Harry Potter Rereading Harry Potter

[zerohour]

So, I haven't read HP in ages, and thought it could be interesting to see what my impressions of it are after picking it up for the first time since I was... probably in high school. Doing it chapter by chapter, and thought this would be a good place to post them, and see how much canon vs. fanon I can find, as well as see how it holds up after such a long time.

Chapter One

It seems the Dursleys have a policy of "You leave us alone, we'll leave you alone." with the Potters. They haven't met in years, but I assume they exchange holiday cards or letters, since they know about Harry, despite not seeing each other. Could be that Petunia's mom or dad acts as a go between, but since I can't recall ever hearing about them, I'm assuming it's letters.

The family seems pretty happy. Dudley's already a little bastard, but they don't seem to mind. Probably proud parent syndrome or something like that.

Vernon seems more tolerant somehow. Seeing wizards in the street he manages to brush it off as some kind of charity event, and lets it go. None of the hate I expected, sticking with the "Leave us alone and we'll be fine."

Vernon is still a dick. He seems to consider yelling at people a part of his job. Also, he's a director, which I assume is somewhat high up on the corporate ladder. Yelling tends to be part and parcel of the job for most fiction, so another point for not being an asshole.

Wrapping up the Dursley intro, it really seems that they just way to stay out of the magical aspects fo the world. No real hatred as far as I can see, just wantign to stay in their perfectly normal lives. The main concern isn't that there might be magic about, but that it might involve them.

And here we have Albus and Minerva. Albus is looking fabulous as always, sporting purple robes and high heels (Not kidding, by the way. One point for him being gay.). Apparently, he can silently Apparate as well, unless it's some other magic trick.

Huh, apparently McGonagall wears glasses. Never really noticed that much, could be influence from the movies.

Sad to see that she shares the low opinions most often associated with Pure Bloods in fanon. Weird shit happens, and they don't have any explanation, and just accept it. She also doesn't recognize Albus' signature Lemon Drop, though that doesn't mean too much.

Voldemort has been terrorizing the Magical World for over a decade?! Damn! You'd think one side or the other would have won by now.

Apparently, knowing what to wear in public is a common skill, since McGonagall is complaining about people forgetting themselves.

McGonagall says Voldemort. Didn't expect that. On a side note, Albus might be crushing on Madame Pomfrey.

No one has a clue how Harry survived, guess a decade of research makes a difference. No mention of the prophecy. Could be Albus playing things close to the chest.

McGonagall lecturing Albus on how crazy it is to leave a one year old on the doorstep with nothing but a letter. Albus counters with the fame goign to his head aspect. Pity we don't see that more in fanon, especially Wrong BWL stories. Would be nice to see Albus lecturing the Potters about the dangers of that. McGonagall caves immediately, sad to see that.

Hagrid shows up with Sirius' motorcycle. Weird that Dumbledore doesn't mention anything about that. Suppose that part might not have been written yet. Hagrid continues to lack all aspects of subtlety, riding a motorcycle and then bawling his eyes out in the middle of the night. Apparently he was goign to give Sirius his bike back. Wonder what could have happened if someone took that plot thread for a fanfic...

"Good Luck Harry." Lasts words Albus says to Harry before leaving. I guess he knows what Harry is going to have to deal with, either with the Dursleys or Voldemort when he returns. Really playing to the wise, mysterious old man trope. Good to see him that way again, instead of fanon's interpretations.

That wraps it up for the chapter. The first chapter in the book that became a sensation. Kind of interesting to read it again.




Odd thoughts:

Quick Math, using James' birth year of 1960, and Voldemort's reign of terror, he apparently started in 1971, when James and everyone else was starting Hogwarts. Effectively, they all grew up watching Voldemort rise to power. Interesting to think about.

I think Voldemort might have been a lot more subtle the first time around. That, or the high ranking Death Eaters did a lot of work on this inside in the years between. In the books, it takes less than three years for him to conquer magical Britain, but after eleven at the start, he still didn't come close to that same level of accomplishment. Either the Death Eaters played a major role in that, or Voldemort went a bit axe crazy after dying and didn't like the idea of slow and subtle anymore. Probably a combination of both, and I do like the idea that Voldemort was a lot smarter and saner before he died the first time. Would have liked to see how that Voldemort would have played the game in the stories...

 

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Chapter Two:

Well, after ten years, the Dursleys don't give the best impression. Certainly not as bad as fanon would have you think, but still pretty bad. Harry seems like he's simply used to it at this point. He knows that Dudley is number one, and he ranks in at fifth at best.

Dudley is spoiled rotten, as we all knew. He likes to beat up harry, but Harry's fast enough to avoid him most of the time.

Harry likes his scar. Interesting, but this is before the whole fame aspect comes into play. Right now it's just an interesting conversation piece.

Harry's cooking, and apparently often insults Dudley. Calling him a pig in a wig, makes Hagrid's attempt all the funnier. Dudley seems quite dumb, seeing as he struggles to add thirty seven and two. Sad really. Maybe they shoudl have had him checked at some point. Another potential plot thread. Dudley is mentally handicapped, and how the Dursleys would react to it.

Mrs. Figg gets mentioned. Despite keeping an eye on Harry and knowing about his importance, she gives the impression of a crazy cat lady. Probably another thing that got changed, but still worth noting. Doesn't really go out of her way to treat him well, just showing him pictures of her cats every year.

Figuring you what to do with Harry. No one to take him, and they don't want to leave him alone since he'll get into trouble. Dudley pitches a fit, playing the crowd, but Harry goes along anyways.

Vernon being Vernon, complaining about everything on the drive, not just magic, thought that does seem to set him off. Petunia doesn't seem to mind. Still seems they just want a perfectly ordinary life.

Huh, Dursleys being nice to Harry, even if it's only to keep up appearances. Actually, he gets a second one. Granted, only because Dudley didn't like it, but they didn't just toss it out to spite him.

