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I also wonder if Snape’s treatment of the Gryffindors is really that different from the other teachers treatment of other houses. He is a slytherin himself, I can imagine he hops at the chance to award his house points and to deduct it from the others, especially the Gryffindor.
Well, Harry and Ron do remark in a chapter we just passed that they wished McGonagall would favor them like Snape favors Slytherin. So, it does sound like Snape is alone in this regard.
As for the “it’s magic science” aspect, that’s true. But that’s why Snape should be even more attentive. Instead he just tells his students to flip to a certain page and follow the way it’s written. In my AP chemistry class, for example, we would have at least three days of lead up to the lab and then the lab itself. It’s like Movie! Snape says, “there is no wand waving or silly incantation in this class.” He’s not teaching *magic* like the rest of the teachers. He’s making students read a book or take lots of notes and somehow understand.
But, like I said the last time this came up….the real test is going to be comparing how he teaches Potions to how he teaches DADA
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"There is a difference between a strict teacher and an unfairly harsh teacher. Professor McGonagall is strict, yet admired by students. Professor Snape, on the other hand, is despised for being cruel and vindictive. He knows his subject matter–potions, as well as defense against the dark arts — inside and out, but he takes out his inner pain on students. However book-smart Snape is, he lacks the emotional intelligence and empathy it takes to be a great, or even half-way decent, teacher. Snape just doesn’t have the right temperament to be a good teacher. According to Rowling, she doesn’t give him false praise either: “I don’t really see him as a hero. He’s spiteful, he’s a bully, all of these things are true of Snape, even at the end of the book [seven].” Source Snape bullies students like Neville Longbottom, Harry, Ron, and even Hermione, who is first in her year. In fact, Snape is based on a terrible teacher Rowling herself had in school.
The thing is, if Snape was really as bad as Harry, Ron and Hermione made him out to be, why would Dumbledore have let him stay at the school so long?
Concerning Snape’s teaching style, Rowling also said,
lhhicks99 asks: Why does Professor Dumbledore allow Professor Snape to be so nasty to the students (especially to Harry, Hermione, and Neville)?
jkrowling_bn: Dumbledore believes there are all sorts of lessons in life…
jkrowling_bn: horrible teachers like Snape are one of them!I thought this was a funny, tongue-and-cheek assessment of Snape’s teaching style written by a teacher.
"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
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: NORBERT THE NORWEGIAN RIDGEBACK
SUMMARY
“Wonder what it’s like to have a peaceful life,” Ron said
–SS, p. 234
The weeks are flying by as Harry, Ron, and Hermione become engrossed in their studies for upcoming exams. They know by Snape’s surly temper that Quirrell hasn’t caved and given in to his demands regarding the Stone. Feeling sorry for their DADA teacher, they try to give him encouraging smiles and tell students off that make fun of him.
While they’re in library one day studying, they spy Hagrid coming out of the stacks acting oddly and strangely out of place. He questions them about searching out information on Nicholas Flamel but they inform him they learned of who he is and what Fluffy’s guarding ages ago. They ask what else is guarding the Stone but Hagrid shushes them and invites them to tea at his hut. After he leaves, Ron disappears into the stacks and discovers Hagrid was in the section on Dragons. Harry informs the others that Hagrid once told him he dreamed of owning his own dragon some day.
They visit Hagrid in his hut, which is stifling from the fire despite the warm day and begin to question him about the Stone’s protection. Hagrid lets slip that other teachers have enchantments to prevent the Stone from being stolen. They also discover that Hagrid has a Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon’s egg in his fire that he won in a game of cards at a pub in the village. Despite the kids’ warnings, Hagrid is determined to keep it.
