‘But they were our kind, weren’t they?’

The last time I wrote on this very dense chapter, it took me three posts to cover what I wanted to say:

• From the Hut on the Rock to the Leaky Cauldron
• Inside the Leaky Cauldron
• Beyond the Leaky Cauldron

My brilliant guest author AnnieLogic later contributed this post on Draco:

Guest Post: Draco dormiens nunquam titillandusa

This time, I’m hoping to use a single post to cover a discussion of Draco and Slytherin from Diagon Alley to The Sorting Hat, but it won’t be this one. :)

Instead, it struck me this morning that there’s one line in this chapter that encapsulates the underlying cause for the unrest currently engulfing the U.S. Of Harry’s parents, Draco asks:

But they were our kind, weren’t they?

As Draco’s question very directly illustrates, we see each other often in terms of our tribal identity.

So far, Harry has experienced this sort of division mainly between himself and the Dursleys. They don’t view him as family but as a member of a different tribe (he’s some Wizard “weirdo,” and they are “perfectly normal, thank you very much”). Now that Harry has entered Diagon Alley and begun to experience the world of Wizards, he sees the same sort of tribal identification from the opposite direction.

It’s tempting to pin this sort of thinking on a Malfoy or a Slytherin, since the Malfoys have a long family history of hating Muggles and Muggle-borns, and Salazar Slytherin became a Pureblood Supremacist. But really, the tribal thinking is embedded into the very House structure at Hogwarts. Harry’s own prejudice against Slytherin begins with Draco and is reinforced by Hagrid’s claim that it would be “better” for him to land in “Hufflepuff than Slytherin” because according to Hagrid,

There’s not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one.

It’s true that Voldemort was in Slytherin. It’s not true that being in Slytherin is a requirement for going bad. And it’s certainly not true – as Hagrid implies – that being in Slytherin is an indicator that the student is drawn to darkness and is morally corrupt. (Merlin, anyone?). It takes Harry years to overcome this prejudice, but ultimately even Draco has a unicorn-tail-hair at his wand’s core.

The Wizarding World often reflects our world, and as in the Wizarding World, we tend to see our fellow citizens also in terms of tribes – whether those tribes are racial, subcultural, religious, or political. I wrote on how this phenomenon played out during the Jack the Ripper killings in 1888 and how it nearly caused riots then.

Not surprisingly, different tribes have different narratives about truth and justice. Though we, like Harry, are encouraged to adopt the perspective that Wizards of all backgrounds should be welcome at Hogwarts, the side that hates Muggles and Muggle-borns has its own narrative designed to “justify” its prejudice. The anti-Muggle-born narrative remembers a time when Muggle oppressors slaughtered witches and wizards (True! two of the Hogwarts ghosts died in the slaughter), and so the opponents of Muggle-borns mistrust the children of Muggles as a result. Over the centuries, these opponents have embellished their narratives, eventually claiming that Muggle-borns stole their magic, but regardless of the mindless bigotry that we see manifest in the 1990s, the initial prejudice against Muggle-borns was born out of fear that Muggle-borns would infiltrate the Wizarding World and serve Wizards up to their parents, not serve the Wizarding World.

What are some of the narratives we create or tell about the people who are not part of our own tribe(s)?

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At-Home Video Reading: If you want to hear / watch this chapter read by Simon Callow, Bonnie Wright (Ginny), and Evanna Lynch (Luna), check out Chapter 5: Diagon Alley at Wizarding World.

Pottermore “Thank Yous”

In one of its final tweets before the waiting began, hp_batsignal wrote:

If there’s one thing that defines the #HP fandom it’s our ability to bridge differences & work together and the Bat Signal is proof of that.

After having seen some pretty nasty fan factions and fanwars, it has truly been refreshing this past week to watch fans work together to help other fans gain early access into Pottermore.

After the Magic Quill challenge rules went live on the Pottermore website (about 2am BST, July 31), one forum member at Chamber of Secrets posted her email from LeakyCon giving out the basic timing for Clue #1 and telling us the Chapter we needed to look at.

That member is a James fan. I’m a Severus fan. It just didn’t matter. Her post gave me – and all the other HP fans on that thread – hope that we could, indeed, make it through the Magic Quill challenge together and gain early access into Pottermore. By early morning, most of us had. That experience inspired my blogging during this past week.

So on that note, I’d like to thank some folks who helped with this experience along the way.

A Special “Thank You” to..

