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Excellent job Jo! I really love this chapter. It’s our first real look at the magical world and it’s a doozy.
A rather obscure reference, but it was reminiscent of Harry’s trip to Diagon Ally. In this instance, how does Harry return his Muggle life after experiencing the wonders of the Wizarding world?
Nice analogy with the WWI song (and no, I didn’t get the reference! I feel shame.) Another one might be a blind person being able to see for the first time. The veil has been lifted and the abusive and rough mundane world has given way to a loud and colorful magical one. Everything about this world that Harry find himself in is better. Just point blank, better.
No one is yelling at him or hurting him or neglecting him–in fact, everyone wants to meet him and shake his hand.
He’s not dirt poor and being forced to wear Dudley’s hand me down’s. In fact, he’s got a bank vault full of cash.
He doesn’t get a hanger for his birthday, but instead a fluffy friendly owl.
Goblins, wizards, racing brooms, ice cream, magical wands…this world has everything.
The opening of the bricked barrier signifies the opening of his life to something else. Something more. He can never go back to being Harry who slept in the cupboard under the stairs. Walking through that archway was walking into a new life. And while we know he will return to his Muggle relatives’ house, it’s no longer home and never will be again.
I mentioned the idea of liminality a page or two back when Macy did her review of Chapter 3 but I’ll mention it here again. The bar, the Leaky Cauldron, and the alley way behind are liminal places. They serve as neither in the mundane world (humans apparently can’t see it) but they aren’t “in” the magical either–it’s not apart of Diagon Alley. It’s literally a doorway (they tend to be huge liminal spaces) from one world to the next. As a side note to this, I love how you have to get the code right in order to Diagon Alley to be open to you.
The boy’s greed and spoiled nature immediately remind Harry of his cousin Dudley. As the conversation goes on during the fitting Harry likes him less and less as he insults Hagrid for being just a “servant” and a “savage” and then reveals his prejudice against others.
Jo and I were talking about this the other night but there are echos in the magical world that recall Harry’s life in the mundane. This boy in the shop appears to be as uncharitable and disgusting as Dudley (note that even the blonde physical appearance is the same; just the body type is different.) Also, briefly, we know who the boy is–Draco Malfoy–and both boys, Draco and Dudley, have harsh clunky names. Names are important in JKR’s world, as Jo pointed out back in Chapter 1
There are other echos, particularly in the idea of intolerance and racism, which takes us to:
Discrimination occurs in everywhere. They may have magic, but wizards and witches are not immune to human emotions such as greed, hatred, or jealousy.
I want to talk about discrimination and racism, briefly. Obviously this is something that plays a major role in the series as a whole. This boy in the shop exhibits a racism that is based on blood–the “other” kind of witch and wizard shouldn’t be allowed in Hogwarts. These is something impure about those kinds (Muggle born). We’ve also seen that Vernon and Petunia exhibit discrimination tendencies toward Magical Folk for being odd and absurd. Their racism is grounded in ignorance–magic and the magical world do not align with their construction of the world and therefore must be an oddity, something “unreal” in the face of the real.
My question is actually about Hagrid and others like him. He’s not a racist (wizardist? what do you call people who are against Muggle born Wizards and Witches?) in the sense that the boy in the shop is. In fact, Hagrid seems to be open to them in general. BUT Hagrid does seem to exhibit ill feelings toward the Dursleys, though this can be written off on account of the Dursley’s treatment of Harry. But going further, is anyone else bothered by the term “Muggle.” It’s a distinction that I don’t know I’ve ever thought overly much about because when I first read, it was just a way to distinguish between “this” and “that.” But…isn’t that what all discriminatory remarks are? A way to put people into boxes as being separate from some other category. And often times it is a way to project superiority or rightness over the group you’ve labeled. The “N” word here in America. Homo or Queer when meant in a derogatory manner. Feminist when used by certain sects to describe a movement they dislike (or if you’re Rush Limbaugh, FemiNazi).
My point is this: what is the difference between the boy in the shop’s remarks about these “other” kinds and Hagrid’s casual “Muggle” dropping? Is there one? And if not, was that JKR’s point? Jo aptly titled this section “the song remains the same;” isn’t what Hagrid doing (and everyone else in the magical world) casual, unintentional racism?
