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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Chapter 10: Halloween
But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
Summary
Chapter Ten continues to follow Harry’s slice-of-life moments at Hogwarts while also giving him, Ron and Hermione a new adventure that bonds them and creates the unstoppable trio that will define the series. On the slice-of-life side, Harry receives his new broomstick from Professor McGonagall; the Numbus 2000 is a sleek, fast, and top of the life broomstick procured for Harry specifically for his new role on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. All the teachers have been informed of this break in the norm, to Malfoy’s horror, when the young Slytherin tries to, once again, get Harry into trouble for seemingly breaking the rules.
We are introduced to Quidditch in this chapter as Gryffindor team captain Oliver Wood explains the rules to Harry during their first training session. Qudditch is a mix of basketball and soccer and at the same time different from any other Muggle sport. A lot of times Quidditch is used to remind us that Harry is a young boy at school and is keen to do the things those other boys are doing at his age and we see in this chapter that Harry has a natural ability for flying and for Seeking.
The main crux of the chapter, however, is Halloween, which is a big deal at Hogwarts. There is a giant feast and a party that is rudely interrupted when Professor Quirrell runs into the Great Hall to announce that there is a troooooooll in the dungeon (thought you ought to know). Feeling guilty over a slight uttered toward Hermione earlier in the day, Ron and Harry set out to find their Gryffindor peer only to accidently lock the mountain troll in the bathroom with her. Realizing their error, the boys charge in and defeat the troll using teamwork, the limited magic they do know, and some good old-fashioned distraction via throwing objects at the troll’s head. Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell enter the bathroom after the troll is defeated and while McGonagall is furious with the three Gryffindors, she doesn’t punish them too severely, largely because Hermione takes most of the blame for the bathroom incident on herself. This exercise in life or death and lie Hermione told bonds Harry, Ron, and Hermione as friends forevermore.
Analysis
BFFs
I want to talk about Hermione Granger.
For much of the first book, Hermione Granger is a stuck up know-it-all. She is written as a stickler for the rules, as a teachers pet, and as someone who’s haughty demeanor does not endear her to her fellow students. In fact, we are given to understand that over the course of the first two months at Hogwarts, Hermione has not made a single friend.
“It’s no wonder no one can stand her,” he [Ron] said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, “she’s a nightmare, honestly.”
Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her face—and was startled to see that she was in tears.
“I think she heard you.”
“So?” said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. “She must’ve noticed she’s got no friends.”Hermione and Harry are often discussed together because they come from a similar background: both came from Muggle families and had no idea about the magical world or that they were witch/wizard. However, one of the biggest differences between the two is that while Harry quickly and easily made friends with his fellow students (Draco Malfoy and the other Slytherins aside), Hermione has had zero luck in making any friends.
A lot of this has to do with the way Hermione acts around others. We’ve all had experiences with a person like Hermione, someone who wants to answer all the teachers questions, has an easy time with the lessons of the day, and someone who regularly shows up her classmates. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that many of us of were quite a bit like Hermione in our own schooling—I know I was.
But is Hermione really haughty and stuck up? Is she really as condescending as she appears? I don’t think so. In spite of her former declaration to want nothing to do with Ron and Harry, she keeps popping up wherever they go. She followed them to the Midnight Duel in the previous chapter, going so far as to wait up for the boys as they sneak out. In this chapter, Hermione inserts herself into Ron and Harry’s conversation about the Numbus before being told off by Ron and, while she does it rather meanly, Hermione does attempt to give Ron a lesson in how to make the feather fly in Charms class.
At every turn, it appears more that Hermione is trying to forge a connection rather than be snotty and rude. I think what drives Hermione is neither haughtiness nor thinking herself better than anyone, but fear and loneliness. However, like many of us at such a young age, she is incapable of articulating her real issues, and instead resorts to petty and often “mean” remarks that make others dislike her.
