The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Discuss Chapter 5 - Chapter 7

NOTE: While this section is meant to focus on the specified chapters of this book, this read is meant for people who have already read the entire series.

As a result, unlike most of our group reads, full spoilers for the series will be allowed without spoiler tags in every discussion post.

If you haven't read some/all of the books (What's wrong with you?) proceed at your own peril.












SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE

So this is interesting: when Harry was buying his wand at Ollivander's, we hear all about his parent's wands.

James' wand was perfect for Transfiguration, which is a pretty good link considering he became an illegal Animagus in 3rd Year. Lily's, on the other hand, was partial to Charms, which I can remember reading was her speciality, along with Potions. All this in the first book.

Ollivander is another interesting minor character.

I haven't gotten to this part yet, but I believe we also find out about voldamorts wand and seeds the reasons for his search for the elder wand

I stopped right after. Yea, Ollivander mentions the twin cores.

I'll repost Dara's accidental post here:

-So we have more foreshadowing. Gringott's being the safest place to hide stuff, besides Hogwarts, which we know both places hide a horxrux.

-Quirrell isn't housing Voldemort yet. He shook hands with Harry in the Leaky Cauldron.

-I wonder if the Dursleys' "no questions" rule made Harry even more curious. He automatically asks about the You-Know-What in vault 713. Harry has a penchant for getting himself into trouble. I feel like having to hold his curiousity in for so long made him that way.

-I love the first meeting between Harry and Draco. Draco is such a pompous ass already.

-Ollivander mentions Voldemort at school. Hagrid smartly doesn't say that he and Voldemort were at Hogwarts at the same time but the thought likely crossed his mind at that moment.

-Wandlore is one of my favorite things in the series, which doesn't really get mentioned again until book 4, then explained more in 7.

-The introduction of the Weasley clan is the best. I love them all immediately.

-Every time Lee Jordan pops up, I'm gonna think POP POP! The kid who played him in the movie is now on Community as Magnitude. His catchphrase is POP POP.

The new Nimbus 2000!

Do we ever really get a full explanation how Harry gets it? Did McGonagall buy it for him, or just get it for him with his own money or something? The idea of a teacher buying a broom for a student seems wrong, even if it's for her house's team.

Presumably the Nimbus 2000 is a more expensive broom too, especially since the Malfoys buy the entire Slytheran team the 2001 models in the next book.

Poor Hufflepuff getting all kinds of picked on. Personally if I had a choice it'd be:

1. Ravenclaw
2. Hufflepuff
3. Griffendore
4. Slytheran

I like how Fred and George help Harry load his trunk before they even know who he is. Just another sign of how great the Weasely's are.

Yeah, it's never fully explained how the broom is paid for but it's almost implied that the school got it for him from McGonagal's letter and talk before he gets it.

Love the wand scene as well: the twin cores, going through so many, Ollivander talking about Voldemort in something like aw.

Also really dig how we meet Malfoy and just first know him as a tool, she doesn't name him that first scene.

Thanks, Rob. Just came here this morning to do that.

As for Houses, Pottermore put me in the house I'd want to be in: Ravenclaw. Next choices: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin.

I'm not sure exactly how the Sorting Hat works, if it senses the person's soul or abilities or both. I wonder if it saw or felt two souls in Harry or just Slytherin potential.

Dara wrote: "I'm not sure exactly how the Sorting Hat works, if it senses the person's soul or abilities or both. I wonder if it saw or felt two souls in Harry or just Slytherin potential."

I think it's a combo. I also think he probably saw Slytherin potential because of what happened with Voldemorts soul when he tried to kill Harry, kinda like how he is a parselmouth because of it. More of Voldemort coming out than Harry's own personality in my opinion

The hat has to take their opinions and family into account.

Neville could easily be in Hufflepuff, while Hermione seems to belong in Ravenclaw.

While both demonstrate they belong in Gryffindor throughout the series, I find odd Hermione wants in there and not Gryffindor. She values knowledge above all. I think her saying so feels out of character, and is only because Rowling planned for her to be with Harry and Ron.

It's a bit disappointing how bossy Rowling makes her too. She eventually develops into a great character, but initially she feels very stereotypical.

Also, Harry has his first indications of his connection to Voldemort. First the pain in his scar when Quirrel looks at him. Then his first dream where Voldemort tells him to switch to Slytherin.

Rob wrote: "Quirrell isn't housing Voldemort yet. He shook hands with Harry in the Leaky Cauldron"

If that's true, who broke into Gringotts? I thought it was him, or did they change it for the movie? Wasn't that why he was at the bar?

Rob wrote: "Rob wrote: "Quirrell isn't housing Voldemort yet. He shook hands with Harry in the Leaky Cauldron"

If that's true, who broke into Gringotts? I thought it was him, or did they change it for the mov..."

Quirrell did break into Gringotts, he was already Voldemort's servant but NOT his vessel at the time. He only started hosting him afterwards, I think his failure to recover the Stone was what made Voldemort possess him.

Ah OK. Presumably that will be explained at the end.

Yes, thanks Rab.

Chapter 5, page 70: "P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."

I have it in my head that Quirrell doesn't even shake his hand there because of the movie.

No probz. So, in one of these threads somewhere, I can't find it, there's a discussion about Hermione getting Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw.