The three worry about Hagrid getting caught along with the Stone’s protection. They soon get a message from Hagrid that egg is hatching and rush off after class and watch it happen. As it hatches, someone is spying through the curtains and runs off toward the castle. They realize it’s Malfoy and are now worried that he’ll tell Dumbledore everything. After hatching, the dragon grows very quickly and is causing trouble. They urge Hagrid to let it loose, but he refuses. They finally come up with a plan to send it off to Ron’s brother Charlie in Romania who works on a Dragon reserve. Plans are set for Charlie’s friends, who are planning a visit, to pick it up and take it with them the next week. In the meantime, Ron is bit while helping take care of the dragon, now named Norbert, and is sent to the Hospital wing after it gets infected. Malfoy visits him with the excuse of borrowing a book. However, the book he takes has the letter from Charlie in it, revealing all their plans. With Ron in the hospital wing, Harry and Hermione decide to go forward with the plans anyway of taking the dragon to the highest tower of Hogwarts because they have the Invisibility Cloak.
The night arrives and Harry and Hermione, covered in the Invisibility Cloak, take the boxed dragon up to the tower. They pass Malfoy getting in trouble with McGonagall. She doesn’t believe his story and gives him detention before dragging him away. They make their way up to the tower. Charlie’s friends arrive and strap the dragon in and are soon off on their journey. Harry and Hermione, happy for Malfoy getting detention and Norbert’s removal, descend the tower stairs and find Filch waiting for them. They’re caught, having left the Invisibility Cloak behind in the tower.
ANALYSIS
Things are not always what they seem.
Despite the title being about a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, this chapter reveals more about the character of Hagrid. Hagrid is the first magical person that Harry is introduced to in the series. He’s this dichotomous character–a giant, or technically a half-giant as we later learn in the series, that appears monstrous to many people but really has a heart of gold. To go back to Harry’s initial meeting he’s described as:
“A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all that hair.”
–SS, p.46
This does not sound like a friendly person He’s huge, intimidating, with a large voice to match his large size. Yet he becomes the first friend Harry ever really has. He guides Harry’s introduction to the Wizarding world. It’s not a nice little old fairy godmother-type lady or an impressive wizard who first introduces Harry to this other world, but a monstrous looking giant of a man who ends up being the most empathetic, kind-hearted character of the series. It’s the ultimate lesson in not judging a book by it’s cover.
Hagrid kind heart over the series also tends to extend to animals. He supplies a vicious three headed dog to Dumbledore to help guard the Stone. Despite it’s dangerousness, he gives it a light-hearted name and insists you just have to learn to handle it correctly. His own dog is a gigantic wolfhound with the fierce sounding name Fang that appears as if could eat you in one bite, yet only drools on the kids. In this chapter, we learn that Hagrid adopts a dragon’s egg. From an earlier conversation we know that he’s always wanted one. They are highly dangerous, illegal, yet he treats it like a precious baby.
For all his good intentions, though, Hagrid is a bit myopic. He often tends to only see the glass half full. He has what he’s always dreamed off, a dragon, but he has no future plans on what to actually do with it. It’s only at a group of First Years’ urgings that he realizes that maybe a dragon isn’t the ideal pet, despite the burns, bites, and attention it needs.
This flaw extends to other areas, too. Despite the kids warning him that danger is afoot, Hagrid puts his faith in the thought that no teachers would ever do something underhanded. He tends to look for the best in people. An admirable quality, but not always ideal. It doesn’t even occur to him to question the fact that he won an extremely expensive, illegal dragon’s egg, something he’s always dreamed of having, in a poker game at the local village pub. And it doesn’t even occur to him to contemplate or validate the kids’ worries about the Stone’s safety. For all his heart, Hagrid flaws often affect others, especially Harry, Ron and Hermione.
FORESHADOWING
–Dittany, a substance mentioned as they’re studying. When something is named, it usually comes up later.
–Hagrid winning a rare expensive egg at a pub.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why didn’t Malfoy tell an adult about Hagrid’s illegal activity instead of trying to catch them himself?
2. Despite his background and life experiences, why do you think Hagrid is such an kind-hearted individual?
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Hagrid kind heart over the series also tends to extend to animals.