We know precious little about Hermione’s younger years before Hogwarts, but if I had to guess, I’d say that she has always been smarter than every other student in her class and that this has made her an outcast. Her status as being ostracized from any and all social groups in the Muggle world has hurt her because at such a young age, it’s hard to understand why people won’t be friends with you simply because you are of above average intelligence. In light of not understanding why others do not like her, Hermione developed a defense mechanism to help her cope with an uneasy social status. Namely, she became what everyone assumed she was: a know it all who rubs peoples faces into the fact that she knows all the answers.
Children are mean. It’s one of those facts of life that no matter how many times adults try to intervene and explain why bullying is wrong, it keeps happening. Even Harry, someone who was bullied by Dudley for his entire life, doesn’t warm up to Hermione and, when she speaks to him and Ron in the common room early on in this chapter, he questions why she is speaking to them at all. Now, granted, Harry is more empathetic toward Hermione than others and does not seek to provoke or make fun of her outright but he still has problems liking her.
We’ve discussed previously that Hermione likely studied hard and read all her magical books over the summer because she was scared that she would be so far behind the other magically born students—much like Harry was. I think she’s still scared. I think she’s scared that she’ll get an answer wrong one day, or that she’ll fail and not be clever anymore and if she loses that, if she loses her “smart” status, then what does she have left?
Until the troll incident, Hermione has no friends and she’s cut off from the world she’s known all her life. All she has are her books and her mind. This is another part of what I mean when I say fear drives her so early on in this series; she’s scared that she won’t measure up and will lose the one thing she does have in this new magical world: her brain. Her rigorous studying, her haughty tone, and her sometimes mean nature toward others are all because she’s scared that she will not succeed.
But hey, she’s 11. We’ll cut her some slack.
Of course, Harry and Ron and Hermione bond in a most unique way. At a moment when all three could get into a world of trouble, Hermione comes to the rescue and uses that which defines her—her smarts—to get all three of them out of a jam. The idea that Hermione has read all about mountain trolls and thus thought she could handle the situation on her own makes so much sense to the three professors that they don’t even question Hermione’s lie. They know her to be clever, smart, and—because they are older and have probably figured this out about the young girl—a bit desperate for approval and accolades.
Hermione lying to the Professors clue Harry and Ron (and, indeed, us) in to the fact that there is more to Miss Ganger than meets the eye, one of the biggest themes in this first book: things are not what they appear to be.
Another Slice of Life
I want to touch briefly on a few other moments in this chapter, namely the little moments that remind us that Harry is at school just trying to become a wizard, not actively seeking to change the magical world.
Hogwarts is now home. It’s the place where Harry can finally ask questions, explore, and act like a kid. For example, Harry is a natural at Quidditch flying and being the Seeker because he’s small and quick, as Wood noted last chapter. If the Durselys had been paying even the slightest bit attention to him over the years, they’d realize that his small but quick stature could be used in several sports. Because the Dursleys never really saw Harry as anything more than an obstacle they had to endure, they denied him any chance to explore his natural talents. Hogwarts is different; the professors encourage Harry to “be all that he can be” by bending their own rules when they see how great at Quidditch he could be. This acceptance instead of rejection lends Hogwarts to being a place where Harry is comfortable and at peace.
Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realized that he’d already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had.
Potential Foreshadowing
1. Harry and Ron notice that Snape heads off to the third floor instead of the dungeons with the rest of the Professors.
2. Perhaps a bit stretchy—but Harry’s role as a Seeker in Quidditch is to essentially find that which any other person cannot find. There is also a lot we could say about the archetype of the hero being a sort of “seeker” in a cosmic sense. To add another fantasy element here, in the “Sword of Truth” series by Terry Goodkind, the main hero, Richard, has the official title of the “Seeker {of truth}.”
Conversation Questions
1. Why do you think Hermione can be a haughty know-it-all?
2. Would you have been friends with Hermione at school?
3. Do you think Hermione, Harry and Ron still would have become friends if there had never been a troll incident?
Extra Fluff Question
1. Which Quidditch position would you want to play?
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Conversation Questions
1. Why do you think Hermione can be a haughty know-it-all?
She always raises her hand to answer a teacher’s question, find every opportunity to mention “I’ve read all about it in…”, and tells Ron how to properly do magic. That attitude can easily come across as condescending, which is a natural turn off.
