Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 12
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Chapter 12 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The Patronus
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[edit] Synopsis
Harry and Ron remain furious at Hermione for the confiscation of Harry's new Firebolt. Because of this, Hermione tends to avoid the Common room. Holidays end, and the night before classes start, Oliver Wood corners Harry and asks if he has his Dementor problem sorted out. Harry says that Professor Lupin has promised to help with that. Oliver asks about a new broom, and Ron tells him about the Firebolt. Oliver thinks it is unlikely it was sent by Black, a fugitive on the run. He promises to make Professor McGonagall see sense.
Classes start but are no fun. Hagrid, however, has cheered up, and for his first lesson has a large bonfire full of flame-loving salamanders for them. Professor Trelawney has moved the Divination class on to palmistry and wastes no time in pronouncing that Harry has the shortest life lines she has ever seen. Harry is eager for Defence Against the Dark Arts class and Professor Lupin's promised anti-Dementor lessons. Ron mentions that Lupin looks sick and wonders what is wrong with him. Hermione overhears them and says it is obvious, but does not elaborate.
Harry meets with Lupin, who is carrying a Boggart in a case, that evening. Lupin says it will turn into a Dementor against which Harry can practice. Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus charm. Harry, concentrating on a happy memory, causes white vapour to come out from his wand. He says he is ready for a test. The Boggart is released and appears as a Dementor. Harry tries to cast a Patronus, but hearing his mother screams, passes out. Lupin brings him around and gives him a Chocolate Frog. Harry wants to try again and selects a new memory. When he tries again he hears the screaming and also his father, then faints. When he revives, Harry says this time he heard his father; Lupin, looking shaken, admits that he knew James and says they should call it a night. But Harry wants to continue and selects another memory, the day he learned he was a wizard and would be leaving the Dursleys. The Boggart is released. Harry tries to conjure a Patronus, and again, he hears screaming, but fainter. Something huge and white bursts from his wand, and the false Dementor is halted. Lupin quickly steps in and uses the Riddikulus charm to return it to the case. Lupin tells Harry that he has done enough and says they will try again next week. Harry asks if he knew Sirius Black, and Lupin admits that he and Black went to Hogwarts at the same time.
Ravenclaw plays Slytherin and loses by a slim margin. This cheers Oliver Wood because if Gryffindor can beat Ravenclaw, they will be in second place. Wood increases practice to five times a week, which combined with weekly anti-Dementor lessons leaves Harry only one night a week to do homework. Hermione seems to have it worse, although she is somehow is getting to all her classes, even those which seemed to be at the same time. Oliver tells Harry that Professor McGonagall will not be returning the Firebolt immediately. Oliver felt that having Harry flying a jinxed broom would not be a problem if he won the match before it threw him off, although McGonagall, for some reason he is unable to fathom, felt this was rather insensitive. He suggests Harry order a Nimbus 2001, but Harry declines.
The anti-Dementor lessons are not going well either. Despite his earlier success, Harry can now only produce a thin, silvery mist. After one long session, Professor Lupin brings out Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks. Harry nearly lets it slip that he has been there. They discuss Dementors, and Harry states that Black deserves the Dementor's Kiss (sucking out a person's soul), although Lupin expresses some skepticism.
Professor McGonagall returns the Firebolt to Harry, declaring it jinx free. He heads to the Common room with his broom, finding Ron on the way. Outside Sir Cadogan's portrait, Neville is in tears. He had written down the passwords for the week—Sir Cadogan changes them several times a day—but he has lost the list. Harry gives the password, and they enter. Nearly everyone wants to see the Firebolt, and there is renewed hope of winning the Cup. Harry and Ron finally reconcile with Hermione. Ron offers to take the Firebolt up to the dorm room, it being time for Scabbers' rat tonic. Harry is again wondering how Hermione can be taking so many courses; she seems as exhausted as Professor Lupin. Ron suddenly reappears, howling that Scabbers is gone, and carrying a bloody sheet covered with cat hairs that look like Crookshanks'.
[edit] Analysis
While Harry is dejected over his destroyed Nimbus 2000 and angry about the confiscated Firebolt, these are losses he could afford to replace with the considerable fortune his parents left him. However, he refuses to do so and remains upset over his lost brooms. Rather than finding a workable solution, his anger, stubbornness, and emotional immaturity cause him to do nothing, and he slips into a temporary, self-pitying state-of-mind. Underlying all this is Harry's strong emotional attachment to these two objects that he believes cannot be replaced merely by buying substitutes. The Firebolt, in particular, is meaningful because he convinces himself that it must have been sent by someone who secretly cares for his well being, rather than by an enemy wanting to murder him, although he has no proof for either possibility. However, Harry will overcome this emotional state when the Firebolt is returned jinx free, further bolstering his belief that someone may be watching over him.
Although the Firebolt's return patches the rift between Hermione and the boys, a new one erupts over Scabbers's apparent killing by Crookshanks. While the evidence is only circumstantial, it does seem that Crookshanks is guilty. This rift is perhaps even harder on Hermione, who is already massively overburdened by her schoolwork. This time, however, only Ron is upset with her.