Talking with the snake. Doesn't seem to be parseltongue, since Piers apparently realized harry was talking to it. Could have been modified later, and the snake did talk to harry, but worth noticing.

Harry isn't being locked in the cupboard, since sneaking out for more food seems to be the norm for him.

Reflectign on how much his life sucks wraps up the chapter. Makes sense, since it really does suck, though not nearly as much as it does in fanon. Seems his biggest complaint is that he's all alone and doesn't have any friends. A few witches and wizards have made themselves known to him at one time or another, but generally just a nod of the head or a shake of the hand. Doesn't suspect anything about them, just thinks they're strange.


Overall impression of the Dursleys: Dudley's a prick, but he's only a schoolyard bully. Doesn't seem he corners harry and beats on him in the house, and Harry avoids it more often than not. Think it's more of a dominance thing than anything else. Harry's an easily available target, and a safe one since he'll get in trouble if he hurts Dudley.

Vernon and Petunia seem more neglectful than abusive. They don't really go out of their way to hurt Harry or anything. I think he even ate the same food as them at this point. They just don't want to do anything to make his life better. Even forbidding meals is probably just to assert their authority. Given how nosey Petunia is, I doubt she wouldn't notice missing food. So they're bad people. but not exceptionally so. They love Dudley, and their perfectly normal life, and they view Harry as a threat to that, but he's still family, as much as they wish otherwise.

Of course, next chapter things start heating up...

 

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Chapter Three:

Apparently, Harry doesn't spend his summers doing backbreaking labor. He's free to do as he likes, and he tends to stay away from the house since it's where Dudley and his gang of thugs spend their time.

Harry's actually in a positive mood, mainly because he's getting away from Dudley after the summer. Dudley seems the primary source of Harry's difficulties at this point. Harry insults Dudley again this chapter, and sees that while things will be better, they still aren't great.

Harry back talks to Vernon, who just seems to accept it. Tells Dudley to poke him with his Smeltings Stick, but he was probably going to do that anyways.

And here we are, the LETTER. Vernon doesn't seem to care all that much, until he realizes that Harry is a wizard. Then... things get interesting. They seem terrified by it.

Harry shouts at them and only gets tossed out of the room. Dudley too. They immediately fight over who gets to spy where (seems like it could be a common occurance.) Vernon and Petunia freak out a bit about it, and when Harry asks about it the next day, Vernon actually ties to be nice to him. He gives him a very forced smile and moves him to Dudley's extra bedroom. It's not much of an improvement, mainly filled with broken toys, but it is a step up, and surprisingly, Dudley doesn't get his way. Probably one of the few times that has happened.

Dudley had a turtle? And the Dursleys have a greenhouse? Guess it's another detail that isn't too important, and gets forgotten quickly. Feel kind of bad for the turtle, but hopefully it managed to survive and escape.

Well, here we have an escalating series of events where harry tires to get his letter, Vernon tries to keep him from getting it, and Hogwarts gets ever more inventive in how they are delivered. It's funny to watch Vernon steadily go more and more insane as the week goes on. Dudley seems more amazed than anything else, though he still has no idea about magic at this point.

The Countdown. Even though I know what;s coming, it still builds up the tension. A good transition from being an ordinary kid to stepping into the beginnings of Harry's adventures.

Seems like a good place to stop for the night, though I've got to admit, I find myself getting hooked on reading this again. It's still enjoyable even after all these years...


Overall impressions:

Again, Dursleys don't seem all that bad until magic gets involved. They seem to value normality over everything else. Anything that threatens that is a problem, even their own son Dudley, to a degree. I can't help but feel that if they letters hadn't come, Harry's life would proibably have improved significantly. He might have moved up int Dudley's second bedroom anyways, and away from Dudley, he might have actually made some friends and had a halfway decent childhood. Without the threat of magic over their heads, the Durselys might have even been nice to him. They would still favor Dudley to a ridiculous degree, but Harry might have received a bit more positive attention, especially since he would be the only child around anymore. I could be wrong about that, but that's the impression I'm getting. As long as they have their nice and normal lifestyle, the Dursleys are happy.

 

[Shirotsume]

I wouldn't get too buddy-buddy with the durselys, keep in mind Petunia tried to brain him with a skillet at one point, and Harry learned 'through hard experience' to stay out of arm's reach of Vernon.

Not really indicative of them ever giving him a chance.

 

[Cynical Kyle]

I wouldn't get too buddy-buddy with the durselys, keep in mind Petunia tried to brain him with a skillet at one point, and Harry learned 'through hard experience' to stay out of arm's reach of Vernon.

Not really indicative of them ever giving him a chance.

I'm with zerohour on this one. Dursley's are just image-obsessed people that want to live normal middle-class life. Things you mentioned are probably isolated incidents and judging by their behavior in absence of abnormal happenings, likely occurred after accidental magic from Harry. They certainly aren't model parents, but far from horrible child-abusers fanon loves to portray them as.

Reason why it took longer for Voldemort to control Wizarding Britain in first war should be obvious: back then he had Dumbledore to contend with and was still building his reputation & organization. Assuming control was lot smoother the second time with established name & his greatest obstacle dead and buried.

 

[Tennie]

Dursley's are just image-obsessed people that want to live normal middle-class life.

And had a certain series of events not left them as the only remaining eligible guardians for a little boy named Harry James Potter, they almost certainly would've just continued on like that and no one would've been the wiser.

Reason why it took longer for Voldemort to control Wizarding Britain in first war should be obvious: back then he had Dumbledore to contend with and was still building his reputation & organization. Assuming control was lot smoother the second time with established name & his greatest obstacle dead and buried.

It does typically take quite a lot of time and effort on the part of those who want to become infamous until they achieve that kind of place in history. Even singular events that instantly catapult them to infamy (e.g. the Oklahona City bombing, the Columbine High School massacre, etc.) took a lot of effort and planning on the part of the perpetrators involved.