Well, I'm at the sorting ceremony at the moment, and when they were on the train going to Hogwarts, Hermione says she hopes she gets Gryffindor because that seems to be the best house, it's also the house Dumbly-dorr was in. And the Hat takes choice into account. So that's how she got Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw.

Also, am I the only one that're hearing the actors' voices whenever a character is speaking? Considering I never watched past the 4th movie, that's a bit strange, heh.

That's exactly what I said. I wasn't asking a question, but making an observation about it. I still think it's out of character for her, at least this early series, Dumbledore or not.

Ah. Fits pretty well for me. Hermione strikes me as that sort of kid at that age. Decides she wants something and is tenacious about it.

That's not my point. I even say how she demonstrates she fits there too.

I just have trouble buying she wouldn't view Ravenclaw as better. The reasoning feels thin to me.

It's funny that in my head, the characters are almost all the actors from the movies (except Sirius and Mad-Eye) but the settings are not. The school is how I originally imagined it and the grounds, the Burrow, Ministry of Magic, etc.

At the Sorting, Harry notices that Quirrell is wearing a turban. It would only make an impression on him if Quirrell wasn't wearing one before, when they met in the Leaky Cauldron. Which meant he started wearing it after the day Gringotts was Robbed (couldn't resist). Which in turn means Voldemort only possessed him after the bungled Robbery! Seems legit to me -.-

More on the sorting hat:

It seems like most members of the family end up in the same house, but it's not always the case.

In Harry's year the Patel twins are split between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. I find it especially odd since twins are often very similar.

And of course the other big example is Sirius Black in Gryffindor when the rest of his family was in Slytherin.

Alex wrote: Is Quirrell picking up a new book on vampires so that Voldement can learn how to feed on unicorns? Or am I reading too much into this.."

I think that was just an excuse to be in Diagon Alley so he could try to steal from Gringotts.

"Grindelwald is mentioned here in the train...he becomes important later right? Something to do with the Deathly Hallows?"

Dumbledore was in love with him and they were obsessed with the Hallows.

I think this book works so well because it reinforces itself. In the last part of Chatper 6, we again saw Neville with his toad. That's been enough times now that we have that image in our head and he feels like more of a character than just someone on the side.

And here, entering Hogwarts we have "The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts."

Another, when we see the dirty sorting hat: "Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house." It immediately tells us about the hat and also builds upon Aunt Petunia's character.

Descriptions using what we already know instead of just other adjectives. The whole thing so far has been constructing a world upon a few key building blocks.

Great pick up on building characters. I hadn't noticed that before. It works so well.

I believe Grindelwald had the Elder Wand for a time before their famous duel and was doing some nasty stuff with it, which is why Dumbledore finally had to lay the smack down on him.

Excellent posts, Alex! Some really great observations. Rereads like this are so beneficial to getting a more complete idea of a story

Sweet, didnt notice that, but you're right Alex. And its exactly the sort of comparisons a child would make.

The amount of plot seeds Rowling has been planting since chapter one is crazy. Everything from the most minor of characters and objects that come into play all across the rest of the books.

Alex wrote: "Grindelwald is mentioned here in the train...he becomes important later right? Something to do with the Deathly Hallows?

"His work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel," sort of has a different ring to it now that we know Albus is gay"


Looks like Scott and Dara have the Grindelwald bit covered, which also covers your second point too.

Flamel was a working partner. It's one thing to have a wife to hide your sexuality. It's another to have the same wife for over 600 years.

As to the wand lore, Voldemort wants the elder wand because his own wand is tied to Harry's due to the twin cores which we see at the end of Goblet.

No, it's Grindelwald that he's more than friends with, like Dara already said.

Nicholas's wife is Perenelle. I personally don't think there was anything else going on there.

Hmmm, seems I've already fallen behind.

I don't know if I glossed over this the first time but the wordplay between the titles and authors names on Harry's course books made me smile.

Hmm. I must have glossed over the books. I'll have to look them up.

Ctgt wrote: "Hmmm, seems I've already fallen behind.

I don't know if I glossed over this the first time but the wordplay between the titles and authors names on Harry's course books made me smile."

Oh, thank goodness it's not just me who's fallen behind. It's always intimidating to jump into these threads that are so long already, feels like so late to the party.

I too love the book names vs. the authors. I think my favorite is either "Magical Theory" by a guy named "Waffling" or the potions book by "Jigger." :)

Books
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Ah yeah. Thanks Kristin.

Oh! Yea, that's pretty cheesy, but common for Rowling. Lets not forget Lockhart the housewife sex symbol, Lupin and Greyback the werewolves, etc.

Transfiguration and Emeric Switch... Hahahah never noticed.

Rob wrote: "The new Nimbus 2000!

Do we ever really get a full explanation how Harry gets it? Did McGonagall buy it for him, or just get it for him with his own money or something? The idea of a teacher buyin..."

I don't think it would be so strange for McGonagall to get it for him. She isn't just a random teacher but a friend of his parents and was also in the order of the phoenix with them.

That's all true, but she's also a pretty strict teacher and like I said it has to be expensive.

Yea, I don't buy into the McGonagall buying it for him either. Doesnt seem very believable, though that's clearly what Rowling was indicating.

Oh forgot to mention this earlier and I think it was in this section but Snape meeting Harry's eyes for the first time is pretty powerful considering what we now know about his relationship with Lilly. I've always wondered if that was planned or not from the beginning