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He might have still been allowed to go to school, but was forced to stay in his cupboard whenever he was back home. Otherwise, the school would have been calling up on the Dursleys inquiring why Harry was absent for so long. Sure the Dursleys could have tried pretending that Harry was sick, but would such a charade be able to last that long? Also, the fact that it’s brought up that Harry was supposed to be going to Stone Wall High suggests that Harry did graduate Grade School.
Ah, that’s probably the case, true. Though, I still have questions about how the Dursley’s envisioned Harry’s future (read: getting him out of their house). We never even have Harry thinking about his future. Did he ever picture what his life would be post high school? What did Harry want to be when he grew up?
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Something else I wanted to mention to go along with the “ignorance” theme we see in this chapter–by the time Harry is released from his “jail sentence” it’s the summer holiday. According to the Harry Potter wikia, Dudley was born in June. As an American, I’m not 100% sure this is right (maybe POM can clarify) but my brief research suggests that British school summer holidays begin in July. This means a few things 1) Harry was locked up (sneaking out for food at night presumably) for probably a month 2) Harry missed all his final exams and, at least, the final month of school. Vernon and Petunia don’t care if Harry receives any sort of proper education; they care about what is best for them and in this case, it’s keeping Harry out of sight and out of mind. I’m curious as to what Vernon and Petunia thought Harry’s future would be (if they thought of it at all.) Did they imagine that he’d get a good job and be able to move out after graduation? Did they picture him going to university and moving out? If they deny him an education, or at least don’t concern themselves with it, then how did they picture ridding themselves of Harry once and for all?
I did try to figure out the timing of everything for my post but the exact length of time was hard to pinpoint. According to Harry Potter Wiki, Dudley’s birthday is June 23rd. I looked up terms in British schools, but they seem to vary, some summer holidays start in May, some in June, some in July. The timing between the arrival of the letters and Harry’s birthday is about 8 days, and it sounds like Harry’s been out of his “imprisonment” for a little while, considering he’s avoiding Dudley and his gang and trying to spend a lot of time outdoors (and who can blame him after being locked up). So that’s why I assume it’s somewhere between 3-4 weeks. 3 gives Harry at least a week before the letters arrive, 4 means they arrive almost immediate after he’s released. And yes, I thought about the fact that they hadn’t let him out at all, meaning he’d missed school and exams, etc. Did none of his teachers even notice? Did they contact the Dursleys and ask where Harry had been? We don’t really know anything about his school life other than nobody would be friends with Harry because of Dudley and his gang.
*snorts at “When Harry met Sassy”
It’s very fun to go back to an almost eleven year old Harry and see his sense of humor. Others in the series are often more known for their wisecracks or jokes, so it’s easy to forget how funny Harry is himself. I laughed a good bit at him and his snarky comments.I was super excited to have this chapter and this is one of the reasons. RG mentioned it earlier, but Harry doesn’t really speak at all until this chapter, and we start to see that this kid has a personality. It really ties in with him being given an identity by the arrival of the letters. Not only does Harry feel like someone actually cares about him, we the readers start to get to know him a little better and see him as a real person.
Another reason I love this chapter is because of the mystery behind everything. Where are all these letters coming from and how do they know where he is? And then you don’t even get to know by the end, and it just ends on this cliffhanger with a BOOM and someone on the other side of the door. How could you NOT immediately start the next chapter?
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
Harry is quite cheeky in this chapter and so is JKR. I love the way she wrote Vernon slowly going mad each day, tiny little moments that show him coming unhinged.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Harry is quite cheeky in this chapter and so is JKR. I love the way she wrote Vernon slowly going mad each day, tiny little moments that show him coming unhinged.
Like his mustache being half ripped out. 😉
I also like how Harry isn’t afraid to talk back. He’s not cowering in fear of his relatives but actually shouts back and demands his letters. This passage always gives me the giggles:
With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry’s letter clutched in his hand.
–Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling. US edition, pp. 38
Just imagining this scene is quite funny. Like a cartoon fight between a cat and dog. The whole chapter has that Tom and Jerry feel about it.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Harry is quite cheeky in this chapter and so is JKR. I love the way she wrote Vernon slowly going mad each day, tiny little moments that show him coming unhinged.
Like his mustache being half ripped out.