 

[Shirotsume]

I wouldn't get too buddy-buddy with the durselys, keep in mind Petunia tried to brain him with a skillet at one point, and Harry learned 'through hard experience' to stay out of arm's reach of Vernon.

Not really indicative of them ever giving him a chance.

I'm with zerohour on this one. Dursley's are just image-obsessed people that want to live normal middle-class life. Things you mentioned are probably isolated incidents and judging by their behavior in absence of abnormal happenings, likely occurred after accidental magic from Harry. They certainly aren't model parents, but far from horrible child-abusers fanon loves to portray them as.

Reason why it took longer for Voldemort to control Wizarding Britain in first war should be obvious: back then he had Dumbledore to contend with and was still building his reputation & organization. Assuming control was lot smoother the second time with established name & his greatest obstacle dead and buried.

I hate how many people think abuse of any kind is acceptable if it's just 'only occasionally' or 'when they deserve it' or bullshit like that. Abuse is not OK, and nobody deserves that shit >.>

 

[nixofcyzerra]

Abuse is never OK, but obviously the fics that have the Dursley's beat Harry to a bloody pulp every evening and twice on Sundays are pretty far from canon.

 

[zerohour]

Yeah the Dursleys are in no way good guardians, but after years of fanon where they lock him up for weeks and regularly beat him for starters, it's a nice change of pace, and it's interesting to see how it all started.

Were they bad guardians? Of course. They had him sleeping in a cupboard so their son could have a second bedroom for his broken toys. Vernon clearly has a temper, and Harry is likely subjected to it at some point or another. Petunia probably never cared for him in the first place, and Dudley is a bully who keeps him from having friends through fear. They clearly have enough money to afford to buy top of the line luxuries, yet still stick Harry with hand me downs that clearly don't fit him.

Were they horrifying guardians? Probably not, at least at the start. They clearly don't care for him, but they do keep him fed. Even when they deny him food, he is able to sneak out and get some, and they don't call him on this, despite probably knowing (again, someone as nosy as Petunia would catch it quickly.)

However, now that he is a confirmed wizard (and Flanderization sets in,) I'm sure things will get worse. As bad as fanon shows it? Probably not. We'll see where it all goes from here.

Should read a couple more chapters later tonight.

 

[H-Man]

I think the backbreaking labor thing comes from later books.

Regarding the Dursleys, it's pretty much official that fanon likes to exaggerate them into monsters. This is better compared to the treatment Naruto gets in that, in all honesty, people simply refused to acknowledge he existed; Harry probably had a few small victories when he had to do chores that the Dursleys wouldn't notice, like 'accidentally' burn the eggs a little, but it's nothing to be proud of when he knows nobody likes or loves him.

 

[zerohour]

Chapter Four:

Heeeere's Hagrid!

Kicking it off with a good demonstration why the Dursleys might not be wrong to hate magic. A giant of a man tracks them down to the middle of nowhere, breaks into their hut, completely destroys their only defense, and rounds it off

Here's the first hint of the Dursleys being truly spiteful. Hagrid is furious that Harry didn't know anything, probably because Albus laid out what they ought to tell him in his letter, and they purposefully didn't, in an effort to squash it out of him. Now I could have possibly supported this if it was in response to Lily dying, but they're pretty clear that they're doing simply because they hate magic. Petunia shows that she really hated that about her, and probably her parents too for supporting her. Could be she felt unappreciated since she wasn't as special, but I'm getting ahead of this chapter.

Side note: Hagrid keeps an owl in his coat? What else does he have in there?

Voldemort is revealed to Harry, and that he was the one who murdered Harry's parents. Harry's processing it fairly well, but that could be because Vernon's an idiot, bad mouthing Harry's parents in front of Hagrid, who has already shown he won't tolerate it.


"Nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured." Implies that they didn't beat Harry... Might just be reading too much into it, but we'll see as we progress...

Most of them reckon that Voldemort's still alive... interesting tidbit there. Is Hagrid just talking about the Order of the Phoenix, or does the wizarding world live in perpetual fear that Voldemort may return?

Hagrid's a bit of a dick here. Vernon's mouthign off to him so he curses Dudley? Not saying he didn't deserve it, but as far as I can see he didn't do anything stupid in front of Hagrid.

Hgrid has mice in his coat too? Is he planning to feed them to his owl, or does he just keep all of his less interesting pets in his coat? I could see it going either way.

Not much happening here in this chapter, just revealing stuff to Harry that we already know about from the first chapter a bit. opefully the next one will be more entertaining.

 

[zerohour]

Chapter Five:

That's right Harry, it's wasn't a dream! That would be boring!

I think Hagrid just keeps everything small in his coat now. Doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it.

Harry learns a bit about wizard money and that he's not broke. Let's keep moving along. Exploring the world is great and all, but I know a lot of it already, and

How the heck did Hagrid fly? Did he shrink down a broom or the motorcycle, or did he just get his coat enchanted so he can just roam around like superman?

Superman!Hagrid... I'd read it.

Hagrid casts some more illegal magic. Never let the law stand in the way of making life easier for you.

Wow, Fudge is really incompetent. Bugging Dumbledore every morning? Could be Hagrid exaggerating, but Fudge was never particularly impressive at any point that I can recall. Maybe he's not so far off base.

Ministry's job is to keep Muggles from bothering them. Kind of setting them up in an Ivory Tower, and doesn't really give a reason why aside from "they would bother us," but this is Hagrid. Kind of wish they gave an answer for why the magical world separated from the regular one at some point.

Hagrid completely fails at blending in, no surprise there, but he'd have a difficult time of it even with a NEWT in muggle studies. He's huge.

Newt Scamander wrote one fo the textbooks? Isn't that the guy Luna married in the Epilogue?

Hagrid reveals the first instance of dragon love. Foreshadowing!

Arrival at the Leaky Cauldron, and Harry gets his first taste of fame. Getting swarmed probably isn't the most enjoyable experience in the world...