And it’s not just any animals. It’s animals that are thought to be worse than Hagrid believes them to be. Any other witch or wizard would see Fluffy or Norbert and think “dangerous creature!” but Hagrid sees lonely, misunderstood, and gentle beasts. In other words, Hagrid sees himself in the creatures he adopts. It’s also why I think he takes a shine to Harry when they meet back in chapter 4–Harry might not be a giant in a “normal sized” world but Harry is just as a alone and misunderstood as Hagrid.
1. Why didn’t Malfoy tell an adult about Hagrid’s illegal activity instead of trying to catch them himself?
Because Malfoy is a power hungry cruel little boy. But he also wants the glory. He wants to be able to get the applause from his peers when he fingers Hagrid. There are a lot of kids in this story keeping secrets from adults. The trio aren’t telling anyone about their suspicions about Snape and the Stone, taking their evidence to someone higher up. Likewise Malfoy won’t tell a professor (even one like Snape) about Hagrid’s dragon dealings.
2. Despite his background and life experiences, why do you think Hagrid is such an kind-hearted individual?
Actually I think it’s because of his background and life experiences. He’s alone, he’s a square peg in a round hole. There is no one else like him living in the vicinity. But, even with all this troubles, he’s known love and he’s known kindness regardless of his giant nature, not in spite of his giant nature People often say, “I love you in spite of who you are” but those who love Hagrid don’t love him in spite of his genetics.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"2. Despite his background and life experiences, why do you think Hagrid is such an kind-hearted individual?
Like RG alluded to already, sometimes resilient people become the stronger for having suffered in life. Look at Harry: he was neglected, mistreated, and deprived of love for 9 years. It’s a wonder he made it out as unscathed as he did. Hagrid and Harry are a lot alike in that regard. They were both mistreated in their youth, yet they both are more compassionate having been tough it. It makes me wonder why they turned out so well despite everything. It doesn’t hurt that Harry had Ron, Hermione and Hagrid to help him. Hagrid had people like James Potter, Dumbledore, and the other Hogwarts staff on his side.
Yet, as we’ll get to later, certain individuals at Hogwarts didn’t do well emotionally because of abuse and bullying: namely Severus Snape and Tom Riddle. They, unlike Harry and Hagrid, don’t overcome adversity but instead harbor bitterness, hatred, and revenge. It’s their choices that ultimately make them who they are. They didn’t overcome their early experiences and allowed their hatred to set the course for their lives.
"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
Chapter 15: The Forbidden Forest
“Well, think again, boy – it’s into the forest you’re going and I’m much mistaken if you’ll all come out in one piece.”
Summary:
Professor McGonnagal is furious to find Harry, Hermione and Neville out of bed after curfew. She immediately docks 50 points from each of them, and the rest of the Gryffindor students make no attempts to mask their outrage at now being last in the competition for House Cup.After a week, they receives a note that they will serve their detention that night at 11pm.
Filch takes them, and Draco Malfoy, to Hagrid’s house where they learn they will serve detention by helping him find a wounded unicorn in the Forbidden Forest. They split up into two teams and on their search, Harry, Hagrid and Hermione meet a centaur living in the forest, Ronan. Hagrid asks him for information, but it is clear that it is difficult, if not impossible to get a straight answer of out a centaur. “Not interested in anythin’ closer’n the moon.”When Hagrid is forced to switch the teams around, Harry is left in a group with Draco and Fang. Their search soon leads them to find a dead unicorn, and then suddenly, something else is there too. They watch a hooded figure crawl towards the unicorn, lower its head over the animal, and begin to drink its blood. The figure looks directly at Harry after Malfoy screams, and Harry instantly feels a pain like he’d never felt before. As he staggers away, a young centaur named Fireze, bounds into the clearing and saves Harry.
The other centaurs aren’t very happy with Firenze saving Harry, letting Harry ride on his back, or the fact that he’d given Harry some important information. Through their conversation, Harry learns exactly why the Sorcerer’s Stone is so important, that You-Know-Who is back, and that he wants the Stone to give himself life again.