2. Would you have been friends with Hermione at school?
Honestly, I probably would have. I can relate to being interested in several classes, to the point where it was noticed by both teachers and fellow students. I know at least one classmate called me a “teacher’s pet”, because I was really into our Global History class, and our teacher definitely didn’t hide his enthusiasm for me. I also often have a habit of bringing up things I know about during a casual conversation.
3. Do you think Hermione, Harry and Ron still would have become friends if there had never been a troll incident?
I think eventually they would have. Either another event would have brought them together, or Harry would have felt sorry for Hermione and attempted to talk to her and get to know her better. Either way, I feel these three were always fated to be a team.
Extra Fluff Question
1. Which Quidditch position would you want to play?
I don’t think I’m quick and agile enough to be a Seeker or Chaser. I’ve never been good with a bat, so Beater would likely not be much of an option either. I guess that leaves me with Keeper.
In fact, I’d be willing to bet that many of us of were quite a bit like Hermione in our own schooling—I know I was.
Would you have been friends with Hermione at school?
Hermione has always been one of my favorite female characters. I cannot help but love her, because I sense a little bit of her in me, too. Hermione’s bookworm tendency is overcompensation. What she wants are real friends, but all she has are books; and she’s often found in the library … probably because it beats eating lunch alone. But Hermione doesn’t treasure knowledge for knowledge’s sake. What she prizes is true friendship, but it’s the one thing she’s lacked since coming to Hogwarts.
She’s clever, and she expects others around her to be as clever as she is. She is muggle-born, and she’s surrounded by her own kind for the first time in her life. It may be a surprise for Hermione that not every wizard or witch is as advanced or as enthusiastic as she is about learning. In fact, she probably figured she’d have tons in common with her fellow witches and wizards. Poor kid. She’s just so misunderstood, and most eleven-year-olds, no matter if they’re magical or not, are pretty much the same. Hermione is the exception, rather than the norm. She doesn’t dumb herself down just to fit in or to get boys to like her romantically. She just is that smart and isn’t afraid to hide it.
1. Why do you think Hermione can be a haughty know-it-all?
Well, as I wrote on the previous page, Hermione is misunderstood. She starts out a bit of a teacher’s pet, but really, she’s just wants to be accepted by her peers and her professors. She doesn’t necessarily mean to be rude; she simply wants to be admired and knowledge for Hermione is a means to an end to get what she really wants: acceptance, friendship, and belonging. She is so naturally smart that she exudes confidence, even if she’s insecure on the inside. She came to Hogwarts to find like-minded witches and wizards who’re as excited about magic as she is. She is muggle-born, so for Hermione to have gotten her owl it must’ve come as a wonderful surprise, and perhaps also a bit of a relief. Like Harry, Hermione probably had been exhibiting some odd signs like being able to make things happen when upset or scared, so for Hermione, is is so logical, having an explanation that there is a rhyme and a reason to seeming inexplicable goings-on must’ve come as a wonderful relief. Come to think of it, it’s no wonder Hermione is as enthusiastic as she is. All of the wizarding world is as totally unfamiliar to her as it is to Harry. The difference is that Hermione’s parents are really proud and supportive of Hermione (even though they’re muggles and don’t understand magic), compared to how hostile the Dursleys are to Harry when he gets his owl. Also, Hermione was probably top of her class at muggle school, so it’s probably little surprise that she’s top of her class at wizarding school.
Hermione lying to the Professors clue Harry and Ron (and, indeed, us) in to the fact that there is more to Miss Ganger than meets the eye, one of the biggest themes in this first book: things are not what they appear to be.
