbledore replies, "Well, they did rather detest each other." Not a yes or a no, just a "Well..." and then he changes the subject by bringing up the life debt. The debt is certainly a part of why Severus and James hated each other, but the way Dumbledore skirts the question without really explaining or confirming or denying is highly suspicious to me.
Even more oddly, when Harry "tried to understand this [the life debt thing]. . . it made his head pound, so he stoppped." Is it just confusing to him, or is there a memory charm or a similar enchantment keeping him from thinking too deeply about the James vs. Severus issue? It's his head, not specifically his scar, that bothers him, you'll note. So it's a different reaction than the one he gets from Voldie-related things.
And thus end my book one ramblings. ^_^