When they arrive back at the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry tells Ron and Hermione what had happened in the forest, and that he Is determined to stop Voldemort from completing his plan. When Harry gets back to his room, he finds his invisibility cloak under the sheets with a note that reads “Just in case.”
ANALYSIS:
“By strange paths has this Company been led, and so far to evil fortune. And now we must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard in Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once got in; and of that few, none have escaped unscathed.’
‘Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak the truth,’ said Aragorn.”
Lord of the Rings – JRR TolkienOne of the things I realized rereading this chapter, was how J.K. Rowling uses the Forbidden Forest not just as a location or device to meet Voldemort for the first time, but how she uses it throughout the series. Its the first time I’ve honestly made the connection to forests from other tales: Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, etc. The first forest that was brought to mind was Fangorn, from The Two Towers: an ancient forest of living trees, inhabited by the wise and rare ents. Then I thought maybe it was more like Mirkwood, still old, but dark and full of dangerous creatures, and you must stay on the path at your own peril. I changed my mind and thought, it’s really Lorien, where you may enter, but you never leave unchanged. A place of change, where you go to grieve those you’ve lost and remember the dead, but filled with ancient, powerful creatures that give you enlightenment and hope. But really it’s a combination of these, and what the forest symbolizes as a whole. A rite of passage, knowledge and a journey to adulthood. In all of these tales, the forest is a mysterious place, inhabited by mysterious (and sometimes ancient) creatures or even Gods, symbols of all the dangers with which young people must face if they are to become adults. It is a place of testing, a realm of death, which our heroes must face and leave unscathed in order to find enlightenment, and they rarely leave unchanged.
Which brings us to our young Harry, who enters the forest and faces the man who killed his parents, or more literally, the creature Voldemort became after trying to kill him. Harry now realizes that Voldemort isn’t dead, like everyone thinks, and instead of shying away, Harry’s first instinct is to find a way to beat him. Harry left the forest without an injury, but he is forever changed by what has happened inside, and sadly, this won’t be the first time this happens. In every case Harry enters, he faces obstacles, and is closer to becoming a man, and taking his place in the world.
POSSIBLE FORESHADOWING:
The other centaurs are very upset with Firenze for helping Harry.Harry’s scar hurts when Voldemort is near.
“Always the innocent are the first victims,” he said. “So it has been for ages past, so it is now”
DISCUSSION POINTS:
Why are Ronan and Bane upset that Firenze helps Harry? What does Firenze think?Ronan and Bane both comment that Mars is shining brightly. Mars is the Roman god of war. How might that foreshadow upcoming events in the wizarding world?
Considering how dangerous the Forbidden Forest is, why would a) it be allowed for students to go there to serve detention and b) Hagrid split the students into two groups and allow one to wander about unsupervised?
Keeper of the Cheshire Cat’s smile, Baelfire’s sword, Snow’s backpack, Robin Hood’s bow, Ariel’s purse, Ariel’s smile, Henry’s heart, Belle’s shoe collection
Why are Ronan and Bane upset that Firenze helps Harry? What does Firenze think?
Centaur culture is distinct and separate from wizarding culture. The centaurs are star-gazing magi who can predict the future. Destiny is very important in their eyes, and they know that Harry is marked by destiny and linked to Voldemort in ways he doesn’t yet know. Reading between the lines, it’s not far-fetched to assume that centaurs and wizards have a tempestuous history, which is why the two different species are mostly estranged. Perhaps the wizards tried to subjugate the centaurs into the submission, because the centaurs widely consider it degrading to let humans ride on their backs. Ronan and Bane represent the perceived centaur party line not to get involved with human/wizard affairs, but Firenze takes a different view of things. He saves Harry and explains to him what Voldemort is after, precisely because Firenze knows the future and knows Harry is the best hope to defeat Voldemort, not only for humanity, but also for all magical creatures, including centaurs. The centaurs’ ability to predict the future brings up the entire fate versus freewill debate again. Ronan and Bane are very fatalistic about the prophesy surrounding Harry. Firenze, however, talks about the freedom to choose, and then he proceeds to take action by saving Harry.