• The folks at Chamber of Secrets – and particularly the member who posted her letter from LeakyCon and the Admin who let me know that, yes, the CoS servers could handle the load if I linked to the site from here. :)
• A couple of CoS members who helped with specific numbers that I suggested here as potential clues:  ardnaxela (who told me that the photo of the original Order of the Phoenix could be found in “The Woes of Mrs. Weasley” – Day 5 Hints), and Wren (who suggested the number of potions Professor Slughorn offered his N.E.W.T. students as a possible number – Day 6 Hints). We didn’t end up needing either of those numbers, but it’s always good to have as many numbers as possible on hand when suggesting potential clues. :)
• Random tweeters who let people know about this blog… and especially…
• Jess at The Last Muggle, who tweeted the Day 5 Hints, gave me a tip about hp_batsignal in one of the Comments threads, and mentioned this site on her blog. If you don’t read Jess, please do. She writes one of my favorite Harry Potter blogs.

What We’re Most Excited About…

So now, time to talk about the Pottermore features we’re most excited about…

The Sorting:
I’m excited – and nervous – about the Sorting. I want to be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

I’m a Ravenclaw on Mugglenet Interactive, a Gryffindor on Chamber of Secrets, and I “test” all over the map on various unofficial Sorting tests. In fact, in the time it took me to write this paragraph, I tested across the Web as Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff!

But please, Sorting Hat, I beg of you… do not put me in Hufflepuff.

The Wand:
I’m thrilled at the prospect of getting a wand. I’m kind of hoping that my username will help me get a wand with a Phoenix tail feather core. Not because I think I’m Harry Potter (and especially not Tom Riddle!), but just because I really love the Phoenix. Second choice: Unicorn tail hair. I’d prefer not to end up with Dragon Heartstring.

There are supposed to be 33,000 different wand combinations, so I think there’s a possibility that we might have additional cores beyond the three that Ollivander makes. But then, we are buying our wands at Ollivanders, so…

The Logic Puzzle:
If you’ve roamed this site, then you probably know that I’ve posted an almost complete solution of Snape’s Logic Puzzle (the puzzle that guards the Philosopher’s Stone). The reason the solution is almost complete is that, without a visual cue, we can only get down to the last two bottles with any certainty.

Well, finally, to the rescue… There is a photo supposedly leaked from Pottermore showing the exact arrangement of the bottles in the puzzle. If that photo leak is for real – and not just a clever piece of fanart – then we will soon have our complete solution!

New Content:
We know that we’re finally going to learn more about some of the Houses – especially Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. We’re going to get some McGonnagall backstory and some Dursley backstory. We’re going to get a lot of wandlore. And probably plenty of other material. So far, JKR has written about 19,000 additional words for Pottermore.

So what is some of the new content that you’re hoping to see? And what are some of the Pottermore features you’re most excited about?

Let us know in the Comments thread. :)

(And btw… Actually, this Severus fan gets along just fine with the James fan who posted the LeakyCon message… but the point is that a lot of fans have reached across their differences this past week just to help out other fans. YAY!).

The Task Most Made of Awesome?

I can’t believe it’s been Saturday since I last posted… but then again, I can. My husband’s out of town, and I’ve been running around all over the place, and today I had to keep the kitties calm while they were locked in a room because workmen were installing a furnace.

So, before we move on, let’s take a poll!

Which House Head’s task beyond the Trap Door is most made of awesome… and why?

Please explain your choice in the Comments thread!

I’ll be back to check after I’ve had a chance to see this Alan Rickman movie that’s been in my queue forever. Something called Sense and Sensibility.

ETA: I just remembered… some of you are dropping in randomly and haven’t read the last four posts! So if you need a refresher on the tasks, here you go…

• Devil’s Snare (Sprout)
• The Filius Charm (Flitwick)
• Shall We Play a Game? (McGonnagall)
• An Ounce of Logic (Snape)

And with that, I really will go watch my Rickman / Austen movie. :)

Devil’s Snare

“We must be miles under the school,” [Hermione] said.

“Lucky this plant thing’s here, really,” said Ron.

“Lucky!” shrieked Hermione. “Look at you both!”

She leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.

The Trio’s fall through the trapdoor is broken by Professor Sprout’s protection for the Stone – Devil’s Snare.

So far, about the only thing we know about Professor Sprout (whom we have not yet met) is that she’s a “dumpy little witch” who teaches Herbology in the Greenhouses. With the Devil’s Snare, though, we at least meet her handiwork.

The brilliance of Sprout’s protection is that while the Devil’s Snare breaks the fall of those who go through the trapdoor, it also tries to kill them… and will succeed, unless the potential victim remembers how to fight it. If Harry’s and Ron’s reaction to their soft landing is any indication, most people would be lulled into a feeling of safety and might not even think to escape the plant’s tendrils until they are already being strangled or crushed to death. Worse yet, the more they struggle, the tighter the plant will bind them.