This gets at the heart of what I was alluding to yesterday: what Hermione desires most of all is real friendship and courage (the things she admires most about Harry). Hermione actually lies to three Hogwarts professors — something that goes against every fiber of her rule-following tendencies so far — to get her newfound friends off of the hook after they save her life. What Hermione has been craving ever since she got to Hogwarts, perhaps even her entire life, is authentic friendship. Here are the two boys she’s been following about and secretly longing to befriend, coming to her rescue! What girl wouldn’t stick up for her boys after they risk their lives to help her? How gallant, how true, and how brave — all the traits of real Gryffindors and real friends. Hermione finally belongs to a group of friends who’d actually do anything for her. “There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” Hermione already saved the boys once from Filch and as we’ll see, Hermione is a very useful friend to have indeed.
Do you think Hermione, Harry and Ron still would have become friends if there had never been a troll incident?
Probably not. I think that it took a life-or-death incident to bring about that particular trio becoming friends. It’s possible that Hermione might’ve eventually gotten through to Harry and Ron, but I think it took her lying to the professors to cover for Harry and Ron after they saved her life that led to their friendship. Prior to that, Ron and Harry both saw Hermione a rule-following tattle tale. Likewise, Hermione wasn’t willing to bend a rule for anyone until she learned what true friendship is as a direct result of nearly being eaten and then saved from that troll. Harry and Ron stepped up to the plate for her, and that was why she bent the rules then to get them out of a jam.
Which Quidditch position would you want to play?
Probably keeper.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
does everyone agree that Draco is worse?
*poofs in* Hmmmm…. That is really interesting. I actually would say Dudley is worse than Draco.
Now the thing about both of them is that they are pretty similar, spoiled little brats accustomed to having their way and getting anything they wish from mommy *cough* excuse me, I mean mummy and daddy. They both see Harry as inferior but I think that Dudley is worse because his hatred of harry, his own flesh and blood…. really does not come from anywhere. Malfoy comes from a world where Harry is his anti-everything, the reason for the downfall of wizard-Hitler, a popular figure in Malfoy’s household, Harry goes against everything Draco stands for or was brought up to stand for: Harry killed voldy, he is not a pureblood, he hangs around with mudbloods and blood traitors and actually prefers them over Malfoy, Harry is getting all the attention which I am sure Malfoy is used to getting and plus Harry is in the rival house, Gryffindor. And the thing is most Slytherins probably hate Harry for all the same reasons. (is that stereotyping? Hmmm)
Anyway, Dudley….none of that applies to him. Harry has never done anything to him. Harry is not apart of some rival group or responsible for the death of his “Dark Lord”. Dudley hates Harry…..just because. He has no real reason to treat Harry the way he does, he just does. When it comes to Vernon, he knows what Harry is and hates him because Harry stands against what he believes in (“being perfectly normal, thank you very much” as JK Rowling says in the start of the book). I think Petunia hates Harry because he is probably a reminder of the magic that she couldn’t have. The same reason she grew to hate her sister. Jealousy. But Dudley is just… bad. He treats Harry the way he does because he CAN. That makes him way worse than Draco in my book.
Hehe. Book.
3. Do you think Hermione, Harry and Ron still would have become friends if there had never been a troll incident?
No. I think Hermione would always have been “that smart girl who never shuts up” that’s in every class. I think the incident was a bonding of sorts. They risked their lives to save her. No way they can go back to the same terms they were on before. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, as they say.
1. Which Quidditch position would you want to play?
Seeker. Most important job. Least amount of work. Definitely my style.
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsis’s Glasses , Ariel’s Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Pan’s Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICConversation Questions
1. Why do you think Hermione can be a haughty know-it-all?
She always raises her hand to answer a teacher’s question, find every opportunity to mention “I’ve read all about it in…”, and tells Ron how to properly do magic. That attitude can easily come across as condescending, which is a natural turn off.
In regards to Hermione, I don’t think she is being deliberately stuck up and condescending. I think when she received her letter, she was excited to learn everything she could about the magic world. It was new and exciting, it caught her interest, so she ploughed through the books and learnt everything she could. At age 11, Hermione lacks the awareness that not everyone is going to be enthusiastic about her interest in the magical world as she is. For Ron, whose grown up as a wizard, the magical world is just an everyday occurrence so, as an 11 year old, he can’t understand why Hermione is so enthused about it so, to him, she comes off as a know it all.