Ronan and Bane both comment that Mars is shining brightly. Mars is the Roman god of war. How might that foreshadow upcoming events in the wizarding world?
War for humanity (and all magical creatures). It’s foreshadowing of the battle for the hearts and minds of wizards everywhere, as well as the very specific Battle for Hogwarts.
Considering how dangerous the Forbidden Forest is, why would a) it be allowed for students to go there to serve detention and b) Hagrid split the students into two groups and allow one to wander about unsupervised?
At face value, why any student, let alone first years, would be permitted into the Forbidden Forest, especially after Dumbldore said it was strictly off limits in the welcome banquet, is a big mystery to readers. Fang, despite his ferocious sounding name, is a coward, and Hagrid isn’t supposed to practice magic; so how are they supposed to keep the students safe? If it weren’t for Firenze, I don’t think Harry would’ve been safe.
On an equally mysterious note, Harry finds his invisibility cloak back in his dorm room with an unsigned note that reads “just in case.” This chapter leads readers to question who sent it. Of course, we know it’s from Dumbledore, so the headmaster is in the know about Harry’s detention. Dumbledore wants Harry to find out about the Philosopher’s Stone and has been leaving Harry clues like the mirror. So, did Dumbledore want Harry to go into the Forbidden Forest? Did Dumbledore ask Firenze to save Harry from Voldemort? Just how much does Dumbledore know about Professor Quirrell’s true allegiances? Dumbledore and Snape also suspect Quirrell, so why is Dumbledore letting Quirrell stay on as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? I think Dumbledore lets Harry go through these trials to prepare him for final showdown with Voldemort.
"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
Thanks for the write up Macy!
Ah, the forest. You’re right that forests are often a place of mystery and that once you enter a forest you never come out the other side the same. To quote Mr. Dante
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straight-forward pathway had been lost.Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.–The Inferno, Canto I
Dante come out the other side of the forest having descended into the depths of Hell to find himself in Purgatory and then, after scaling a mountain, into Paradise.
Archetypically speaking, forests are usually very OLD and the older something is, the more magical or mysterious it tends to be. It’s not a coincidence, then, then while in the mystery forest Harry meets several “other” creatures who are much more mythical than the ones encountered thus far. Norbert was foreshadowing that there are magical and mythical things in the world Harry now lives, apart from the wizards and witches who are becoming background noise in Harry’s new world. The things found in the forest are almost exclusively part of the magical world, a magical world that is actually cut off from the magical world Harry is living in. This is why Bane gets so upset at Firenze for letting Harry ride on him. The centaurs are part of a magical world that even Harry isn’t supposed to touch. There are level to reality. We have the mundane human world and the magical but inside the magical there are deeper levels and Harry is just now beginning to enter those.
The forests always contain beings who are set apart as “other” by humans. Elves, fairy folk, sprites, gods and demons, unicorns. They live in the forest. That’s why humans never see them, they exist in a place where we fear to tread.
Along with the idea of very old and very mysterious, is transformation of self, something Macy already touched on. It’s a bit of an odd way to think about forests since at a glance forests don’t change. If left untouched, trees will live an insanely long time and there is very little in the way of change inside the forest itself. But people who go into this sedentary place often find that they must be the one to change, especially if they enter at night. The Forest Dark is a place where heroes are tested because (literally) they can’t see and it largely becomes about the kind of person you are if you want to survive the Forest. So when Harry exists the forest, long gone is the idea that he can’t meddle; now he knows that he MUST meddle in the affairs of Hogwarts. He has been changed because of his experience inside the forest.
Why are Ronan and Bane upset that Firenze helps Harry? What does Firenze think?