Quirrel shows up, stutters a bit, gets some exposition, and we're off to Diagon Alley!

Good intro to the wizarding world. Overwhleming Harry and only giving us a brief glimpse of what's going on, keeps it mysterious even when you start exploring them, since there's always more around the next corner. I like it.

Gringotts is interesting, mainly serving to get Harry enough money to not worry about it, and lay the foundation for the Philosopher's Stone.

Why is Hary's Vault filled with Green smoke? Did someone try to rob him and triggered the defenses?

Clearly, Wizarding Britain won the war against decimalization. Seventeen sickles make a galleon, and twenty nine knuts to a sickle? Anyone know if those numbers are magically significant, or just there to make the wizarding world seem stranger?

We pick up the "Mysterious Package," and we're off to do some shopping.

We meet Malfoy for the first time, and they already hit it off on a sour note. Draco reminds harry of Dudley, who's a confirmed bully at this point. Not exactly friend material for him. Definitely full of himself already, assuming because he and his father think he's good at soemthing, that makes him good.

Huh, Harry actually wants to be involved in the conversation a bit. Not sure if it's because of the topic, or if he's willing to try and make friends with Draco. Draco blows that chance by insulting Hagrid, and continues to torpedo any chance of friendly relations by brushing off the death of Harry's parents with some bigotry.

Hagrid knows soccer? Bit surprised at that, given his obliviousness about everyday muggle items, but maybe soccer is just that popular? Bit more information about the wizarding world, the houses and quidditch.

How does Hagrid know that Voldemort was at Hogwarts? Probably just assuming he was there.

Books that even Dudley woudl be interested in? That's surprising. Then again, Harry was looking at a curse book, which makes sense for a kid I guess.

We've picked up Hedwig, so now we go on to the wand...

Ollivander's shop seems different from everything else. Could be because we actually spend some time in it, and thus it gets more description, but like the intro to Diagon Alley, it implies that there is a lot more than what we're seeing. Ollivander keeps that up, not needing to ask Harry's name, though that could just be because he's so well known, and the scuttlebutt might have made its way to his shop. Still, more fun to assume he knows more than he ought to.

Ollivander knows what wand gave harry his scar, and who he sold it to. Another interesting tidbit...

Seems Ollivander enjopys a challenge. Not discouraged at all by his numerous failures to find a wand... I wonder what makes Holly and Phoenix feather such an unusual combination? There are only three types of cores that he seems to use, so you'd think it wold crop up regularly...

The connection between Harry and Voldemort is reinforced with the selection of the brother wand.

Hagrid takes Harry out for dinner, which is a nice gesture, and does his best to reassure Harry that he'll do fine. Looks like Hagrid's feeling some affection for him but that's no surprise. Still, he didn't explain about the station, and once they separate, Hagrid vanishes as quickly as he appeared.

Overall impressions about this chapter: mainly setting up for further aspects of the story. Meeting Malfoy, showing the package, and the brother wands seem to be the main point of this.

Hagrid probably wasn't the best person to send with Harry. He does his best, don't get me wrong, but he doesn't strike me as the type that normally handles the introduction to the magical world. Than again, maybe Dumbledore wanted to intimidate the Dursleys into letting Harry go, and Hagrid is certainly intimidating.

 

[H-Man]

Kicking it off with a good demonstration why the Dursleys might not be wrong to hate magic. A giant of a man tracks them down to the middle of nowhere, breaks into their hut, completely destroys their only defense, and rounds it off

You're doing this more than needed, cutting off paragraphs before you're actually done. May want to take a second look today and see what you were going to say.

Most of them reckon that Voldemort's still alive... interesting tidbit there. Is Hagrid just talking about the Order of the Phoenix, or does the wizarding world live in perpetual fear that Voldemort may return?

Probably the former, maybe the latter. They want to believe Voldemort's dead for good, but most wizards and witches age more like elfs and would be surprised at what they did.

Hagrid's a bit of a dick here. Vernon's mouthign off to him so he curses Dudley? Not saying he didn't deserve it, but as far as I can see he didn't do anything stupid in front of Hagrid.

Always thought it was because he tried to eat Harry's cake without even asking.

Wow, Fudge is really incompetent. Bugging Dumbledore every morning? Could be Hagrid exaggerating, but Fudge was never particularly impressive at any point that I can recall. Maybe he's not so far off base.

It was stated somewhere that Fudge was really really nervous at doing his job early on, so he was overly dependant on Dumbledore. One could say that Dumbledore was running the country rather than him! [...and it's certainly how Fudge FELT, at any rate.]

Newt Scamander wrote one fo the textbooks? Isn't that the guy Luna married in the Epilogue?

Luna didn't marry Newt Scamander - the guy was apparently Headmaster of Hogwarts - but his grandson, Rolf.

I wonder what makes Holly and Phoenix feather such an unusual combination? There are only three types of cores that he seems to use, so you'd think it wold crop up regularly...

Holly might be particularly magical but not work well with a phoenix feather. It's certainly a special material - with some religious connotations.

Hagrid probably wasn't the best person to send with Harry. He does his best, don't get me wrong, but he doesn't strike me as the type that normally handles the introduction to the magical world. Than again, maybe Dumbledore wanted to intimidate the Dursleys into letting Harry go, and Hagrid is certainly intimidating.

Very likely. That was weeks of letters, wasn't it? By this point, they had probably realized that Harry wasn't allowed to come - not that Hagrid would necessarily know that.

Let's hope you'll give Ron a fair judge now that he's showing up.

 

[zerohour]

Alright, after a couple of days off, I'm back on this.

Chapter Six:

Dursleys are terrified of Harry mostly, enjoy it while it lasts kid.

Harry asks for a ride an gets it, probably Vernon just wants to get rid of him. wonder why Petunia doesn't recognize the platform, her parents probably would have dragged her to say goodbye to her sister at some point. Could be she's just trying to spite him.