There is yet another of the series' endemic date and schedule contradictions here. The anti-Dementor lesson that Harry is leaving when he runs into McGonagall on her way to return his Firebolt to him is said to be his fifth – he has been unable to produce more than a faint mist in the four lessons since the first successful one; and the first lesson was in the first week of classes, "soon after the New Year". As these lessons are supposed to be every week, by that count, it can be no later than early February. However, it is only two days later that they have the match with Ravenclaw. Less than a week later, Harry and Ron visit Hagrid and find that they are only a day away from the hearing at the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, which is April 20th. By that count, Scabbers should have vanished about 12 April, and Harry should have had about 12 lessons rather than 4; with perhaps three of them interrupted by Professor Lupin's "illness", there should still have been at least nine anti-Dementor lessons. While it's certainly true that as a teacher, Lupin will have had other things to deal with and would likely not have been able to fit twelve lessons in, still we are left with the impression that these lessons are meant to be every week, rather than every three weeks. In this case, the schedule confusion does cause a small problem in the story, as the compression at this point leads us to believe that the end-of-term exams are happening in about March.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why does Oliver Wood think McGonagall's comment about his being "insensitive" regarding Harry is unwarranted?
- Why is it difficult for Harry to recall a strong "happy" memory?
- Why is Neville having (more than usual) difficulty remembering the password to the Gryffindor Common room? What does he do to help him remember and what happens after he does?
[edit] Further Study
- Why is it "obvious", at least according to Hermione, what is wrong with Lupin? What might his problem be and how did Hermione figure it out? Why does she refuse to elaborate?
- Is Ron justified in assuming that Crookshanks killed Scabbers? How does this affect his relationship with Hermione?
- Lupin tells Harry that Sirius Black was a student at Hogwarts the same time he was. Is it possible he knows Black better than he is letting on? Why might he disagree with Harry about Black deserving the "Dementor's Kiss"?
- Harry has inherited a large fortune, and could easily order a new broom. Why does he resist?
[edit] Greater Picture
At this point, Hermione is clearly aware of Lupin's "furry little problem", as it will later be referred to, presumably as a result of applying what she had learned while writing the werewolf report demanded by Snape. We have gathered that she was the only student to write that report, so it is not surprising that neither Harry nor Ron knows why Lupin looks ill. Hermione's estrangement from Harry and Ron is important at this point, as it is this estrangement that prevents Hermione from explaining to Harry and Ron.
Knowing that Lupin is a werewolf, and finding the effect the Boggart has on Harry, leaves us with something of a contradiction. Clearly the Boggart, in Dementor form, is having the same magical effect on Harry that a real Dementor would, leaving Harry despairing and bringing horrible, buried memories to the front of Harry's mind. And yet, when the Boggart takes the form of the full moon, Lupin's greatest fear, it does not affect him. One can only surmise that this is due to something similar to the "placebo effect": if you believe something will have an effect on you, it quite often does. To this end, the Boggart-as-Dementor is believable, as being something that could be present in the classroom, and so has an effect on Harry because he believes it will; the Boggart-as-full-moon is not believable, as a full moon cannot exist inside a classroom, and being unbelievable, has no effect on Lupin.
Neville losing the list of passwords will turn out to not be his fault. Crookshanks had stolen that list at the request of Sirius Black, who will use it two nights hence to enter Gryffindor tower. That event will cause some confusion, as Black will apparently be found attacking Ron, rather than Harry who he is supposed to be trying to kill; it will, however, turn out to be the departed Scabbers that Black is looking for. It is worth noting, however, that the selection of Neville to lose this list was very well-made; Neville has been characterized from the beginning of the series as having memory problems, particularly with passwords, so his losing the list that he has made is of a piece with his character.
We learn that Lupin had gone to school with Harry's father and Sirius Black. We know also by now that "little Peter Pettigrew" was one of their friends, and we may also recall that Snape had been in school at the same time — Professor Dumbledore had mentioned that James saved Snape's life. While it is still not possible for us to recognize James, Sirius, Pettigrew, and Lupin together as a group, we should be aware at this point that they knew each other. It is a little curious that Harry is more interested at the moment in talking with Lupin about Sirius than about his father, but it is true that Sirius is someone who seems to be more immediate for him.
Repeatedly, through this book, we see a pattern recur: someone wonders how Hermione can be taking so many classes, and promptly there is an interruption of some sort that prevents us from wondering further. It is a tribute to the author's skill that the interruptions do not seem contrived, but are simply normal occurrences, or as normal as they can be in this situation. This chapter shows one of these interruptions: the apparent death of Scabbers interrupts Harry's musing on this topic. While the event itself is extraordinary, it is not entirely unexpected. Like Ron and, to a lesser extent, Harry, we can see that Crookshanks has been targeting Scabbers since he was introduced to the story. Thus Scabbers' apparent demise, seemingly at Crookshanks' claws, while something of a surprise, is still a natural progression, and the interruption seems quite natural.
