The Midnight Duel

Chapter 9 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: The Midnight Duel

Synopsis

It is the school's second week of classes, and Harry is dismayed that flying lessons are also shared with Slytherin House. Because he has not yet learned to fly, Harry knows he will be ridiculed by Draco Malfoy, who is as well-loved by Harry as cousin Dudley.

Neville's grandmother has sent him a Remembrall, a device to help him remember things. Draco attempts to steal it during breakfast, but Professor McGonagall's arrival interrupts him. At the flying lesson, Neville falls off his broom, injuring himself. The instructor, Madam Hooch, takes him to the hospital wing, ordering everyone else to remain on the ground. Spotting Neville's dropped Remembrall, Draco grabs it and takes off on his broom to place it in a tree for Neville to fetch later. Harry flies after him, discovering that flying on a broomstick is something he is naturally talented at. Draco instead hurls the Remembrall away, but Harry dives and catches it mid-air, just inches above the ground. He is immediately accosted by Professor McGonagall, who has been watching from her office. She drags him away, apparently in disgrace, but to his surprise introduces him to the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, Oliver Wood, saying Harry is the new Seeker.

Later, surprised that Harry has avoided being expelled, Draco challenges him to a Wizard's Duel in the trophy room at midnight. Harry accepts, and Ron volunteers to be his second. As Harry and Ron sneak out later that night, circumstance adds Neville and Hermione to the party, though both Harry and Ron are unhappy that they are tagging along. Hermione, particularly, is unwelcome, as she wants to prevent the duel. Reaching the trophy room, they hear Filch approaching. Evidently Draco never intended to show up, but instead informed Filch that students would be there after hours. Peeves sees the students sneaking away, and yells that students are out of bed. The students run off, diving into the forbidden third-floor corridor. They evade Filch, but find their hiding place is occupied by a huge, ferocious three-headed dog. They escape back to the common room, where Hermione mentions that the dog was atop a trap door, apparently guarding something. Harry concludes the dog must be guarding the same package Hagrid retrieved from Gringotts Bank.

Analysis

This is among the happiest chapters, at least initially, in Harry's early school career. We saw how he felt displaced – apart from the natural dislocation he feels being in a new school and a strange new world, Harry copes with sudden celebrity, and the associated ongoing feeling that he is somewhat a fraud. This is compounded by his seeming inability to perform magic with the same natural fluidity that many of his peers demonstrate, such as Hermione, who seems to know anything that can be learned from a book, while Harry muddles along. Harry is also concerned that his years among Muggles, particularly those Muggles, may have crippled his magical abilities – most other students have had magical upbringings and bring an understanding with them that he lacks. However, Harry seems to overlook that Hermione, and other students, also grew up in Muggle households, with no more magical background than he has; Hermione, who has a stable home life, may just be more confident, and thus willing to take greater initiative with her abilities than Harry.

Imagine Harry's joy to discover that flying on a broomstick is something magical that he can do, not only naturally and well, but better than anyone else in the class. Compound this with the discovery that his father was also a talented flier, that he no longer has to attend flying classes with the Slytherins, that the school will be providing him with a top-quality broom for Quidditch matches—by dinner time, Harry could likely fly from sheer joy, without a broom.

Harry is also showing a growing independence by his tendency to break rules, almost from his first day at Hogwarts, as demonstrated by his ignoring Madam Hooch's command at the flying lesson that all students remain on the ground during her brief absence. Harry also sneaks out after curfew to meet Draco for their duel. This rule-breaking attitude may partially stem from his disdain for the Dursleys, who have constantly abused their authority to torment and unfairly punish Harry when he does nothing wrong while Dudley is continually spoiled, despite his abysmal, bullying behavior. And even though Harry's nature is showing a certain disregard for authority, it is never motivated by rebellion or to engage in mischief; he instead feels justified if he believes his actions serve some noble purpose, such as retrieving Neville's Remembrall or upholding his honor by dueling Draco. It did appear that Harry was about to be reprimanded by McGonagall, but she instead rewards his actions by recruiting him for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ron also breaks the rules, but it is usually to follow Harry's lead rather than by his own initiative. In contrast, Hermione, to Harry and Ron's continued annoyance, is the boys' polar opposite, memorizing and obeying every rule, though rarely considering the logic behind them.