Devil’s Snare may not be as flashy as transfigured chess pieces, but it is truly an impressive bit of protection. In standard vampire fighting mode, fire or light will defeat the plant. But remembering that requires some knowledge of Herbology – and who but an Herbology geek would remember back to First Year Herbology lectures while they’re under attack from the plant?

Based on what we’ve seen of the Wizarding community, the average Wizard would most likely pay more attention to flashier subjects like DADA or Transfiguration or Charms, and wouldn’t stand a chance if attacked by Devil’s Snare – making it a doubly effective defense.

Thankfully the Trio have Hermione on hand to remember what Professor Sprout told them about the plant. And thankfully, they also have Ron on hand to remind her that she can conjure fire:

“Devil’s Snare, Devil’s Snare… what did Professor Sprout say? – it likes the dark and the damp – ”

“So light a fire!” Harry choked.

“Yes – of course – but there’s no wood!” Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

“HAVE YOU GONE MAD? Ron bellowed. “ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”

“Oh right!” said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth.

And so the Trio escape the Devil’s Snare’s clutches.

But as with so many other elements introduced in PS/SS, this episode serves also to foreshadow later events. In OotP, a Devil’s Snare sent by a Death Eater as a “Christmas gift” to spell-damaged Unspeakable Broderick Bode successfully strangles the intended victim. And during the Battle of Hogwarts, Professor Sprout again uses Devil’s Snare – this time as part of the castle’s defenses against Voldemort’s minions.

Professor Sprout, Head of House for Hufflepuff, is also (as we can see) a formidable, if unconventional, fighter who who brings her less conventional resources as an Herbologist to bear in the battle against evil. Significantly, she will teach Neville Longbottom to do the same.

Sorting It All Out

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards.”
– Professor Minerva McGonnagall

Well, I’m back. It may take me a post or two to get into my groove. But YAY! We’re finally at Hogwarts!

The Side Chamber

Sooooooo. The castle doors have swung open, and Professor McGonnagall has taken the first years in hand – leading them into a small chamber off the Great Hall, where they sweat out what sort of “test” will sort them into their Houses. Ron thinks it will hurt. Harry worries about his lack of knowledge. Hermione (so nervous that showing off is her only recourse) whispers wildly all the spells she learned since she got her letter. And then the ghosts float through the walls!

What’s wonderful about this vignette is that even the holding area develops the characters while painting a portrait of the school. Professor McGonnagall – tall, black-haired, and dressed in the same emerald green she wore when camped outside the Dursleys 10 years before – seems eternally stern and no-nonsense. Our future Gryff Trio seem all different kinds of train wreck.

But the ghosts… oh the ghosts! Oblivious at first to the living, the ghosts come through the walls arguing about “Peeves” – and frighten the already-terrified ickle firsties. Currently offstage (though not for long!), the poltergeist will become a recurring antagonist – and occasional ally – throughout the series.

The Great Hall

As we move into the Great Hall, we first see the Enchanted Ceiling, and hear the Hogwarts Sorting Hat sing about:

Gryffindors – full of daring, nerve, and chivalry, brave at heart.
Hufflepuffs – hard workers, just, loyal, and true.
Ravenclaws – ready minded, full of wit and learning.
Slytherin – full of cunning, using any means to achieve their ends.

Everything we’ve heard up until now tells us that Slytherin is bad. Hagrid first told Harry that every Wizard gone bad had hailed from Slytherin, and Harry’s first encounters with Draco and his crew convince him that it’s the last place at Hogwarts that he wants to be. The Sorting Hat, though, is not so sure.

Harry’s perception of Slytherin will have a huge impact on the story. When the Hat announces Hogwarts’ first new Slytherin, Harry notes that “they looked like an unpleasant sort” (the side comment, however, indicates that his imagination could be filtering that perception through everything he’s already heard about the House).

Regardless, when Harry (“The Harry Potter?”) finally steps up to the Sorting Hat, he begs “Not Slytherin.” And though it lingers in its decision, the Hat finally announces him the newest “GRYFFINDOR!” Harry, Ron, and that annoying Granger girl – Team Gryff – all get sorted out… into (where else?) the same House.

So where do we go from here? To what I’ve just been dying to write about! The Great Feast, where we will finally see Professor Dumbledore in his element, and get our first sighting of the Head of Slytherin House – Professor Severus Snape.

Till next time!