Foreshadowing –Gringotts and how hard it is to break into the bank.
I would add every single bit of Wand Lore Ollivander spills here as well.
1. How do you think the “student” in Madam Malkin’s would react if Harry had had time to finish the conversation and revealed his surname?
Gosh darn good question. I think there’d by a lot of sneering but a lot of sucking up as well. I don’t think the boy and Harry would ever truly be friends, but the boy in the shop would try to pretend they were. The boy has been raised in a certain manner; you cultivate power and those around you help you in that. Whatever this boy might think about the Potters and Voldemort (and based on his attitude we can guess a fair amount here), Harry is still supposed to be super powerful (even at the age of 11).
3. What do you think Harry’s opinions are on having a wand that shares a common core with the wand that killed his parents and did great evil in the wizarding world?
Like this is a gut punch. I don’t know how you rationalize that in your brain. I really don’t. I think the only reason Harry doesn’t become myopically focused on that detail is because it’s all so new to him. The idea that his wand and Voldemort’s wand are in any way identical doesn’t mean as much to him as it would to anyone else since Harry is still brand spanking new to this world.
Knitting Reference: And because I am knitting nerd and HP is full of knitting, I shall count all the knitting references in the series and post each
I kinda love you
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I want to talk about discrimination and racism, briefly. Obviously this is something that plays a major role in the series as a whole. This boy in the shop exhibits a racism that is based on blood–the “other” kind of witch and wizard shouldn’t be allowed in Hogwarts. These is something impure about those kinds (Muggle born). We’ve also seen that Vernon and Petunia exhibit discrimination tendencies toward Magical Folk for being odd and absurd. Their racism is grounded in ignorance–magic and the magical world do not align with their construction of the world and therefore must be an oddity, something “unreal” in the face of the real.
Also interesting to note that this boy happens to be blonde. You can further tie this to the Nazis’ view of a superior Aryan race of blonde hair and blue eyes. The blonde hair thing can also be used as another comparison to the Dursleys. The Dursleys discriminate Harry and the rest of his magical kind, while this boy discriminates against muggles and muggle born wizards. Two sides of the same coin, really. The Nazi symbolism will become even more apparent as we continue through the series.
I admit I usually associate the plight of Muggleborns and Purebloods to the Nazi movement. Maybe it’s the years of WW2 movies that were on in the background in the house that my dad adored.
But going further, is anyone else bothered by the term “Muggle.” It’s a distinction that I don’t know I’ve ever thought overly much about because when I first read, it was just a way to distinguish between “this” and “that.” But…isn’t that what all discriminatory remarks are? A way to put people into boxes as being separate from some other category.
Personally, I’m not bothered by term “Muggle” just because we humans have a need to categorize and compare and contrast. As a teacher, it’s essential to instill these thinking-skills on my students. It’s human nature. Self-identifying as “Wizard” or “Witch” is no different than calling non-magical “Muggle”. We categorize by ethnicity, language, geography. It’s when you act in a discriminatory manor to these groups that the trouble begins. The term “Muggle” is presented as a neutral noun. It had no negative connotations, unlike “Mudblood” which is always presenting as a foul, insulting label.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
The term “Muggle” is presented as a neutral noun. It had no negative connotations, unlike “Mudblood” which is always presenting as a foul, insulting label.
Excellent point. Muggle seems to be a general catchall for non-magical folk but without rendering them as less than or inferior than the magical born.
I do continue to wonder, however, if there is a sense of superiority over the Muggles. This doesn’t need to mean that the magical born feel like they should dominate the Muggles, but that there is a sense of just general “betterness” because they have magic (which can solve many problems) while the Muggles do not.
For example (eh, not really a spoiler but a line from an upcoming book so I’ll tag it)
at one point Arthur Weasley says to Harry about Muggles, “Bless them. They’ll go to any lengths to ignore magic. Even if it’s right in front of their face.” I’m not calling Arthur a racist or wizardist but rather that when he looks at the Muggle world, however much he may love it–and we know Arthur does–there is a sense that the Muggles are like the children in the world. They can’t see what is right in front of them and when confronted with the unknown, they rationalize it to make sense in a language (terms) they can understand. We’ve seen this quite a bit back in chapter one with Vernon’s desire to cast all the magical goings on in mundane terms.
