Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Philosopher's Stone/Chapter 8
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Chapter 8 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: The Potions Master
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Harry finds his first few days at Hogwarts very trying indeed. The other students keep looking at him as though he is some kind of celebrity, which makes him nervous. The castle itself is very convoluted and he and Ron repeatedly get lost on their way to class and are late, or are caught accidentally trying to enter forbidden areas, which puts them (on the very first day at Hogwarts) on the wrong side of the caretaker, Argus Filch. And the lessons themselves are difficult.
Harry meets his teachers for the first time: 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 message by owl post, from Hagrid, inviting him to tea after class; he then attends his first Potions class with Professor Snape, a double length class shared with Slytherin first-years. This class does not go at all well, with Snape singling Harry out, and ridiculing him for his lack of magical knowledge. Snape, who apparently disapproves of Harry's celebrity status, continues to be 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 because of it.
When Harry (and Ron) get to Hagrid's hut for tea, Harry finds a clipping from the Daily Prophet, which mentions the robbery from Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Hagrid refuses to talk about it, and Harry ends up coming to the conclusion that the vault that was burglarized was in fact the one that Hagrid himself had emptied during their trip to Diagon Alley.
[edit] Analysis
In this chapter we meet most of the Hogwarts teachers, at least most of the ones who will be major characters in this and later books. We discover that while most of the teachers are delighted to have Harry in their classes, Snape is less than impressed. As we progress through the books, Snape's singling out of Harry becomes a regular occurrence. Later we find out precisely why Snape hates Harry so much; for now, we are led to believe that it is Harry's celebrity that Snape dislikes. This will be reinforced in the next book, where we will see Snape's reaction to a celebrity teacher.
In the conversation with Hagrid at the end of this chapter, we see Harry's urge to understand and investigate, a quality which equips him to solve (with help) the many mysteries which will be put before him throughout his seven-year story.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
[edit] Further Study
- Why didn't Snape call on Hermione when she raised her hand?
- Why does Snape hate Harry so much?
[edit] Greater Picture
Snape's great dislike for Harry becomes a main feature in many of the later books.
This first ever Potions class will actually foreshadow a lot of the events in the books. Snape says, in his introduction, that he can teach the students to "brew fame, bottle fortune, and even stopper death." The sheer number of connections of this scene, as described below, to later parts of the series, had led many fans to speculate, following the events at the end of the sixth book, that Dumbledore and Snape had conspired to fake Dumbledore's death. In fact, the potion mentioned had been used in that book, although we do not find out about that until late in the final book; Snape had, in fact, prevented or reversed Dumbledore's death from 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) on the top of the Astronomy tower, when Dumbledore is trying 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.
The fact that Harry and Ron constantly get lost shows the magical qualities and enormity of the castle. Hogwarts has many secrets, many of which will become very important later in the series.