Their world is being trampled upon by the humans. It’s like I said, and like Slurpeez says above, they are set apart from the magical world. They live in a pocket of the world and expect to be left alone. They accept whatever fate has planned without thinking that they can change it. “Mars is bright tonight” is a sad statement. First, Mars is the god of war and it’s bright because war is coming to all the corners of the world. Voldemort is trying to return to power which means, if he wins, the end of their existence. But they passively accept their sad fate because “it is foretold.” Firenze takes a different approach; fate can be altered, the future can be undone because of choice. By helping Harry, by letting him into the secret of the forest, he puts Harry directly on the path of action. Harry enters the forest wanting nothing to do with whatever Snape has planned and he leaves knowing he has to help because his eyes were opened to the real dangers that lurk in the world.
Considering how dangerous the Forbidden Forest is, why would a) it be allowed for students to go there to serve detention and b) Hagrid split the students into two groups and allow one to wander about unsupervised?
Yeaaaaaah. That’s a bit of a shock. It’s an odd punishment because while we want children to understand the consequences of their actions, we don’t want their lives put in jeopardy. In a lot of ways, Harry entering the forest is less about what is proper or not at Hogwarts and has a lot more to do with his Heroes Journey and how he needs to see what he’s up against (not to mention being motivated to actually set himself against Voldemort). JKR needs to get Harry into that forest thematically and narrative-wise so any of the rules that were previously established about what students can and cannot do at Hogwarts gets brushed aside. One wonders who came up with the punishment: McGonagall or Dumbledore.
Just a few notes of interest
–I’ve always wondered if JKR didn’t name Ronan after the Rohirrim (Riders of Rohan) with a bit of a different spelling. The way Aragorn describes the Riders matches how Centaurs are presented in her world: “They are proud and willful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years.”
–We’ve talked about liminal spaces but Centaurs are liminal creatures, caught between animals and humans…something they seem to understand here in HP-land. They don’t belong to the human world, but they are more than the animals who exist in the forest.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Interesting analysis about the forest. I feel bad because I really don’t have much more to add on it. Everything’s been said.
Why are Ronan and Bane upset that Firenze helps Harry? What does Firenze think?
Like has been said before, Centaurs are solitary creatures who distrustful of humans. It’s interesting to note their entry in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them:
Being intelligent and capable of speech, it should not strictly speaking be termed a beast, but by its own request it has been classified as such by the Ministry of Magic
and then
Wizarding authorities in each of the countries where centaurs are found have allocated areas where the centaurs will not be troubled by Muggles; however, centaurs stand in little need of wizard protection, having their own means of hiding from humans.
and also
They are generally speaking as mistrustful of wizards as they are of Muggles and indeed seem to make little differentiation between us. They live in herds ranging in size from ten to fifty members. They are reputed to be well-versed in magical healing, divination, archery and astronomy.
They’re past views of humans in general are very low. So Firenze helping one is an oddity. But it does show they have independent thought and are very intelligent creatures who can also be empathetic, despite not wanting to be.
Ronan and Bane both comment that Mars is shining brightly. Mars is the Roman god of war. How might that foreshadow upcoming events in the wizarding world?
Nothing more really to add. The brightness of Mars is an astrological symbol that war is coming.
Considering how dangerous the Forbidden Forest is, why would a) it be allowed for students to go there to serve detention and b) Hagrid split the students into two groups and allow one to wander about unsupervised?
So a) I don’t think it’s a usual punishment to take first years out in the forest. This is all Dumbledore’s doing. A comment to McGonagall that Hagrid needs assistance on something. Then a suggestion to Hagrid about an easy task needed to be finished in the forest that wouldn’t be dangerous to the first years. Dumbledore is truly leaving breadcrumbs for Harry to solve the problem of the Sorcerer’s Stone. He’s testing the boy to discover his mettle and Harry rises to the challenge each time. As for b) Hagrid is so used to the forest himself and it’s been established that he doesn’t see the creatures living within the forest as dangerous. He has a skewed outlook on dangerous things as we will discover further in coming books. So he might not even think that the children would be in any type of danger because he himself really doesn’t view the forest as dangerous.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Chapter 16: Through the Trapdoor
“I’m going through the trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?”