So while I agree that the term “Muggle” is just an ordinary neutral term, I do continue to ponder that heightened sense of superiority that all Magic born have over the non-magic born.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"So while I agree that the term “Muggle” is just an ordinary neutral term, I do continue to ponder that heightened sense of superiority that all Magic born have over the non-magic born.
This, I think, is the real reason for Petunia’s loathing of her magical sister, Lily, and Lily’s son. Petunia was jealous, and felt inferior. Petunia secretly felt rejected by the wizarding world and left out of Hogwarts, and so, she in turn rejected all things magical and tried to bar Harry from going there. If she couldn’t have it then neither could her nephew. So it’s not surprising that Petunia tried to praise normalcy and her rather mundane dunce of a son over her rather extraordinary nephew. She claimed that her sister was a freak, when, in reality, Petunia secretly wanted to be special too. Yet, the fact that Petunia was born a muggle meant she would be forever left out. So, because she felt rejected, she rejected the supernatural and sought to humiliate 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
Petunia was jealous, and felt inferior.
Yes. Precisely. And not just Petunia, but humans in general, tend to exhibit a host of emotions when we are jealous. Jealously is more often than not the sole emotion–it can lead to resentment (check for Petunia), anger (check for Petunia), cruelty to those who do not deserve it (check for Petunia) and, perhaps most telling, a heightened sense of superiority in order to compensate for feelings of inadequacies (major check)
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"The term “Muggle” is presented as a neutral noun. It had no negative connotations, unlike “Mudblood” which is always presenting as a foul, insulting label.
Excellent point. Muggle seems to be a general catchall for non-magical folk but without rendering them as less than or inferior than the magical born.
I do continue to wonder, however, if there is a sense of superiority over the Muggles. This doesn’t need to mean that the magical born feel like they should dominate the Muggles, but that there is a sense of just general “betterness” because they have magic (which can solve many problems) while the Muggles do not.
For example (eh, not really a spoiler but a line from an upcoming book so I’ll tag it)
at one point Arthur Weasley says to Harry about Muggles, “Bless them. They’ll go to any lengths to ignore magic. Even if it’s right in front of their face.” I’m not calling Arthur a racist or wizardist but rather that when he looks at the Muggle world, however much he may love it–and we know Arthur does–there is a sense that the Muggles are like the children in the world. They can’t see what is right in front of them and when confronted with the unknown, they rationalize it to make sense in a language (terms) they can understand. We’ve seen this quite a bit back in chapter one with Vernon’s desire to cast all the magical goings on in mundane terms.
So while I agree that the term “Muggle” is just an ordinary neutral term, I do continue to ponder that heightened sense of superiority that all Magic born have over the non-magic born.
It’s a two way street, though. Arthur talks about Muggles not recognizing magic but those not Muggle born or Half blood don’t understand Muggle technology, which in some ways is far superior than what we’ve seen Wizards do. Wizards have more abilities than Muggles, but Muggles use technology: they’ve gone to moon, developed enough weapons to destroy the Earth, travel to the far reaches of the solar system and beyond. All on their brain power, not magic. I think Arthur realizes this, too.
Ultimately, if it wasn’t the word “Muggle” it would be another. Humans need to create words to describe. It’s just what we do.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
“Not to worry,” she said. “All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don’t stop and don’t be scared you’ll crash into it, that’s very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you’re nervous.”
Summary:
Back at the Dursley’s, Harry counts down the days until he departs for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry reluctantly asks Uncle Vernon to take him to King’s Cross Station (who agrees only because Dudley has an appointment to have his pig’s tail removed). The Dursleys leave Harry at the station, who is unable to find Platform 9 ¾ where his train is supposed to leave.
Harry approaches a wizarding family and asks them for help in getting to Platform 9 3/4. We soon find out this is the Weasley family, and Harry meets Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny (and their mother). Ron and Harry share a compartment during the train ride, and start getting to know each other. Ron tells Harry about a break in at Gringotts bank.