Harry goes through the motions of fretting about school, and gets dropped at the station. Any chance the Dursleys did this out of altruism is gone as they drive off laughing. As i said earlier, they aren't as bad as people make them out to be, but they're still dicks.

Kind of wonder what the hell most muggleborns do to get on the train. They probably get the instructions from whoever normally introduces them to magic, but again, Hagrid isn't the person you would normally entrust with that sort of thing.

...Yeah, I can kind of see why people might think the Weasley family is a plant to endear them to Harry, especially if they want darkness and betrayal. Honestly, Molly's trying to get four kids on the train, watching another one who is probably going to try and sneak on at some point, is running late, and any number of other issues that can arise when trying it meet a deadline, and either forgets herself about keeping quiet around the muggles, or is like her husband and has absolutely no clue about that sort of thing. Then again, she does just assume that he's a Hogwarts student, and not, say some muggle child who's looking for his parents. Still, I think that any "evil plotting" is wholly in the reader's mind.

"Don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important:" kind of wonder if it wouldn't let you through if you didn't believe in it...

The platform. FIrst glimpse o Neville and Lee Jordan. Fred and george lend Harry a hand, clearly part of an evil conspiracy to endear themselves to him, despite the fact that they are often the "good" Weasleys.

Kind of like Molly's meritocracy. If you do well, you get nicer things. Makes sense, and encourages her kids to do well in school. Surprising to hear Ron is already as tall as the Twins, so he's got to be huge by the end of the series. Fred and George mention Harry, ginny fangirls it up a bit and wants to go and stare at him.

Ron joins Harry in the compartment, the Twins briefly introduce them, and Ron's spider phobia is not present at all.

I suppose I could rant about Ron asking about the scar showing that all he cares about is Harry's fame, but that's fanon, and honestly, his reaction is a lot better than the fully grown adults we've seen. the leaky Cauldron had the proprieter declare Harry's identity to everyone, and then they all sawrmed him. Ron just asks if he's really Harry Potter and wants to see the scar.

I'd say it's like meeting your favorite athlete or celebrity. You can either fangirl it up, completely with screams and shouts, or you can play it cool. Ron does a decent job of playing it cool, and they actually move past it quite quickly.

Ron also doesn't ask for or try to sneak any of Harry's treats. he even tries to refuse (not very hard, but he's eleven.)

Name Drop! Nick Flamel has been named.

Kind of wish they kept the Chocolate Frog card collecting up later in the series. Would have been kind of nice, especially if there was a Harry Potter card. would have been good for a laugh.

Neville's back, and still hasn't found his toad. unless his great aunt summoned it for him, that means Trevor wandered onto the train on his own.

Hermione shows up, and she's pretty bossy, essentially inviting herself in to watch Ron's attempt at magic. Already memorized the course books, and is already worried that it won't be enough. At the rate she moves, i wouldn't be surprised if she was an avid coffee addict already.

Seems powerful dark wizard might be the standard name for anyone who can overcome standard security. No possibility of bribes, no hacks or loophles, just powerful, dark magic.

"Everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it." Yeah, seems like everyone is expecting him to come back.

Harry's getting scared of Voldemort. Interesting.

Ron somehow manages to cram a decade of Quidditch knowledge into a few minutes, and Malfoy shows up.

Seems that the Weasley/Malfoy hate is going strong already. Kind of wish it had stayed that way, but Harry kind of stole that since he's the main character.

Huh, Peter's watching Ron's back. Kinda wonder why. Maybe he regrets what he did, not just because of how it turned out, but because of his role in it. I wonder if Peter chose to work for Voldemort, or if that choice was made for him. Sirius certainly didn't give him a chance after catching him, and he didn't really have any options left at that point besides Voldemort or Azkaban.

Hermione shows up again, and remains bossy, acts a bit like Ron's mother, telling him to clean his nose and get dressed for school, and complaining of children acting childishly.

They're on the way to the boats, and seems liek Neville and Hermione are hanging together for the moment. Hogwarts is coming into view, and it is, naturally, breathtaking.

Trevor one again manages to get to the place he's supposed to go on his own. Maybe he's not trying to escape, but Neville's really bad at keeping track of him?

That wraps up the chapter, probably enter Hogwarts proper tomorrow.


Character analysis:

We get a good look at Ron inferiority complex here. He already knows that anything he can do at school has already been done before by his family, so his only options are failure or getting a brief pat on the head for being adequate. I think he might have already resigned himself to that, since he didn't really demonstrate any signs of wanting to look at his books and try casting spells. We've never seen a spell anything like what he tried to cast, so he either heard it from his brothers, or made it up himself. Still, he can't be a Quidditch Star, model student, or class clown without following in someone's footsteps, so what other options does he really have at this point? There aren't any extraciriculars besides Quidditch that I can recall, so he can't explore something new. Ron got dealt a bad hand in that regard, so I kind of feel sorry for him.

Honestly, getting sorted into another house probably would have been a very good experience for him. It would give him a chance to define himself away from his brothers' legacies, and maybe carve out a new path for himself, instead of walking on one someone else already took.



Hermione... you kind of have to wonder how her parents raised her. If they were a regular, loving family, then I think they would have grounded her a bit better than she comes off. I suppose it could be the excitement over the unknown and wanting to be prepared for it, but it seems Hermione's school obsession is set a few notches above eleven already. If I had to guess, she was probably ostracized as a child, threw herself into learning, was praised for it by teachers and parents, so kept on learning. Of course, such high grades probably led to a number of kids hearing "why can't you be more like that nice Hermione?" and shunning her all the more. Probably the only way she could get recognition was by burying herself in schoolwork and sucking up to her teachers.

Seriously, I wonder about her parents. They really should have made an effort to balance her out a bit more. Part of me thinks they really might not have had all that much time for her because of that. Hermione's backstory is pretty much a blank slate, so it is quiet fun to speculate about her family.

