Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Chamber of Secrets/Chapter 4
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Chapter 4 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: At Flourish and Blotts
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Life for Harry has never been this good, far better than Privet Drive. Finally, he has found a family that accepts him, and that treats him as one of their own, rather than as an inferior. True, he still cannot do magic, but magic is all around him, and is an accepted part of life.
The letters from Hogwarts, including Harry's, arrive at the same time. As always, the letters start with the reminder that the term starts September 1st, and provide the list of schoolbooks.
Second year students will require:
- "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2", by Miranda Goshawk
- "Break With A Banshee", by Gilderoy Lockhart
- "Gadding with Ghouls", by Gilderoy Lockhart
- "Holidays with Hags", by Gilderoy Lockhart
- "Travels with Trolls", by Gilderoy Lockhart
- "Voyages with Vampires", by Gilderoy Lockhart
- "Wandering with Werewolves", by Gilderoy Lockhart
- "Year with the Yeti", by Gilderoy Lockhart
Based on the list's content, Fred surmises that the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is a witch and a fan of Lockhart. George has a more practical thought: "This lot won't come cheap." Mrs. Weasley says they will manage, although she seems worried.
An owl arrives from Hermione suggesting they all meet in Diagon Alley. Mrs. Weasley agrees that that makes sense, and the boys then go off to practice Quidditch. On the way, they mention that their brother, Percy has been acting oddly and often remains shut up in his room.
On the appointed day, the Weasleys head to Diagon Alley using Floo powder, something Harry has never done before. Unfortunately, he mispronounces the destination and goes one grate too far, landing in what appears to be a Dark Magic shop. While there, he sees Draco Malfoy and his father, and overhears a conversation between Mr. Malfoy and the proprietor, Borgin, in which it appears Mr. Malfoy is offering to sell some magical equipment back to Borgin.
Harry exits the shop undetected, only to discover he was in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley, an unsafe area frequented by dark wizards and other unsavory characters. Fortunately, Harry is soon found by Hagrid, who steers him back to Diagon Alley. Harry finds the Weasleys and Hermione, and they proceed to Gringotts Bank. Harry is embarrassed by the wealth in his vault, particularly after seeing the small sum the Weasleys have to draw on.
The group separates to do their shopping, agreeing to meet later at Flourish & Blotts for school books. They arrive there during a book-signing event. The popular author, Gilderoy Lockhart, is signing copies of his autobiography, Magical Me, and the long line has to be held in check by a "harassed little wizard." Spotting Harry, Lockhart drags him to the front and presents him with a complete set of his autographed books while posing for photos. Lockhart then announces that he is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for Hogwarts.
Staggering away from the limelight, Harry dumps the Lockhart books into Ginny's cauldron; Draco Malfoy observes this byplay and taunts Harry. Mr. Malfoy suddenly appears, and examining one of Ginny's second-hand books, makes rude comments before returning it to her cauldron. Mr. Weasley comes over and begins arguing with Mr. Malfoy. The argument becomes physical; Hagrid reappears and drags the Weasleys away from the battle while the Malfoys stalk off. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry, return to the Leaky Cauldron and then back home.
[edit] Analysis
This is our first exposure to Gilderoy Lockhart in person; he is handsome, charismatic, and has a legion of fans, comprised largely of middle-aged witches like Mrs. Weasley. He is also vain, opportunistic, and a fame-seeker who exploits Harry to get his photo onto the front page of the Daily Prophet. Lockhart's celebrity was achieved by writing about his many exciting adventures, and he seems to believe that everyone, most notably Harry, is as driven for fame as he. When the fight erupts between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley, Lockhart is heard planning to spin it to promote himself in the paper.
This chapter also marks our first real exposure to Ginny Weasley's true character. When Draco insults Harry for the attention he gets in Flourish and Blotts with Gilderoy Lockhart, Ginny tells him to leave Harry alone, and that he didn't want the attention. This shows us that, despite Ginny's schoolgirl crush on Harry, she is very aware that he does not like the fame he gets from his history with Voldemort. It is possible that she is unable to speak to him in part out of fear that he will think her attention is rooted in his fame, rather than in himself. It is characteristic of a schoolgirl crush, however, that the person with the crush is afraid to talk to the person she has the crush on.
Another Malfoy family member is introduced: Lucius Malfoy. Proud, rich, and arrogant, he is a strict and demanding parent who holds a tight rein on Draco. In the bookstore, he is insulting and bullying towards Ginny Weasley, although just why his attention falls on her is as yet uncertain. It is learned that the Malfoys and the Weasleys, both old pure-blood wizarding families, have very different ideas of what "disgraces Wizardkind."
The argument between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley points up one of the great divisions among the characters in our story. Lucius is clearly scornful of Arthur's endless lobbying on behalf of the Muggles, where Arthur is affronted at Malfoy's apparent belief in his own superiority in ancestry. What is highlighted here is that one group of wizards feels themselves superior to others because of their breeding, and the fact that there are no non-Magical people in their bloodlines. This group has come to feel that those who cannot do magic are somehow subhuman, and that those wizards who choose to work with them or protect them are somehow traitors to the idea of blood purity. While the Weasley family is as old and pure a bloodline as any other, to the "pure-blood" wizards, their ongoing commerce with Muggles is seen as somehow demeaning them
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
[edit] Further Study
[edit] Greater Picture
Three items shown in Borgin and Burkes come back in a later book. Draco uses the Hand of Glory in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince while he is departing the Room of Requirement. The opal necklace with the note warning that it was cursed is used in an attempt to kill Dumbledore, also in Harry Potter and the The Half-Blood Prince. And it turns out that the cabinet in which Harry is hiding will also make an appearance in that book.
Lucius Malfoy's looking at one of the books that Ginny is holding is an excuse to put Tom Riddle's diary inside it. As we later find out, Voldemort had left the diary with Lucius, with the intent that it would be used at some point against Hogwarts. Lucius, not knowing exactly what the diary was, had apparently decided that, given his son's discouraging marks (as mentioned to Borgin), it was time to cause some problems for the school.
While we have not seen this explicitly yet, we can already begin to guess that it is among the pure-blood families that Voldemort had found his allies. We see that Lucius is returning some Dark magic items to Borgin and Burkes, and hear him saying that it is getting dangerous for him to have them around. We also see Lucius' disdain for those of less pure-blood breeding than himself, and his annoyance that Draco, pureblood though he is, is not able to beat Hermione's grades. In the previous chapter we learned that Lucius had been believed to be one of Voldemort's supporters; his possession of Dark magical objects seems to lend weight to this, as we have been told that Voldemort was a Dark wizard. This suggests quite strongly that Voldemort may have been playing on the pure-blood belief in their own superiority to fuel his initial rise to power.
