The Burrow

Chapter 3 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The Burrow

Synopsis

Ron Weasley and his brothers, Fred and George, are outside Harry's window in a flying Ford Anglia. There to rescue Harry, they pull the bars off the window with the car. Fred and George gather Harry's Hogwarts belongings that are locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and load them into the car.

Hedwig screeches, reminding Harry she is being left behind. This awakens Uncle Vernon, who barges into Harry's room as Harry is half way out the window. Grabbing Harry's ankle, he attempts to pull him back in, but Harry yanks free, and he, Ron, Fred, and George head to the Weasleys' home, The Burrow.

Harry tells Ron, Fred, and George about Dobby, and they speculate about who owns him, eventually concluding that he could belong to the Malfoys. Harry learns that Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius Malfoy, once supported Lord Voldemort.

They arrive at The Burrow, an oddly crooked house. Molly Weasley is waiting, furious that they "borrowed" the car. After yelling at the Twins and Ron, Mrs. Weasley warmly greets Harry. During breakfast, Harry glimpses Ginny, Ron's younger sister, who is apparently too shy to speak.

As punishment, the Twins and Ron must de-Gnome the garden, using Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests technique in his book. Curious, Harry assists, even though he does not have to. He attempts to gently drop the leathery Gnomes over the fence, but after being bitten, he flings them like the Weasley boys, who first twirl them until they are too dizzy to find their way back.

Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, who works for the Ministry of Magic, arrives after a long night's work, searching for illegal and Dark magical objects. Mr. Weasley loves Muggle technology and gadgets, and he is clearly intrigued with his sons' adventure in the car until Mrs. Weasley sternly chastises him. Ron shows Harry his bedroom, which is plastered in Quidditch posters. He apologizes for his home's disorderliness, but Harry thinks it is all wonderful, and looks forward to spending the remaining summer with the Weasleys.

Analysis

After only a few days at The Burrow, Harry learns what a functional, loving family is supposed to be like and how it interacts within itself. He feels at home here, realizing what he has been missing and has yearned for all these years, and will continue to desire throughout the series. Hogwarts, we have already seen, has become a surrogate home to Harry, a place where he knows everyone and everyone knows him, and where his abilities are not feared and hated but welcomed and considered normal. However, good as it is, there is no real family there; the teachers must remain, to a large extent, professionally remote. The one exception is Hagrid. who is not a teacher, and who also lacks a true family; Harry becomes a substitute for that. Here, in The Burrow, people care about Harry, he is well fed and physically comfortable, and is made to feel wanted. Harry now fully realizes just what he has always lacked. And though he is happily content amongst the Weasleys, it will perhaps be even harder to return to the Dursleys', a place that is little more than a roof over his head, where he barely has enough to eat, and offers no love or comfort.

In the last chapter we asked: how can Ron help Harry? Ron is underage, as are Fred and George, and capable though they may be, they are prevented from using magic to free Harry. However, apart from the flying car, which apparently does not violate the prohibition against underage magic, no magic is used to liberate Harry. Instead, the bars are pulled off the window with the car, and Fred and George pick both the bedroom's and the cupboard under the stairs' locks with a common Muggle hairpin. The same hairpin is used to open Hedwig's cage, freeing her for the first time all summer. It is never made clear why casting a spell triggers the prohibition trace, but using a charmed object like the flying car does not; for some speculation on this matter, please see the article on The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.

The author often mentions a character by name before they are actually seen. Gilderoy Lockhart, who plays a large role in the book, is introduced here, by name only. He is apparently handsome ("'Mum fancies him,' said Fred in a very audible whisper"), and his solutions for problems may look good on paper, but only seem to work temporarily when employed. By sunset, Harry observes the Gnomes sneaking back into the garden one-by-one through the Weasley's hedge.

Ginny Weasley is reintroduced, though she only glances at Harry from afar; every time she sees him (twice in this chapter), she squeaks and runs away. Says Ron, "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy, she never shuts up normally . . ." She may have a classic schoolgirl crush, building Harry up in her mind as some heroic figure, then, when physically in his presence, is too timid to speak.

Questions

Review

1. What caused Ron and the Twins to go to Privet Drive?
2. What leads the boys to suspect that Dobby is owned by the Malfoys?
3. Why does Mrs. Weasley punish her boys? Why does Harry volunteer to take part?

Further Study

1. Why would Gilderoy Lockhart's methods only work temporarily?
2. Why is Ginny, who is normally very talkative, acting so shy?
3. Why is Mrs. Weasley cross with Mr. Weasley? Is he acting appropriately?
4. Compare and contrast life at the Weasleys' home to the Dursley household. How do these similarities and/or differences affect Harry?
5. Based on what is seen and heard in this chapter, give a description of what Gilderoy Lockhart may be like.

Greater Picture

The boys have correctly surmised that Dobby belongs to the Malfoys, though Harry will be uncertain until the book's end. Simply because Dobby is the Malfoy's property, his actions, though supposedly meant to protect Harry, would actually seem suspicious and likely motivated by that family for some sinister purpose. However, Dobby has risked his own life to warn Harry that he is in grave danger should he return to Hogwarts. Because Dobby is the Malfoys' slave, he has become aware that Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, is behind the plot to unleash a monster within Hogwarts. Because Dobby is magically bound to protect the Malfoy family's secrets, his warning to Harry is so vague that Harry mostly disregards it. Even were Dobby able to be more explicit, however, nothing could dissuade Harry from returning to Hogwarts, the only place he feels he fits in.

Ginny's reaction to Harry makes it seem unlikely that they would ever have a significant relationship. Oftentimes, a schoolgirl crush simply fades over time, and Ginny's feelings seem more like superficial hero-worship than romantic interest. Ginny, however, will be thrust into several events that force her to mature quickly, and her feelings for Harry deepen as she gradually understands who he really is. Starting even before this chapter, a study of Ginny's character will be rewarding, as the author writes a very realistic maturation for her, ending with a true romantic relationship with Harry.

Several other minor plot points occur in this chapter. Gilderoy Lockhart soon appears, true to our expected image: physically attractive, charming, seemingly plausible, but ultimately unreliable. This tendency to believe in someone simply because they have certain desirable attributes is illustrated by other characters, notably Tom Riddle, a former Slytherin student, who, fifty years earlier, falsely implicated Hagrid in opening the Chamber of Secrets and unleashing a monster. Even though Riddle was behind the attacks, he was considered believable mainly because he was handsome, intelligent, personable, and fully human. The flying Ford Anglia will also make a few more appearances. Also, Arthur Weasley mentions someone named Mundungus Fletcher, who tried to jinx him when his back was turned. Mundungus reappears in the fourth book, as shady as this brief mention leads us to expect, and in each book after that. We never find him to be trustworthy, though he is an Order of the Phoenix member and apparently loyal to Dumbledore and the Order. And Mr. Weasley's job with the Ministry will also prove important, not only because it gives him the authority to investigate other characters for Dark magic, but because it showcases his apparent unambitious nature, as he actually enjoys what he does and stays with it, foregoing the traditional career-advancing track to achieve status and more money that other Ministry employees seek; this unusual trait apparently attracts unwelcome attention from the likes of Lucius Malfoy.

Also, as is typical of how the author introduces something or someone long before it plays a part in the series, it is mentioned that the Weasleys have a Ghoul in the attic. This Ghoul will play an important role in the final book, though it remains unseen to readers until then.