First impressions, of the two of them, I would probably be friends with Ron first. While I would probably get along better with Hermione in the long run since I'm not much of a sports fan, (though I do enjoy a good game of chess once in a while.) They way she presents herself would probably make me want to avoid her. She basically just jumps into your space without any regard for if you want her there or not. Ron at least acts polite about it.

 

[H-Man]

I think the owl was the dealbreaker. Harry wouldn't keep Hedwig inside the trunk if he could allow it, and probably there's some general education among wizards that, if you see a kid with a bird in the train station, chances are they're Hogwarts students.

Or maybe it's the trunk, too; the make would be different from normal.

 

[zerohour]

Chapter Seven:

Hogwarts remains impressive even after entering.

Hundred of voices... probably the closest we get to an estimate of the school's population, and it sounds about right, probably no more than five hundred or so people including the staff. Having so few people only makes Hogwarts seem bigger and more mysterious in comparison. Makes you wonder why they built it so large, were they expecting more students, or was Hogwarts meant to be the foundation of something?

Seems they skimp on the explanation fo the Houses a bit, but it's probably common knowledge to most of them, and the information is probably readily available if muggleborns are interested.

What is the great honor of the House Cup? I don't recall much aside from the end of year feast, but maybe I'm missing something, or maybe that's all it is.

Harry starts stressing about the potential test, but is distracted from his thoughts by the arrival of the ghosts.

They move along and the Sorting is about to begin. Time for a song! The song seems quite upbeat and friendly, and gives a very basic rundown of the houses in case anyone missed it somehow.

Tensions builds as Harry's name gets closer and closer. Don't know why I thought his sorting would take longer, probably because it's essentially his first defining moment, that he can remember anyways. I'm honestly curious about how the Hat works. Does it just feel general inclinations, or does it delve deep into his mind and go over every little detail of his life? My money's on the former, simply because I don't feel that diving deep into someone's mind will show much different from the surface at that age.

Hagrid's on the staff table. Guess it's not just teachers.

Percy seems to think madness and genius go hand in hand, or at least madness doesn't detract from genius. Kind of wish he decided to embrace whatever inner nut job he had and see how that turned out.

Dursley's never exactly starved Harry. Probably gave him less than they should have, but if they did tell him no meals, they probably expected him to simply feed himself. Another point in "Not as bad as fanon makes them out to be, but still not good."

Ron takes the wind out of Nick's sails by sharing his nickname. No noble lord from the ancient past with wisdom long forgotten, just a transparent fellow with a parlor trick. Poor guy. kind of a wuss too, if he never asked why the Baron is covered in blood, but maybe he's just being polite.

Seamus talking about how his mom surprised his dad with her magical background. I vaguely remember reading a story where this was a huge shock and people were angry that she would keep something so serious from him, but with the Secrecy Statute, she probably didn't have much choice, and I think it's more along the lines of embarrassing family secret than anythign else, like that uncle you didn't invite to your biracial wedding because he's a member of the KKK.

Neville's childhood sounds traumatic. Harry's was neglectful, but Neville has two near death encounters at least.

First twinge of the scar. We know it was Quirrel, but JK did a good job of deflecting attention to Snape. Doubly so since nothing like that happened the first time he met Quirrel.

Kind of wonder why Dumbledore never gave Snape a chance with DADA. Especially when the only option next year was Lockhart. Maybe he is aware of his favoritism.

Forbidden Forest seems like the area teens would go when they want to do teen stuff. Not inherently deadly, but it does have a hint of danger to it, enough to be enticing anyways. Couple of other announcements, and then he dangles the third floor corridor it front of them with no explanation. Apparently he normally gives a reason, which only makes it more curious. Someone is bound to check it out at some point. Maybe that's what happened to Sally-Anne Perks...

Wonder when first years were expected to learn the school song... Also Albus apparently appreciates music.

A long walk to the Tower, and we get to meet Peeves. Wonder where he got the walking sticks.

Password is Caput Draconis. I have no translation skills whatsoever besides what the internet gives me, but that roughly translates to Head Dragon, or maybe Chief or King Dragon. Certainly more inspiring than some of the later passwords we see.

Wonder if Harry's dream means anything. Quirrel's turban talking to him about transferring to Slytherin, turban getting heavier and he can't get it off, and Malfoy laughing at him, and then transforming into Snape with Voldemprt's laugh and then killing him.

Hm... wonder if Snape was meant to be a bad guy the whole time, until the fandom gave him leather pants.



You know, in an odd way, Percy is what Ron should have been. Not the rules following stick up his butt aspects of him, but he didn't let his brother's accomplishments get him down. The two main paths to excellence, academics and sports were already taken, but Percy just decided to do his best regardless. He never seems down that his brother already did everythign he did, and no one seems to bring it up. Part of me wonders if he expectation is mostly in Ron's head.

... now that I'm thinking about it, Ron could have tried to be a Casa Nova to separate himself from his brothers. Might make for a funny story.

 

[zerohour]

Chapter Eight:

Harry finds out he's stuck with his fame. Already there's whisperign in the corridors about him, but maybe it gets better as years go on. At least after a couple, only the first years will still be shocked by him, right? Ha.

One hundred forty two staircases. Wonder what that would translate to size wise. Probably not a good indicator, since everythign seem to keep on changing. Do you think it's just regular confusing, or Escher level; confusing? As much fun as Escher would be, they're expecting children to find their way around without any guidance, so probably just regular confusing.

Kind of wish they said why Astronomy was important. At least Herbology they say they need to learn what all of them do.

How tall is Flitwick? He has to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk? It sound like he can't be more than two feet tall. Maybe it was supposed to be a podium or he just isn't using a chair, though they should have just had him floating. Would have been much more impressive.

How is transfiguration dangerous? Do they turn things into deadly things on a regular basis by accident?

Lots of people came from muggle families... That would be, what, at least twenty, twenty five percent? Might go as high as fifty percent, but probably closer to the lower estimate.