I also like how Harry isn’t afraid to talk back. He’s not cowering in fear of his relatives but actually shouts back and demands his letters. This passage always gives me the giggles:With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry’s letter clutched in his hand. –Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling. US edition, pp. 38
Just imagining this scene is quite funny. Like a cartoon fight between a cat and dog. The whole chapter has that Tom and Jerry feel about it.
He’s legitimately on the verge of a nervous breakdown, it’s brilliant. And it’s only Chapter 3 of the first book.
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
Just imagining this scene is quite funny. Like a cartoon fight between a cat and dog. The whole chapter has that Tom and Jerry feel about it.
Tom and Jerry. That’s it. Slapstick comedy. One wonders if JKR ever watched Monty Python with their cheeky and clever (and often strange) slapstick comedy. (of course she did. She’s British. All British people are required, by law, to watch Monty Python’s Flying Circus)
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Tom and Jerry. That’s it. Slapstick comedy. One wonders if JKR ever watched Monty Python with their cheeky and clever (and often strange) slapstick comedy. (of course she did. She’s British. All British people are required, by law, to watch Monty Python’s Flying Circus)
Of course she’s a Monty Python fan. Terry Gilliam was her own first personal choice to direct the film adaption of this very book, but sadly Warner Bros passed on him. I often wonder how the first few films would have turned out had Gilliam directed instead of Chris Columbus.
Something else I wanted to mention to go along with the “ignorance” theme we see in this chapter–by the time Harry is released from his “jail sentence” it’s the summer holiday. According to the Harry Potter wikia, Dudley was born in June. As an American, I’m not 100% sure this is right (maybe POM can clarify) but my brief research suggests that British school summer holidays begin in July.
July is when the majority of schools break up for Summer Holidays and then they go back in September. Private schools might work differently.
He might have still been allowed to go to school, but was forced to stay in his cupboard whenever he was back home. Otherwise, the school would have been calling up on the Dursleys inquiring why Harry was absent for so long. Sure the Dursleys could have tried pretending that Harry was sick, but would such a charade be able to last that long? Also, the fact that it’s brought up that Harry was supposed to be going to Stone Wall High suggests that Harry did graduate Grade School.
I agree. The Dursleys would have only got away with saying Harry was sick for so long before a truant officer was sent to check how true the claims were. The Dursleys want to keep their treatment of Harry a secret so they wouldn’t want to go inviting trouble. Also I get the sense that that the Dursleys like to keep up appearances with the neighbours. Having a truant officer turn up on their doorstep would get curtains twitching. So as Matt said, Harry was probably sent to school but then locked in the cupboard once he returned home.
Why do you think Harry never told anyone what was going on at the Dursleys? Did he accept it as a fact of life, assume that’s how every family works? Did he think nobody would believe him? Did he think nobody would care?
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixWhy do you think Harry never told anyone what was going on at the Dursleys? Did he accept it as a fact of life, assume that’s how every family works? Did he think nobody would believe him? Did he think nobody would care?
I think the bold is exactly why he didn’t tell anyone, like a teacher. Harry’s entire existence in his mind is founded on one basic fact: nobody cares about him. He is never, from what we can tell, given any measure of love, affection, or even a single thought. When he’s in the room, the Dursley’s like to pretend he isn’t there, they talk about him as if he is a nonentity; when they do need to speak to him, it is never with any kindness, but always with anger, resentment, and annoyance that he dare to need something. It has been enforced him from as long as he can remember that speaking up, voicing anything, is met with being ignored at least and verbal abuse at most.
I think he knows that this isn’t how a family should work. The Dursley’s aren’t mean or cruel to any other children, like their own son, or even to Dudley’s friends, like Piers. All their vitriol is focused on Harry.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I’m late in joining the Harry Potter party. I just wanted to touch on a few points from chapters 1-2 before I join in the discussion for chapter three.
Even though Dumbledore seems to trust McGonagall, I still would’ve expected him to be disturbed to find out that his plan to relocate Harry was so easy for someone on the outside to figure out. He was so unconcerned that he then left Harry on the Dursleys’ front step for several hours at night. It’s a weird thing to do even if Dumbledore left other agents watching from the shadows.
(By the end of the series, we’ve learned how devious Dumbledore can be, so I wouldn’t put it past him to use Harry as bait in a trap for the remaining Death Eaters.)