It’s a bit like tourists coming to a country and getting really excited about that country’s landmarks etc whereas that country’s residents are all like “what’s the big deal?”
Another example would be a casual fan discussing a television show with a passionate fan. There’s different levels of enthusiasm and the casual fan might feel put out if something they say is being corrected by the passionate fan and then some eg:
Casual Fan: Regina’s first love was called Darren and he died
Passionate Fan: No he wasn’t, he was called Daniel and he was the stableboy that was murdered by Cora, Regina’s mother, who later became the queen of Hearts etc etc.The passionate fan isn’t deliberately being mean, condescending or a know it all, they’ve just allowed their enthusiasm for the show to overtake their awareness of the feelings of others.
does everyone agree that Draco is worse?
*poofs in* Hmmmm…. That is really interesting. I actually would say Dudley is worse than Draco.
I would say that Dudley and Draco are both equally as bad as each other. Not only does it parallel that magic folk and muggles are more alike than some would care to admit, both Draco and Dudley are products of their parents’ points of view.
Vernon and Petunia hated Harry and mistreated him throughout his childhood. Dudley would not have the awareness as a child to go “this is wrong” so he probably thought it was normal to treat Harry that way. As children, we look to our parents to show us the social protocols of how to behave and interact with others. This can extend from political views down to something simple as smoking. It is up to our parents to teach us the best examples as these core values would likely be passed down through the generations.
Draco wasn’t nasty to Harry when he first met Harry, when he didn’t know who Harry was. He expressed views that Harry disagreed with. It’s only when Harry started challenging Draco’s views and what Draco was raised to believe were core values that the antagonistic relationship between Draco and Harry really began. in later books, we see Draco feeling uncomfortable as he is pressganged into more extreme views by the deatheaters and Voldemort
The question isn’t “is Draco or Dudley worse”, it’s “Whose parents failed them more?”
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixOooh new people popping in! YAY!!!
Lots to respond to this morning. *drinks coffee* here we go
She always raises her hand to answer a teacher’s question, find every opportunity to mention “I’ve read all about it in…”, and tells Ron how to properly do magic. That attitude can easily come across as condescending, which is a natural turn off.
Agreed with that, for sure. No one likes to feel less than and I think Hermione makes those around her feel that way, not because she’s mean spirited or anything, but simply because she is incredibly smart and doesn’t understand why her enthusiasm is met with derision. And it shouldn’t be that way, but like I said children (and, to be honest, adults) are mean and when we feel inferior we always cast blame on the person making us feel that way.
Honestly, I probably would have. I can relate to being interested in several classes, to the point where it was noticed by both teachers and fellow students. I know at least one classmate called me a “teacher’s pet”, because I was really into our Global History class, and our teacher definitely didn’t hide his enthusiasm for me. I also often have a habit of bringing up things I know about during a casual conversation.
Same. Hermione and I would have been buds BUT, with the caveat, that being such a competitve person, I likely would have resented and been inwardly jealous anytime she did something better than I, and would have relished if I did something better than her.
(RG is totally going to be sorted into Slytherin in the HP-verse)
I think eventually they would have. Either another event would have brought them together, or Harry would have felt sorry for Hermione and attempted to talk to her and get to know her better. Either way, I feel these three were always fated to be a team.
Ah yes FATE. Ok, so I’m going to quote Slurpeez’s response and then give my take:
Probably not. I think that it took a life-or-death incident to bring about that particular trio becoming friends. It’s possible that Hermione might’ve eventually gotten through to Harry and Ron, but I think it took her lying to the professors to cover for Harry and Ron after they saved her life that led to their friendship.
I think Slurpeez also makes a good point but this ultimately brings up a point I stated maybe 4 or 5 pages back: the role of fate and magic’s agency in the HP world. Does magic have agency? Or is it just a tool that wizards use in their daily lives? Is there something that ensured Harry and Ron met on Platform 9 3/4 instead of Harry meeting the Malfoys? Would fate push Harry and Ron to being friends with Hermione, troll incident or not? And when I speak of fate I don’t mean JKR who is obviously our outside God-like figure making sure these three end up together, but rather in universe is there such a thing as fate? And how does it interplay with free will?