The wizards' duel, which may appear somewhat arbitrary, is a natural progression and says much about Harry's, Ron's, and Draco's characters; Draco has been humiliated, and therefore must have his revenge. And for Draco, betraying Harry (and, peripherally, Ron) to Filch would be as satisfying as defeating him, if he could, in a duel, and he is more likely to succeed in this endeavor. It also lessens the risk he will be further humiliated – what if Harry actually beat him in a duel? Draco's cowardice is also glimpsed here, and it later lands him in more trouble than he can imagine. Unlike Draco, Harry shows courage and integrity by honoring his agreement to meet Draco at the appointed time. Ron also shows bravery and loyalty by offering to act as Harry's second. Not even Hermione's bossy threats will stop either boy from going, and, after getting herself locked out of Gryffindor, she instead resigns herself to tagging along, ostensibly to monitor their actions, but likely intrigued as well. Hermione's obsession with rules, and her threats to report the two boys, seem more bluff than actual substance, showing that she may be more concerned with how her peers perceive her than in supporting and obeying authority. Throughout the series, she will rarely interfere with the boys' activities, and her curiosity often compels her to trail along, and, eventually, join in. Regardless, neither Harry or Ron want her there, though her presence proves to be beneficial.

This scene also provides further evidence that there is a mystery for Harry to investigate. Harry already suspects that the grubby little package Hagrid brought back to Hogwarts is tied to the break-in at Gringotts. Now he needs to find where it is, and the students' midnight foray may have led them in the right direction. Once again, Harry's rule breaking pays off when Hermione's keen observation notices the trap door in the third-floor corridor that the fierce, three-headed dog is apparently guarding. Many people will seem to be seeking that one small thing...and Harry needs to find more clues if he is to locate it and do his part in keeping it safe.

Questions

Review

1. Why does Draco challenge Harry to a duel?
2. Why did Neville's grandmother send him a Remembrall? Will it help?
3. Why does Draco take Neville's Remembrall?
4. What does Hermione notice is by the three-headed dog, and why would the creature be guarding it?

Further Study

1. Why does Draco fail to show up for his duel with Harry?
2. Why does Ron volunteer to be Harry's second for the duel? What does this say about his character?
3. What does Harry believe the three-headed dog is guarding? What evidence is there for this?
4. Why is Harry allowed to become Gryffindor's Quidditch Seeker, even though he is too young? Is he ready for this responsibility?
5. Hermione threatened to report Harry and Ron to a prefect for sneaking out to the duel. Why didn't she report them and instead go with them? Why does Neville tag along?

Greater Picture

The trap door under the three-headed dog is one among Hogwarts' many secrets foreshadowed in the previous chapter. The guarded hatch poses a huge question that needs to be answered: "What is under the trap door?" If the dog is guarding Hagrid's parcel, then one must question what else might lie beneath the the castle's floors. Hogwarts holds many secrets for Harry to discover in this and also later books. Like the castle's shifting staircases, Harry must navigate a dangerous and ever-changing path before finding the answers.

Although Harry's fears that his difficult Muggle upbringing has permanently damaged his magical abilities are generally groundless, this belief is not entirely invalid. It will be seen that whatever their backgrounds, pure-blood, half-blood, or Muggle-born, young Witches and Wizards do have varying talents and levels of proficiencies, and that these can be affected by their respective histories. Neville Longbottom is particularly weak in magic, but rather than lacking talent, he has been emotionally crippled by events in his life that are as traumatic (and perhaps even more so) as what Harry has experienced, and that ties the two boys together. Harry is probably experiencing some early difficulties for similar reasons, as well as being new to magic, though he will quickly overcome these obstacles and catch up to his classmates; Neville, who is likely impaired by memory charms that his well-meaning family may have employed to help him forget the tragic circumstances involving his parents, will take longer to progress.

Hermione backs down from her threat to report Harry and Ron, and she will continue to overlook their constant rule-breaking in future books, even after she is appointed as a Gryffindor prefect. The only time she actually reports their activities to a teacher is in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In that instance, she reports Harry to Professor McGonagall, not because he broke any rules, but only because she was legitimately concerned for Harry's safety. Both Harry and Ron react in anger, however, refusing to speak to her for months, deeply hurting Hermione, and nearly ending their friendship permanently.