The Potions Master

Chapter 8 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: The Potions Master

Synopsis

Harry's first few days at Hogwarts are trying indeed, and the students constantly staring at him makes him nervous. The huge castle is convoluted, and Harry and Ron repeatedly get lost on their way to class, making them late, or they are caught as they are accidentally about to enter forbidden areas, putting them (on their first day at Hogwarts) on the caretaker, Argus Filch's bad side. And the lessons are difficult.

Harry meets his teachers: Professor Sprout for Herbology, Professor Binns for History of Magic, and Professor Flitwick for Charms. He also has Professor McGonagall for Transfiguration, and Professor Quirrell for Defence Against the Dark Arts, though of course he has met them before.

At breakfast on Friday, Harry receives his first owl post message from Hagrid, inviting him to tea after class. Harry then attends his first Potions class with Professor Snape, a double-length class shared with Slytherin first-years. Class does not go well, with Snape singling Harry out, and ridiculing him for his limited magical knowledge. Snape, who apparently dislikes Harry's celebrity status, is continually harder on Harry than even the other Gryffindors in the class. In particular, when Neville melts the cauldron he shares with Seamus, Snape unjustly holds Harry partly responsible and penalizes Gryffindor House one point.

When Harry (and Ron) arrive at Hagrid's hut for tea, Harry finds a clipping from the Daily Prophet mentioning the Gringotts Wizarding Bank break-in. Hagrid refuses to discuss it, and Harry concludes that the burglarized vault was the same one Hagrid emptied during their trip to Diagon Alley.

Analysis

Many Hogwarts teachers are introduced, at least those who become major characters in this and later books. While most teachers are delighted to have Harry in their classes, Snape is less than impressed. Snape's singling out Harry to unfairly ridicule or reproach him becomes a regular occurrence throughout the books. We are led to believe that it is Harry's fame that Snape dislikes. This is reinforced in the next book, where Snape's negative reaction to a celebrity teacher is also seen. Only later is it learned why Snape resents Harry so much, and their mutual animosity grows throughout the series.

In Harry's conversation with Hagrid, we can see Harry's natural urge to understand and investigate, a quality that will equip him to solve (with help) the many mysteries put before him throughout his seven-year story. This innate curiosity may be leading him to the forbidden third-door corridor, determined to discover what lies hidden within.

Meanwhile, Harry's first days at Hogwarts are somewhat trying, and he dislikes that other students constantly stare at him. Overall, he is happy, and there is no other place he would rather be. In addition to adjusting to his new magical life and struggling a bit with his studies, he also learns more about wizard society as he becomes acquainted with his classmates. His initial impression was likely that all wizards were pretty much alike, though Draco Malfoy gave an early indication while in Diagon Alley that class differences exist. Harry quickly learns more about wizard backgrounds, and that some are pure-bloods, like the Malfoys and the Weasleys, while others are half-bloods such as Harry, whose father was a pure-blood Wizard and his mother a Muggle-born witch. Like Lily Potter, Hermione is Muggle-born, having no magical family. Seamus Finnigan is also considered a half-blood, though unlike Harry, he has one magical parent (his mother), while his father is a Muggle. Neville Longbottom is pure-blood, though his family feared he had no magical ability whatsoever until it appeared later in his childhood. Even among pure-blood families there are class differences, as seen by how the Malfoys consider the Weasleys inferior because they are poor. At Hogwarts, however, all students are treated equally, regardless of what their individual backgrounds are, and they are judged solely on talent and performance rather than their lineage and connections. There are, however, wizards, mostly Slytherins, that believe "pure" bloodlines are superior to mixed ones, and some, like the Malfoys, advocate that only the old, pure-blood wizard families should be allowed to attend Hogwarts and study magic. These prejudicial beliefs become an increasingly prominent theme throughout the series.

The exact date that Gringotts was broken into is also learned; the clipping on Hagrid's table states it occurred on 31 July, the same day Harry was in Diagon Alley. It is from this that Harry concludes that the thief was after Hagrid's, "grubby little parcel".

Questions

Review

1. Why does Hagrid invite Harry to tea?
2. Why do the students stare at Harry?

Further Study

1. Why didn't Snape call on Hermione when she raised her hand?
2. Why does Snape seem to dislike Harry so much?
3. What makes Harry so convinced that the vault that was burglarized at Gringott's is the same one Hagrid removed the package from?