Regina has that quote in 419, “Lily,” that “our actions are own but fate pushes us.” Does the HP universe work similarly?
So, for myself, I think they would have been friends somehow whether through Ron and Harry growing up and bit and not being so intimidated by Hermione and by Hermione tempering her condescending nature a bit OR through some other adventure-y type ordeal. I think somehow, fate would want them together.
Hermione has always been one of my favorite female characters. I cannot help but love her, because I sense a little bit of her in me, too. Hermione’s bookworm tendency is overcompensation.
Same. I think Hermione was also pretty lonely for most of her life, pre-Ron and Harry, and I can relate to that as well. Most of the kids in my high school really disliked me and didn’t have a problem showing it because I was “teacher’s pet” and very enthusiastic about school.
They both see Harry as inferior but I think that Dudley is worse because his hatred of harry, his own flesh and blood…. really does not come from anywhere
Good point. And this is also why I consider Petunia to be such a loathsome figure. This is her sister’s child and she locks Harry in a closet! I think, though, that Dudley is also a product of his environment, just like Draco. He learns by example and having Vernon and Petunia mistreat Harry so egregiously teaches him that Harry is not a person, but an object to be bullied and harassed and beaten. The big difference for me, I think, is that Draco wants to take away Harry’s enchanted life. Dudley seeks to make Harry’s mundane life miserable, but Draco would cause Harry to lose Hogwarts and this new magical world forever. I don’t know if there’s a worse fate than that for a witch or wizard.
I think when she received her letter, she was excited to learn everything she could about the magic world
I would also wager that learning she was a witch answered a lot of questions Hermione had about herself. I think like Harry she had experienced “odd things” happening to her but never knew why until that letter came. Imagine being given peace of mind knowing that you weren’t crazy, you’re just magical.
It’s a bit like tourists coming to a country and getting really excited about that country’s landmarks etc whereas that country’s residents are all like “what’s the big deal?”
You mean like me standing outside Big Ben taking 10000000 pictures of a giant clock while British people try to simply go about their lives? Or trying to climb on top of the lions in Trafalgar Square (I did not succeed….actually sort of fell off in the attempt…)
The passionate fan isn’t deliberately being mean, condescending or a know it all, they’ve just allowed their enthusiasm for the show to overtake their awareness of the feelings of others
That’s a really nice analogy. And highly apropos given the site we’re on.
The question isn’t “is Draco or Dudley worse”, it’s “Whose parents failed them more?”
This is a fantastic question and not one I have an answer to right now at this point in the series.
when we met the Malfoys, finally, we’ll have to revisit because YES I agree that’s the real question
I guess that leaves me with Keeper.
Probably keeper.
Same, Keeper. Though, I can’t really articulate why except that like Matt I think that’s what I’m left with. For sure not Seeker–I’m neither fast nor very good at spotting things with my eyesight. I’m not very keen on violence and always thought the Beaters were a bit harsh for a game. I think I could be a Chaser but I have a tendency to drop things….so, Keeper it is!
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Does magic have agency? Or is it just a tool that wizards use in their daily lives?
For the most part, I think magic is just an everyday tool that wizards use in their daily lives. For example, Mrs. Weasley uses charms to help her with the household chores around the Burrow. However, with that said, there IS a strong element of fate in the Harry Potter world. As we’ll get to in book one, the Centaurs are very aware that certain things are indeed written in the stars.
The best case in point is the prophesy concerning Harry Potter and Voldemort. It’s interesting that Hermione, who is very logical, is very skeptical about divination in general, and about her professor, Sibyll Trelawney, in particular, in book three. While Sibyll is mostly a quack, she was able to see into the future on at least one very significant occasion.
And when I speak of fate I don’t mean JKR who is obviously our outside God-like figure making sure these three end up together, but rather in universe is there such a thing as fate? And how does it interplay with free will?