In reply to this point, I just want to point out a few things you may have overlooked, to help vindicate poor Dumbledore a bit. I fully realize Dumbledore’s judgement may not seem to make a lot of sense when one first reads book one. However, his long-term judgement was correct. This comment is a bit spoiler-y for those who haven’t read all 7 books or haven’t seen the movies, so I’ll put it in spoiler tags, but it does tie into a point @Josophine made about chapter 2.
1. As Jo pointed out, “Mrs. Figg and Aunt Marge. Names are not usually brought up unless they are important to the story and come up at a later point.” Don’t forget about Arabella Figg. She is the Dursleys’ neighbor whom we first hear about in chapter two. Ten-year-old Harry thinks of her as “Old Mrs. Figg” — his crazy, cat-lady neighbor whose house smells of cabbage. But she is much more than first meets the eye. In fact, she is a squib (a non-magical person born of a magical lineage). Being so, she is not your typical, oblivious muggle; in fact, as we learn at the end of book 4, Arabella a member of the Order of the Phoenix (a group of wizards and witches who fought Tom Riddle). Mrs. Figg has secretly been Dumbledore’s eyes and keeps watch over young Harry. So, I propose that Dumbledore didn’t just leave baby Harry to the wolves, so to speak, but that he assigned Arabella Figg to keep watch over the sleeping baby. It’s true, she is not a magical witch, but that doesn’t mean she is entirely useless, as she later proves in book 5. .
This is another thing to look out for: how JKR carefully subverts archetypes. Dumbledore is, without question, the wise old wizard who guides the hero on his journey. But given what we’ve been talking about and the implications of Dumbledore knowing what the Dursely’s were doing and not interfering, we have to wonder if he’s not a bit more ruthless and cold than he appears.
Warning, major spoiler if you haven’t read yet:
2. The reason Dumbledore left little Harry at Privet Drive, despite knowing that Harry would be mistreated by the Dursleys, is because Dumbledore knew a key detail that his other colleagues like Professor McGonagall did not. As Dumbledore later explains to Harry in book 5: “My answer is that my priority was to keep you alive’…’You would be protected by an ancient magic.” Dumbledore knew that there was a powerful and enduring magic protecting Henry so long as he was at the Dursleys’ home. However, much we may dislike Harry’s aunt Petunia, it was her blood link to Harry through his mother, Lily, that ultimately kept Harry safe while at Privet Drive #4.I know that Dumbledore is perhaps a utilitarian in his ethics, as demonstrated by the treatment of his siblings. However, for the sake of the argument I’m making, the main thing to keep in mind is that Dumbledore wasn’t condemning baby Harry to death or exposing him to the wolves by choosing to leave him with the Dursleys. Albus Dumbledore was keeping Harry alive, though admittedly, with the fore-knowledge of something else about Harry’s future.
–Latent magical ability. Although Harry doesn’t know it. The strange things like the vanishing glass will make sense soon.
Is Harry’s magical ability really latent? It seems pretty early to me, or at least, right on schedule? For the first ten years of his life, he’s been showing weird signs. He can make his hair re-grow at will, shrink clothes he doesn’t like, or even disappear and reappear on top of his school. That sounds like pretty strong magic for a boy who doesn’t even suspect he could really be a wizard yet.
1. Could one or multiple people be watching over Harry through his childhood?
I’m going to go with yes. (See my answer above in spoilers).
2. How would Harry have turned out if the Dursleys had treated him fairly and like a family member as he was growing up and not like an outcast?
I suspect he would’ve been less lonely and less likely to search for parental figures outside of his family. I think at his core, though Harry is just a good-natured and kind-hearted boy; he becomes a well-adjusted adult with the love and support of his friends. If even his first 10-years of neglect by the Dursleys wasn’t enough to turn him bitter or turn him toward revenge like a certain other man who’ll not be named, then I suspect Harry feeling loved and cherished by his family would’ve only helped him along his path to becoming an amazing young person he becomes. The fact that he was able to overcome his sad and isolated childhood just goes to show he has an inner strength of spirit, and could point more to his parentage than his upbringing. Is it nature or is it nurture that helps Harry along his path? I’d argues a lot of it is having inner resilience that is part of his core nature, combined with the friendships he later develops at school.
"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
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