Harry gets a letter from Hagrid, and it's off to Potions!

Potions is a disaster for Harry, as we well know. Hermione shows that she wants to be acknowledged regardless of the circumstances. Snape doesn't seem like as much of a bastard as we often see. Taking only a point from Harry being a bit cheeky, then another for not earning Neville about something he knows little about.

Surprisingly, it seem he criticizes his own students as well. Didn't remember that one.

Harry stressing about two points. Is that really a lot? Numbers lose meaning without some frame of reference, especially when you factor in fanon.

Hagrid ought to make you feel a bit better Harry. For someone who loves animals so much, Hagrid seems to enjoy killing the, judging by the pheasants and hams he has strung up in his house. Maybe he's going to sing about the Circle of Life.

We find out more about the Gringotts break in, good to see that it isn't just a one off clue. Harry's curiosity is latching on to it, so I guess we'll see where it leads.

 

[zerohour]

Chapter Nine:

Harry hates Malfoy, we all saw that coming. Only time they have to deal with each other is in Potions. We move along to the flying lesson, with people who have done it before boasting about their misadventures (especially Malfoy,) and Hermione annying almost veryone as she quietly (mostly) freaks out.

Malfoy gets a lot of sweets from home. Would have been funny if he got all doughy and fat. Neville gets his Remembrall, and Malfoy promptly steals it. McGonagall doesn't even penalize him for it. No surprise he thinks he's untouchable after a couple years of favoritism from his house, and neutrality from his enemy head of house. Maybe McGonagall should have picked eith Head of House or Deputy Headmistress instead of both.

Madam Hooch is just as no nonsense as McGonagall, and Harry shows a natural aptitude for flying from the start. Good to see Malfoy taken down a notch, even if he probably thinks that the instructor is wrong.

Neville crashes and burns. Poor guy. Hooch shows terrible leadership qualities by leaving two enemy houses unsupervised with broomsticks. Malfoy shows no compassion at all and quickly proceeds to take the dropped Remembrall. Harry stands up to hum, Hermione tries to interfere, and Harry leaps into action.

Malfoy shows that he's a bit of a coward, or at best, cautious. He starts worrying once he sees that Harry can match him, and quickly tries to claim victory be destroying the ball. Too bad it just earns Harry a spot on the Quidditch team.

Wood shows his Quidditch lust a bit, and McGonagall is bending the rules so she can show up Snape. I like that, wish sh did it a bit more often.

Malfoy show up to ruin Harry's joyous moment, trying to recoup whatever credibility he lost. Challenges Harry to a midnight duel which sounds cool, but pretty much makes sure no one will be around. Probably should have set off a couple of warning bells, but this is probably the first time he's actually been able to stand up to them, so I'll let it slide.

Hermione butts in again. She really doesn't do much to endear herself to people. Harry brushes her off, and Ron follows suit.

Hermioen doesn't let it go, and follows them after getting locked out of the Tower. Her high and mighty attitude is irritating, and I would suspect she's the stick in the mud that always tries to get in the way of Harry's business. The ineffectual antagonist to Malfoy's rival/antagonist status.

Wow, Neville's sleeping on the floor outside the tower, for hours apparently. Kind of get the feeling people did it on purpose. At the very least, the Baron coudl have just phased in and told someone. Poor Neville.

Ron threatens them with a booger curse, and they're off.

Malfoy's ploy, while not particularly impressive (run and tell a teacher) does a decent job of it. Harry and company get caught, and he can spin whatever tale he wants to. Sure, they'll say that he never showed, but he'll just say they weren't good enough to avoid getting caught. Face regained and humiliating his rival in one fell swoop. Of course, his house could probably call him on not leaving the common room, but I'm sure he could think of something.

Hermione can't wait until they're safe back at the Tower, already lecturing them about how they were tricked. Hindsight is 20/20, and if you figured it ahead of time, you should have said something.

Peeves screwing around, not supporting either side is interesting, btu short. The really interesting things is when they go into the door that leads to a horrible death unknowingly.

After all, who doesn't love doggies? I wonder when Fluffy finds the time to sleep... Maybe the heads take turns.

After a narrow escape, we find out the new password is pig snout. Way less classy than the first one.

Hermione delivers her infamous "or worse, expelled." line and storms off to bed. Blaming them for everythign despite the fact that it was her choice to follow them, and if she didn't unlock the door, they wouldn't have come face to face with death. Harry is starting to make the connections between Gringotts and the Third floor corridor.


It's interesting to see that Malfoy and Harry are essentially the de facto leaders for their house years. Every Slytherin follows Malfoy's lead, but EVERYONE goes quiet when Harry speaks up.

Hermione doesn't really do much, but she really cements herself as the stick in the mud kid. She doesn't really seem to grasp house solidarity, and in her own rule abiding way, seeks glory (even if its only in her own mind) by trying to stop Ron and Harry herself. She's setting herself up on the path she's probably taken her entire life. I think part of the reason she has a bit of a breakdown is that she no longer has the adult support network she is probably used to.

 

[zerohour]

Chapter Ten:

Molfoy's ploy failed, and Ron and Harry are being bros, and already hoping for another adventure like the night before. Ron is in the loop about the package, adn they're startign to wonder what it could be that would justify this sort of thing.

McGonagall buys Harry his broomstick, which is probably paid for out of her own pocket, so another point in subtly favoring/supporting her house.

Malfoy looks like he's sucking a lemon as Harry one ups him again. This is probably the first time anyone shown him up, and he's not adapting to it very well.

Hermioen (again) can't keep her nose out of other people's business. She really sees the world in nothing but black and white.

Hary goes to meet Wood after dinner, and we get a basic rundown of how to play Quidditch. They outright say that catching teh Snitch pretty much makes victory a certainty. Also, no time limit aside from catching the Snitch. Would be a funny fic where two seeker decide to just go out and grab a coffee for a bit, or perhaps a short vacation, leaving the rest of them to play.

