Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Chamber of Secrets/Chapter 5
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Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The Whomping Willow
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[edit] Synopsis
Summer is quickly over, and it is soon time to return to Hogwarts. After several false starts, everything is loaded into Mr. Weasley's car, the flying Ford Anglia. The car is magically larger inside than out, so they all fit in quite easily, and head to King's Cross Station. It is nearly time for the Hogwarts Express to depart; everyone is on the platform, except Harry and Ron, who cannot get through the barrier. The clock strikes 11:00 a.m and the train leaves, stranding Harry and Ron at the station and without any Muggle money.
Harry suggests waiting back by the car; Ron, worried that his parents may be unable to get back out through the barrier (except in the US edition, where Ron states that his parents can apparate) and in a panic about getting to school, suggests flying to Hogwarts in the car. They take off, flying above the clouds except to occasionally see where the Hogwarts Express is. The flight is uneventful until they reach the school. On the final approach, the car loses power and crashes into the Whomping Willow, breaking Ron's wand. The massive tree pounds the car. The battered Ford extricates itself and lands on the ground, then ejects Harry, Ron, and their luggage before wildly driving off into the Forbidden Forest.
Harry and Ron peer into Great Hall through a window, seeing that the Sorting ceremony has started. Unable to locate Professor Snape at the staff table, they speculate on why he is absent, only to find him standing behind them. He takes them into his office, demanding they explain themselves and wanting to know what they have done with the car—the Evening Prophet has reported that a flying car was sighted by several Muggles. Snape fetches Professor McGonagall, who requires that Ron and Harry repeat their story. She asks why they did not send an owl, since they actually have one. Ron admits that he did not think of that.
Professor Dumbledore enters and hears the story. He says he will be writing to their parents, although they will not be expelled. Their punishment will be decided by Professor McGonagall, their House Head. After Snape and Dumbledore return to the Feast, Professor McGonagall says each will serve detention but, possibly because Ron points out that school hadn't actually started yet, does not deduct any House points. They have missed the Sorting ceremony but McGonagall says that Ginny was placed into Gryffindor House. She provides them sandwiches, telling them to eat in Snape's office and then go directly to their dormitory.
Hermione meets them outside the The Fat Lady's portrait and gives them the password ("wattlebird"). She is definitely unhappy about what they did, as are Harry and Ron, but the other Gryffindors in the Common room applaud their audacity for driving a flying car into the Whomping Willow.
[edit] Analysis
We have already seen that it takes some effort to select a wand, and a reasonably large amount of money to buy one. We can guess that Ron, already in trouble for taking and wrecking the car, will not be likely to report to his parents that his wand has broken; however, we don't yet know what the effect of the wand's breaking will be. We do know that Hagrid's wand was broken when he was expelled, but that it still seems to work somewhat; we don't know how that compares to the damage that Ron's wand has taken. In any event, Ron is almost certainly going to try to make some sort of temporary repair and carry on as best he can with a damaged wand.
We can see in this chapter that Snape dearly wants to get rid of Harry, and is hoping that McGonagall or Dumbledore will see fit to expel him, along with Ron. Snape is quite clearly disappointed that Dumbledore requires that Snape accompany him to the Great Hall, leaving Harry and Ron with McGonagall — we can see that he wants to witness the punishment that Harry will receive. We also see that McGonagall, though never losing her sternness, is still trying to be fair. She likely knows that Ron will be disciplined by his mother, and chooses to lighten her own punishment accordingly, even though this will mean that Harry gets off relatively lightly.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- What kind of tree do Harry and Ron crash into, and with what?
[edit] Further Study
[edit] Greater Picture
Ron's broken wand will prove to be a useful plot element throughout this book, as it will produce humorous effects at several places in the book, and will finally backfire at an ideal time, rendering harmless a major threat to Ron and Harry. It will be replaced when Ron's family wins a contest at the beginning of the next book.
The flying Ford Anglia will also prove useful in this book, saving Ron and Harry from a colony of Acromantulae. It will not be seen after that time, however.
The Whomping Willow proves to be an important element in the next book. The tree was planted over an entrance to a tunnel that leads from the school grounds to the Shrieking Shack, where, as a student, Lupin went every month during the full moon. We will see that this tunnel, which proved useful some thirty years before the series began, and will be an important plot item in the third book, will also be useful in the final book.
It is perhaps of interest that Snape seems to believe that Harry and Ron deliberately chose to arrive at Hogwarts by flying car, in order to gain some fame for themselves. We will see shortly that Gilderoy Lockhart shares this misunderstanding of Harry's motives. With Lockhart this is understandable, as his main motivation is fame, but it is not clear why Snape has this belief; in almost every other respect, Snape seems to oppose Lockhart to the best of his abilities.