During the train ride, various other students stop by the compartment to introduce themselves to the famous Harry Potter. A shy boy named Neville Longbottom comes by, searching for his toad, Trevor; Hermione Granger, a rather bossy girl, arrives shortly after, helping Neville in his search. She appears disdainful when Ron’s attempt to cast a spell fails, causing the two boys to take a dislike to her. Later, Draco Malfoy, the boy Harry met in Madam Malkin’s shop in Diagon Alley, stops by, flanked by his two friends, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy attempts to coerce Harry into an alliance; that fails, partially because Malfoy bad-mouths the Weasley family. Finally, Hermione returns, saying the train is about to arrive at Hogwarts, and they should change into their school robes.
At Hogsmeade Station, Hagrid appears and shepherds the first-years to small boats that carry the students across the lake to Hogwarts Castle.
ANALYSIS:
“Crazy, but that’s how it goes. Millions of people living as foes. Maybe, it’s not too late, to learn how to love, and forget how to hate.” – Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne
When Harry arrives at King’s Cross Station, he officially starts his journey into his new life. We talked about the Leaky Cauldron as a gateway to the wizarding world, or a liminal space, and as far as liminal spaces are concerned in our reread, Platform 9 ¾ is one of the big ones. It literally becomes Harry’s transition from one world to another. He leaves behind the Muggle world and truly enters the Wizarding one. He leaves a life with no friends and barely a semblance of family, and in this chapter we meet the people who will become those for life. Harry had nothing of his own- he had no money and only received hand-me-down clothes, and now he has his own money and is eager to share with others. And finally, a life where he is rarely even acknowledged and enters one where almost everyone knows his name.
Rowling also takes great care to show us completely opposite examples of family. The Durselys laugh as they leave him alone in the train station, where Harry has no idea how to get to Platform 9 ¾. The Weasleys arrive together, led by a caring, empathetic, and likeable mother – Molly. We instantly feel Molly’s maternal instinct towards Harry in one exchange, and it shines all the brighter in stark contrast to how Petunia treats him. Further on in the series, we find out that Petunia has actually been to Platform 9 ¾ with her mother to see her sister Lily off to school, which makes this event even more vile on the Dursleys part And when Molly finds out who that young boy was, her only remarks were “Poor dear – no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform”. Not an ounce of awe or celebrity worship – she just sees a young boy, all alone, who’s had enough troubles in his life and didn’t need to be reminded of them on his first day of school.
We are introduced to a few other students, who will ultimately be Harry’s circle of friends, most notably Ron and Hermione. These early interactions, though just in passing, give us a small window to each of them and their inner insecurities and their very natural fears about starting school. Harry reveals that he’s worried that he’ll be last in his class, because of his upbringing in a non-magical household (and the large shoes he doesn’t think he’ll fill from the wizarding community). Ron says that because he’s the sixth boy, his parents probably won’t be impressed with anything he does, because his brothers have all done it before him. Hermione, for all of her “know-it-all” tendencies, hopes that all of her studying will “be enough”, because none of her family is magical at all. So our 3 core characters all feel that they aren’t good enough, albeit in different ways.
While Ron and Harry are getting to know each other, Draco Malfoy enters the cabin. While Ron has treated Harry as he would any other boy, Draco attempts to network for advantage with those that may be useful – which clearly doesn’t include Ron. While we’ve discussed at length the prejudice and discrimination that the Dursleys have towards the magical world, we now see that similar prejudices exist within the magical community itself. While most people (for us in America) hide behind colorful euphemisms or patriotic mottos, the Malfoys at least are pretty open about it. Draco already knows that Ron is a Weasley, a word he uses with contempt, and that his family is poor which Draco considers lesser than his own wealthy family. It seems apparent the reason for the contempt between Malfoys and Weasleys runs deeper than socio-economic poor vs rich. “You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there”.