Halloween is here. Good to see Harry paired up with someone besides Ron and Hermione, kind of wish that happened a bit more often. Seems Seamus might be a bit of a pyromaniac. No mention of it being accidental.

Ron says Herioen has no friends, and she runs off crying. I feel I should note that he didn't say it to her face, he was talking to Harry and she overheard him. He also feels bad about it immediately, though he tries to brush it off. Parvati twists the knife when they overhear that Hermione's still crying hours later.

Hm, the food appeared like it did at the start of term, I wonder f that means it only happens on special occasions. Maybe the rest of the time it's buffet style.

Harry's the one to remember that Hermione doesn't know about the troll. Ron doesn't need any coercing to go find her, and it seems any hesitation might be because he didn't put two and two together right away.

Snape being suspicious. Nice false villain JK.

Harry, in a feat of daring locks Hermione in with the troll. Seems Ron isn't the only one who doesn't think things through all the way. Immediately they both go back and try to save her.

Points for Ron and Harry in bravery, since so many people want to put most of the heroics on Harry:

Harry: Distracts the Troll , jumps on it's back like a brave idiot . Tries to get Hermioen out.
Ron: Distracts the Troll, keeps its attention while Harry tries to save Hermione . KOs the Troll.

I'd say about even. Harry's a bit ballsier about it, but Ron gets the job done.

Aw, Hermione's first lie to authority. That's something worth remembering.

Damn, McGonagall is stingy with those house points. A net gain of five points?!

Harry think Hermione might not have needed rescue if he hadn't locked her in? I think he's greatly miscalculating her ability to handle terror. Still, not particularly relevant. The Golden Trio is officially formed. Seems a good place to end it for the night.

 

[Knyght]

"It's not like I *try* to blow things up, exactly, it just sorta happens. You gotta admit though, fire is fascinating."

Seamus Finnigan: master of Incendio, caster of Gubraithian Fire and slayer of Inferi. I wish to see this.

 

[H-Man]

Hermione has a breakdown? When?

 

[zerohour]

Her breakdown was when she ran off crying. She spends the rest of the day crying (at least a few hours,) and skips class as well.

Chapter Eleven:

Friendship with Hermione is alreadt paying off. She's helping him keep u[p with Wood's insane practice schedule, and is even willing to share her book with him. (No idea if this is a bit deal or not.)

Seven hundred possible fouls? Seems excessive. Wizards seem to equal Weirdness, since refs seem to inexplicably vanish for months at a time during matches. Makes you wonder how much wizards actually know about the magic they use, or if they just picked up a few tricks without understanding the deeper metaphysical laws governing them...

Laying down the groundwork for Hermione's bluebell flames (kind of wish there was a Pyro!Hermione story now,) and Snape takes points and a book, probably because he's in a bad mood after getting maimed.

Filch is helping Snape deal with his injury? Implies that he's in the know about what Snape is doing. Potentially interesting, keeping an eye out for more Snape/Filch interactions.

Huh, looks like the first year boys are supporting Harry for his first Quidditch Match. No idea why it says Potter for President...

Wood's speech is less than inspired, but that could be the Twins' fault. Marcus Flint is a sixth year, but I vaguely recall him being mentioned past that. Game starts, Jordan starts hitting on Angelina. A mention of the reserve team, wonder why we never see them.

Game continues, Harry gets fouled, and then his broom starts acting up. Hagrid says only powerful Dark Magic can interfere with a broom... starting to think that's the explanation for pretty much anything powerful. Hermione knocks over Quirrel and sets Snape on fire, major change from miss follows the rules. Harry comes riding down fter catching the Snitch, and the game is over.

They talk with Hagrid about Snape and his suspicious actions up to this point. Hagrid says they're crazy, reveals that he's Fluffy's owner, and drops Flamel's name.



Honestly, not much happening in this chapter. The whole Quidditch angle took up most of the chapter without adding all that much. They pushed some more suspicion on Snape, get another clue about what's under the trap door, and all of that happened at the end of the chapter. Probably could have just had them talk to Hagrid for some reason and Snape comes up in the conversation.

Still, it was interesting to see how far Hermione would go for her friends as soon as she got them. I think she's still in a bit of shock and awe about them fighting a troll for her, but she basically pulled a one eighty by setting Snape on fire. Probably will settle down a bit after she gets used to them.

Ron didn't get much mention in this chapter, but I think it was mainly because Hermione has to be brought over from Bossy Little Know It All to good friend. Hoping to see more of him in the next chapter.

 

[Cynical Kyle]

Hermione as sociopath that fixates on rules for guidance would explain much about her behavior. Lighting teacher on fire, stealing, illegal brewing, kidnapping,blackmail, instigating student rebellion, victimizing another teacher with centaurs, breaking & entering, vandalism, sabotage & mindwiping her own parents and likely more I don't remember. She always had her reasons, but same could be said about anyone.:snigger:

 

[Shirotsume]

That's the explanation I've always pushed. Hermione has no moral compass. Turning your hair pink and burning your house down around your ears are pretty much equivalent to her in terms of retribution. She focuses so hard on rules because she thinks that's what they're for- guidelines on what to do.

It's not until she spends some more time around Ron and Harry that she realizes that not everyone needs the rules to know what to do, and she starts trying to learn a sense of right or wrong, weighted heavily towards right juuust in case. It's why she puts so much trust in authority figures, who can provide instant context and feedback. SPEW/potions book is a great example of her erroronously thinking she's getting a handle on this right or wrong thing and taking THAT too far, just like she took rules too far.

All works well... until sometimes she decides that morals are pesky, and does things like getting umbridge gangraped by centaurs and mindraping her parents.

 

[nixofcyzerra]

I don't believe that the Centaurs gang-raped Umbridge.

Not because of any moral reasons or anything, but because it breaks my SoD that the any of the Centaurs would be able to sustain an erection in her presence.