So, is magic mostly just a tool that wizards use for day-to-day things? Yes, but I’ll qualify my answer by responding that some things are indeed foretold. But there IS an element of freewill. That may seem like a paradox, but ultimately, some things are within our control (how we treat others) while other things are not in our control (who are parents are, for example). While Harry’s fate in particular is somewhat predetermined by forces beyond his control, it’s how he chooses to respond to those difficult circumstances that ultimately determines the final outcome of the entire series.
So, again, it’s a bit of a paradox: Tom Riddle sets certain things in motion when he uses dark magic to create horcruxes, but he inadvertently makes Harry himself into a horcrux. Harry, in tun, is fated to be The Boy Who Lives — but it’s down to Harry’s choice to sacrifice himself that leads to the downfall of Voldemort. But in theory, Harry could’ve joined Voldemort, though that was always HIGHLY unlikely, given Harry’s animosity against Voldemort for killing his parents.
Is there something that ensured Harry and Ron met on Platform 9 3/4 instead of Harry meeting the Malfoys? Would fate push Harry and Ron to being friends with Hermione, troll incident or not?
I suppose that Harry was already predisposed NOT to befriend a bully like Draco Malfoy, who reminds Harry a lot of his cousin Dudley. So, while I think Harry, who himself is a long-suffering victim of bullying, is more likely to be drawn to someone like Ron and Hermione over Draco, I still think it was a matter of chance (rather than say fate) that Ron was the boy whom Harry befriends first, rather than say Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, or Neville Longbottom. Harry could just have easily have been best friends with Dean, Seamus or Neville over Ron.
Hermione becoming friends with Ron and Harry is also down to chance encounters that bring them together (or arguably author’s intent). Would that trio have become friends in different circumstances? Perhaps not. The reason I say so is because one choice always leads to a different set of choices and a different set of outcomes. For example, had Harry befriended Seamus and Dean first, he might not have been as drawn to Hermione and Ron, Harry’s need for best friends having already been fulfilled. That isn’t to say that Harry would have become enemies with Ron or Hermione, just that they might not have been as close to Harry as they became. Arguably, Harry would’ve simply regarded Hermione and Ron to be his classmates and fellow Gryffindors rather than his best friends if he already had Dean and Seamus to fill those roles in Harry’s life.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
That may seem like a paradox, but ultimately, some things are within our control (how we treat others) while other things are not in our control (who are parents are, for example).
It’s a paradox but only a minor one largely because that’s how a lot of fantasy stories operate (and broadly, how much of literature operates. And…heck, how the non-fictional world operates). People have free will; it’s a staple of our culture and certainly not something we want to give up and when confronted with people losing said free will, we tend to react negatively. But a lot of people also believe in some sort of higher power–whatever you want to call that higher power–that is guiding humanity (fictional, non-fictional) along the way to some sort of specific to individuals but also general to the world endgame. So, a paradox, perhaps, but one that fits with how many authors construct their world and how we understand our own.
What might separate HP from some other fantasy sagas is that if magic does have agency it doesn’t make itself overtly known. There is no scene in which magic somehow breaks the fourth wall and informs the audience that it exists as is somehow pulling certain strings to achieve its desired endgame. For example at no point does magic show us that it did “a thing” to ensure that Harry met the Weasleys at the platform. Now, I agree that Harry would never take to the Malfoys and Draco, but there were hundreds of other families that he could have run into, other perfectly ordinary magical families with good children who are not prejudiced or have a history of being on Team Voldemort.
I go back to that chapter (Platform 9/4) so much when I think about this topic because it’s the perfect confluence of events. Harry is desperate; he’s loosing time before the train departs; the Muggles are beginning to notice; he’s thought about sending Hedwig somehow to Hagrid; he’s thought about what would happen if he was forced to return to the Dursleys’. Then…almost like magic…Mrs. Weasley is heard directing her children. Another moment longer and who knows what Harry would do: go back to Privet Drive? Run away? Start running around King’s Cross like a mad man (which results in Vernon picking him up, believing him to be “mad” confirming his long held suspicions and locking him up forever). The last one is might be extreme but it’s well within the realm of possibility given what we know of Harry and Vernon.