It’s worth noting again, that these are HUMAN behaviors, not just Muggle or Wizard, and these ideals are handed down through generations. Ron and Draco are direct reflections of their families and the different branches of how wizards view the world. In contrast, when Harry voices his fear of being last in his class Ron merely says “You won’t be. There’s loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough.” Ron clearly doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with coming from a Muggle family, while we know at this point that Draco would not agree. In Chapter 5, Draco obviously adheres to a class system among wizards, that he sees his family as better than most. He insults Hagrid, and makes remarks about the “other kind” not being allowed into Hogwarts, that only old wizarding families should be allowed. Many of you have referred to the connection between the Nazi movement during WW2 and the Muggle vs Pureblood mania of You-Know-Who, so it’s interesting to see two different viewpoints from 10 year old boys, indoctrinated at early ages by their parents.
POSSIBLE FORESHADOWING:
Ron mentions that the wizarding bank, Gringotts, has been broken into but apparently nothing was stolen and nobody was caught.
Dumbledore’s bio on his chocolate frog card: “Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.”
Scabbers wakes up and attacks Goyle.
DISCUSSION POINTS:
What do you think would have happened if the Malfoys met Harry at the platform instead of the Weasleys? What if Draco had sat in Harry’s compartment instead of Ron?
How do you think Harry’s sudden friendship with Ron colored his view on Slytherin? Do you think it affected his decision in 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
Dumbledore’s bio on his chocolate frog card: “Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.”
Interesting to note that Grindelwald was defeated in 1945, the same year as the fall of Nazi Germany during WW2. Knowing Rowling, this is not a coincidence. Also, Nicolas Flamel was a real historical person. If you were a British reader in the UK, where the original title of this book was “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, the connection would be pretty obvious about now. More information about Flamel can be read here:
Chapter Six: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
aka
Chapter Six: THEY MEET, THEY MEET!
“Whatever house I’m in, I hope she’s not in it,” said Ron.
–SS, p. 106
My OTP!!!!!!(Sorry, shipper moment there. My OTP of OTPs meet for the first time and dislike each other. Ahhh, true love. *will shut up about that….maybe*)
I’ll start with the discussion points
If the Malfoys met Harry at the barrier I doubt they’d even help. If the boy doesn’t know where the barrier was then they’d recognize him as someone unfamiliar with the Wizarding World…not one of their kind. They’d sneer at him and continue on with no assistance. As for if Draco and Harry sat together I doubt they’d have bonded like Ron and Harry did. Harry had already met Draco, although he didn’t know his name, in Diagon Alley and didn’t come out of encounter with a positive opinion of the boy.
As for Ron, he certainly reinforced Harry’s opinion about Slytherin. Hagrid warned him about the Slytherin House in the previous chapter with his “There’s not a a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin” comment. Add in Draco’s claim that he would be placed in Slytherin, the seed was already planted that he didn’t want to be placed in the house. Ron’s contempt for the house just reinforced what knowledge he already had.
So our 3 core characters all feel that they aren’t good enough, albeit in different ways.
They all three come from such diverse backgrounds and yet they all have this same deep fear of failure that manifests itself in so many different ways. It’s interesting how each deal with this. Ron struggles with his self esteem. We see the first signs of it immediately. His brothers are older, more fun, smarter, more athletic, more daring. He feels there is really no way to make his own mark on the school. Harry feels like he’s lost at sea. He literally knows nothing and feels so behind. On top of that he also has this reputation that was the result of something he didn’t even remember. Then there is Hermione. Who, in my opinion…although many will disagree, is the most scared of all. Her ‘know-it-all’ air, babbling, and demeanor is a a cover for being scared. I imagine she’s not used to failing academically and probably socially awkward in part stemming from her emergent magic in the Muggle world and largely it’s just her personality. So she overcompensates to the point that it rebounds and she’s still an outcast in her new environment.
As for Molly, I have to say her willingness to assist Harry just illustrates how horrid Petunia really is by not helping her nephew. The more I read the more I hate her (and I tweeted this to JKR). I will be interested to see how my opinions of Snape form during this exercise. I’ve always despised him for his treatment of his students, largely because of coming from an Educational background myself. He’s a fantastically layered character and, yes, he did good things, but he was also a horrid person. I’m really interested to examine it in the future.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
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