Summary
Exams at Hogwarts have come but Harry finds it difficult to put what happened in the woods from his mind. His scar hurts continuously and he begins to have nightmares about Voldemort. With the last of the exams done, Ron and Hermione are convinced that they have nothing to worry about since Dumbledore is still on the premise. Harry suddenly realizes that Hagrid must have been tricked into telling someone about Fluffy in order to get Norbert’s eggs. The trio head to Hagrid’s where the gatekeeper confesses that he was plied with drink and told a stranger, who refused to take down his hood, that there is a trick to get past Fluffy. The trio guess that it must have been Snape or Voldemort himself. They set out to tell Dumbledore only to realize that he has been called to London.
Realizing that they are alone, Harry decides to go down below the trapdoor tonight and face Snape/Voldemort. Ron and Hermione insist that they are coming with him to help. That night, the three of them put on the invisibility cloak and sneak out, though they are forced to sidestep Neville who wants to stop them.
At the third floor, music sooths the savage beast and the three descend into the darkness. Once below, they encounter several spells and enchantments that the professors of the school have put in place. Professor Sprout, from Herbology, has laid a Devil’s Snare; Flitwick enchanted keys to fly around a room, only one opening the door; Professor McGonagall transfigured a chessboard; Quirrell put a giant mountain troll down there and Snape had a logical potion problem. Ron falls at the chess match having gotten Hermione and Harry across before Harry asks Hermione to go back and send a letter to Dumbledore explaining. Harry intends to face Voldemort alone.
Going through an enchanted fire, Harry is surprised to see neither Snape nor Voldemort.
Analysis
Ease On Down, Ease On Down
Much of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the playing out of Harry’s own personal Hero Journey. The hero’s journey, from start to finish, never looks identical in each case but there are major milestones or bridges that are, more often than not, crossed. I’ve written quite a bit about this journey at ONCE podcast over the years, so I’m not going to give the big run down here. I’ll say this, though. At its heart, the monomyth is a basic pattern that has found its way into stories all over the world by using universal themes, symbols, and archetypes. From the Natives of North America to inhabitants of Mesopotamia, certain stories are repeated time and time again without the any interaction between these cultures telling the same story. The most popular outline of this pattern was codified and described by Joseph Campbell in his 1949 work, “The Hero With a Thousand Face.” It is, easily, the most popular way to understand the heroes journey and is readily used by storytellers who want to tell the oldest story there is–one of light vs dark.
While no two monomyths are the same, there are some key elements. For example, we saw Harry’s call to adventure in chapter four when Hagrid told him he was a wizard. In chapter 16, we encounter another of these milestones, namely “The Ordeal.” The ordeal typically happens in the center of the story (here, it’s at the very end of the beginning, or at the very beginning depending on how you look at it. But I’d argue that Harry has many “Ordeals” over the course of seven books) and is the hero facing life and death and his greatest fears. A lot of times his own life is in danger and once the ordeal has been completed, the hero ascends into a new life or a new understanding of the world around him.
Very typically, this ordeal is accompanied by a katabasis, or descent into the underworld. In classical mythology, this was taken quite literally like Odysseus’s nekiya in book 11 of the Odyssey or Aeneas’s descent with the Sybil in book six of the Aeneid.
To demonstrate: Trojan, Anchises’ son, the descent of Avernus is easy.
All night long, all day, the doors of Hades stand open.
But to retrace the path, to come up to the sweet air of heaven,
That is labour indeed.(Aeneid, Book 6)
In Dante’s Inferno, the poet descends much like the classic heroes down into the depths of a very real Hell only to emerge on the other side.