You mentioned that Harry befriending Ron is more chance than fate, so I turn this question back at you: what’s the difference?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"This entire topic of freewill vs destiny in Harry Potter is actually very broad, and I think it requires a person to study all 7 books rather than just the first one, which is why I hesitate to continue with it until we get to at least book 3 (or at least the chapter about the Forbidden Forest in book 1). Entire academic papers have actually been written on this topic. So with that in mind, I only have a few things to add for now.
You mentioned that Harry befriending Ron is more chance than fate, so I turn this question back at you: what’s the difference?
Broadly understood, I take fate to be that which is predestined and things which are beyond one’s control; things pretty much had to turn out that way because of events put into motion even before one’s birth.
I keep coming back to the prophesy about Harry and Voldemort. The story pretty much had to unfold the way it did for there to be a story. One had to live and the other had to die.
Chance, on the other hand, isn’t predestined; things didn’t have to be that way. It could have been any magical family who helped Harry onto the Hogwarts Express. It was random whom Harry set next to on the first train trip to Hogwarts. In story, there was no “hand of fate” (other than J.K. Rowling’s hand) which meant Ron had to be the one to befriend Harry first, since as I wrote, it could’ve just as easily have been Dean, Seamus, or even Neville to befriend Harry first.
Having defined fate vs chance, let’s also define freewill. “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities” says Dumbledore in The Chamber of Secrets (book 2). Harry wasn’t magically fated to be in Gryffindor; the Sorting Hat put Harry there knowing it would be the best fit, but Harry could just have easily have been put in Slytherin. However, the Sorting Hat took into account Harry’s freewill, which was vehemently opposed to having any further association with Voldemort, especially after the a peculiar wand chose Harry.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Chance, on the other hand, isn’t predestined; things didn’t have to be that way. It could have been any magical family who helped Harry onto the Hogwarts Express. It was random whom Harry set next to on the first train trip to Hogwarts. In story, there was no “hand of fate” (other than J.K. Rowling’s hand) which meant Ron had to be the one to befriend Harry first, since as I wrote, it could’ve just as easily have been Dean, Seamus, or even Neville to befriend Harry first
Sure, I agree that he could have met any other wizarding student BUT you change that one factor–Ron–and it’s a whole new ballgame. Are Dean, Seamus, or Neville going to be as loyal, brave, and willing to go on as many adventures and put themselves as much danger as Ron does? Maybe. But to the extent that Ron is? To the extent that Hermione is? I personally don’t know.
I mean, I agree that maybe we should couch the conversation for a bit since it’s a broad topic but I sort of reject the notion that Harry’s story would have played out the same way had it been someone else that he befriends on that train. Ron isn’t just a blank character and that inserting any other character could do the same part (in universe, out of universe JKR would choose anyone she wanted) and neither is Hermione. It has to be those three for Harry’s story to play out the way it does. You change one factor and I don’t know how the story goes. Again, it’s that perfect storm of events and characters. You have to have scared and insecure Ron and scared and insecure Hermione to be able to stand behind an equally scared and insecure Harry while he goes down Monomyth road.
You say there is no Hand of Fate in universe but how do we know? Because while lack of evidence is not evidence itself, even characters in universe seem to think that there might something bigger at play pushing those three souls together.
“Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it … Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry.” (HBP, chapter 19)
I dunno. What you’re calling chance and what Molly Weasely calls luck could very well be fate pushing and pulling and never making itself known. There is probably no definitive answer here and like the Sorting Hat, we could go on for ages (and just to clarify, I’m just prodding and poking, not trying to argue or make life difficult for anyone…I just happen to think this is a very interesting thread and theme and now is at least a good time to mention in since Hermione just became part of Team Harry).
I just think that in a world where there is magic, we can’t discount fate working behind the scenes, even if we never have tangible proof.
Fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it, the point is…maybe they met for a reason. Maybe something good came out of them being together.
(yeah, I just used Nealfire to make a point. *hug tackles* )
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
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