Greater Picture

Snape's ongoing dislike for Harry is a main feature throughout the series. Harry's first-ever Potions class with Snape actually foreshadows events in the upcoming books. In his introduction, Snape says he can teach the students to, "brew fame, bottle fortune, and even stopper death." (The US book has a slightly different wording; see below.) This scene's many connections, as described below, to later parts of the series, had led many fans to speculate, following the events in the sixth book's conclusion, that Dumbledore and Snape conspired to fake Dumbledore's death. In fact, the potion mentioned had been used in that book, though we do not discover that until late in the final book; Snape had prevented or delayed Dumbledore's death caused by his touching a cursed ring. The discussion of aconite or monkshood, and the associated Draught of Living Death, reappear in the sixth book, first when Professor Slughorn has Harry's class brew this potion, and possibly (in the US edition only) atop the Astronomy tower, when Dumbledore attempts to convince Draco to switch sides, and tells him that can make Draco and all his family appear to be dead. The Bezoar that Snape asks Harry to describe will play a small role in the fourth book, and a much larger one in the sixth book.

In the book's British and Canadian versions, Snape's wording in the scene mentioned above, "and even stopper death," is somewhat ambiguous; some readers have suggested that it means placing death in a bottle. This seems overly simplistic, as poisons are so common, both in the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, that they hardly merit mention. The more likely meaning is to prevent Death from acting, stoppering it inside a bottle. In the US / Scholastic version of the books, this phrase appears instead as "and even put a stopper to death." As we learn later in the series, the US version of Snape's speech is better aligned with his actual meaning, though many editors feel that the original British wording is more elegant.

Harry and Ron constantly getting lost shows the castle's magical qualities and its overall enormity. Hogwarts harbors countless secrets, many that become important later in the series. Because the castle is so confusing, Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione end up in the third floor corridor; escaping Filch, they enter that corridor by accident, and will thereby learn something very important to the overall story.

Although Neville says his family believed he might have been a "Muggle", a more accurate description would be a "Squib." Without specifically mentioning yet what exactly they are, the author appears to be dropping a hint regarding their existence in wizard society. It will be learned later that Squibs are born into wizard families, but through some genetic quirk, lack any magical ability. In addition to the pure-bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns noted in the above "Analysis" section, Squibs are yet another, though tiny, division within that social order. They are polar opposite to Muggle-borns, born into a family that they are completely different from. Unlike Muggle-borns, who are identified early on and brought into wizard society, Squibs are often treated as outcasts, and encouraged to integrate themselves into Muggle society. Having been raised in a purely magical household, however, a Squib would likely find it difficult to adapt to Muggle society, and would then have to hide their wizard affiliations.

Readers also learn later that Mrs. Figg, Harry's odd Privet Drive neighbor, and Mr. Filch, are both Squibs who function within the Wizarding world despite lacking magical powers. Neville's family employed extreme lengths to coax out any magical powers he might possess, most likely fearing the social stigma that having a Squib family member, particularly a pure-blood one, generates. As extreme (and downright silly and dangerous) as their attempts were to prove otherwise, it finally resulted in Neville showing that he is indeed a wizard, though it initially appears his magical ability is rather weak. However, this changes as the series progresses, mostly due to Harry's efforts.

Ironically, it was likely Neville's family that created his problems, though their intentions were good. It will be learned that Neville's parents, who were Aurors (Dark wizard catchers), were tortured into insanity by Voldemort's Death Eaters. Neville's relatives apparently applied strong memory charms to alleviate Neville's painful recollections about this traumatic event. Unfortunately, these charms, applied too strong or abundantly, can damage a wizard's mental and magical abilities, perhaps permanently. Another character, Bertha Jorkins, later in the series, will suffer a similar affliction after Bartemius Crouch casts a powerful memory charm on her to prevent some very damaging information being released, though he likely was unconcerned whether or not it inflicted any lasting damage.

The social stigma associated with having a Squib relative is mentioned two other times. In speaking about his own family, while aboard the Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Ron says he has a relative who is an accountant, but his family rarely mentions her. And we will see, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that when Dumbledore's sister was hidden from the neighbours, the immediate assumption was that she was a Squib.