Often, though, in modern literature the descent is not down in the actual underworld. It can be more metaphorical than that. For example, for those of us familiar with George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels, young Bran Stark has (a few) katabsis’s, where he descends into a place that is cut off from the rest of the world and reemerges somehow changed. Often they are places of death or deep magic (the Stark crypts, under the Nightfort, Bloodraven’s cave) but they are not the literal underworld. For Harry, it’s a metaphorical descent into a place that is at the center of his magical world (Hogwarts) but not the literal underworld—though, JKR pays homage to this idea by having a Cerberus standing guard over a doorway into “hell” and by the fact that Harry must cross through a doorway of fire in order to reach the villain waiting for him inside.
As one might expect the “underworld” is dark, dank and dangerous and like many other underworlds there is much to circumvent, but instead of constant fires, demons, and sinners, it’s magical objects that are designed to send you back from whence you came. The objects are not meant to be easy to get around and Harry, Ron and Hermione demonstrate just how talented they are by managing to get around them.
So what is the point of a katabasis you might ask? To demonstrate the heroes exceptional status. Young Harry hasn’t left the underworld yet, but if he can then it’s a clear sign of his victory over death, which always looms large in a katabasis. There is always a question of whether or not the hero could return to the above world. If the hero stays in the underworld then it’s equal to having died and it’s proof to those back in the above world that they were never a hero to begin with.
Luckily, Harry has got something a lot of heroes don’t when they go down monomyth road: he’s got friends.
Come Together
It is almost too big of a coincidence that the enchantments placed around the underworld are each catered to one of the trio’s special talents. Once they are past the plant, each bridge they must cross seems designed for one of them to shine. For Harry, there is no better person at Hogwarts to catch a fast key with wings:
“Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other didn’t.”
The very large, very alive, Wizard’s chess set is Ron’s special talent; we saw his skills over Christmas holiday. While we’re on the subject of Ron, it’s very interesting that Ron chooses to be a knight. It speaks to his heroism and his bravery but it’s also not the most important piece on the board. It’s vital, to be sure, but it’s neither the Queen nor the King. Ron is very worried, always, about being second fiddle to anyone, but here he chooses not the leader, but (in real military) a follower. It’s also not Ron who will claim victory—the King’s crown. It’s Harry.
Once past the chess set, we see Hermione’s skills at play with a logic puzzle. Like Hermione states, not many wizards have this sort of logical ability, but (again) almost coincidentally, Hermione has it in spades. It doesn’t take her long to figure out which potion to use.
The fact is, Harry wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without his friends. Even up in the above world, Harry needed Ron and Hermione to get past Fluffy, sneaking below while one of them played on. Harry needed Ron to get past the chess set and he needed Hermione to get past the poisons. For Harry, it’s a vital lesson. He keeps insisting that he can go alone, for fear of putting his friends in jeopardy, but they insist that they going with him. This is something that is quite different from many other hero journeys: Harry is not alone.
Odyseeus? Alone. Aeneas? Alone. Dante? Alone. While they might have spiritual guides (like the Sybil or Virgil), they do not have friends. Harry, though, has two companions who will play a giant chess game and even potentially drink poison for him. It’s best comparable to Frodo and Samwise Gamgee; Frodo might be the one who has to carry the Ring to Mount Doom, but Samwise can carry Frodo if he gets too tired.
Potential Foreshadowing
1) Harry’s scar hurting constantly
2) The Troll being knocked unconscious before Snape’s potion test.
Conversation Questions
1) Had Dumbledore not been called to the Ministry and had Harry, Ron and Hermione managed to talk to the Headmaster, what would he have done?
2) How much is Hagrid to blame for what is going on with Voldemort and the Stone?
3) Maybe you are familiar with other descents into the underworld other than the ones I mentioned above. Even if not, how do you compare Harry’s journey to the underworld with those you know of? What do you make of the katabasis as part of the hero’s journey?
Extra Fluff Question
4) Which “test” in the underworld would be the easiest for you? The hardest? And which one of the ones we see with the trio do you find the most impressive?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
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