The Not a Book Club Club discussion
Harry Potter
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HPatCoS: Part 1: Chapter 1 - Chapter 4
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Wow I haven't even finished my PS re-read (ok, barely started) and CoS is starting up!? I guess I need to get moving! I blame you and Veronica Mars. Just saying...
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Off topic: Veronica Mars is awesome. I remember being so thoroughly annoyed by Dobby on this first meeting. Just like, are you kidding me with this little fool?
Love the way Rowling goes out of her way to explain how the kids are able to use the car since we know underage wizards aren't allowed to use magic.
Ch.1-It's really easy to feel for Harry in this opening chapter. Everyone wants to feel special on their birthday and Harry is told to pretend he doesn't exist. Damn, the Dursleys are cruel.
-The recap of the previous book feels like "Previously in Harry Potter..."
Ch.2
-Rowling really shows Harry's character in his interactions with Dobby. Harry is immediately kind to Dobby, asks him to sit and asks how he can help Dobby out. Sirius says in the Goblet of Fire "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." Harry shows what he's like.
-Dobby knows about Riddle being Voldemort. He's trying to get Harry to pick up on it but Harry isn't getting it. He also seems to have a clue about the magic behind the diary, saying Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard but is too good to use certain kinds of magic.
-Rowling does a great job of setting up the mystery of this book. I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts but Dobby says Harry can't go back. Whaaat? What's going on? It's pretty foreboding.
-Again, the Dursleys are awful. Locking Harry in his room, putting bars on his window (seriously, nobody on Privet Drive questions this?), 2 pieces of bread and a lump of cheese for dinner? Awful.
Ch.3
-Leaving Privet Drive is a lot of fun. Weasleys to the rescue! Only a kid would think flying a car to Little Whinging is a good idea.
-We get some information on house elves from the Weasleys. They usually come with old, rich families with manor houses. They have their own magic that they're not allowed to use.
-I wholeheartedly agree with Harry about the Burrow. In this short chapter, the Burrow becomes its own character and it immediately feels like another home.
Ch.4
-A lot of items are mentioned in Boring & Burke's that we will see later: Hand of Glory, cursed necklace, Vanishing Cabinet.
-I love Lucius. He's so nasty. We get a glimpse of why Draco is the way he is.
-Lucius sneaks the diary into Ginny's cauldron during the fight in Flourish and Blotts.
-It's hilarious to me that Lockhart's fanbase is almost entirely middle-age housewives.
-Couldn't the Weasleys share Lockhart books? Two sets should suffice. Fred and George each need one during class but there's no real reason why they couldn't share the other books.
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I'd say for my last 10 birthdays I've celebrated with someone maybe 5 times tops, and had a cake for probably 2 of those (once when i was visiting my sister and the other time friends of mine had me over for dinner). Usually I just go do carry out for a Steak Dinner so I don't have to cook and call that good enough.
Then again I'm in my 30s, not 12 years old.
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But nice trade off to spend with friends.
Yeah, it's a little different when you're 30 vs 12. Harry didn't even get cards because of Dobby.
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Agreed about the Burrow, the description of it is very vivid. I feel like I've been there, seen Ron's room, really well done. I've always loved Harry's visits there. The garden gnome scene is great with the twins, Ron and Harry tossing them out.
It feels like such a cozy place. Very warm and inviting.
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Dobby definitely grew on me as the series progressed but those first few meetings really bugged me.
Alex, the Flourish and Blotts scene is where Lucius slips Ginny the diary.Dobby has grown on me. First read, he was frustrating because I didn't know what his game was. Now that I do, I'm fond of him.
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Alex, Ron's letter from Hermione was also signed love from Hermione. So maybe a little foreshadowing if she knew they would end up together.I never really minded Dobby.
I agree about Hermione's parents - I hadn't remembered they went school shopping with her. I liked the details I hadn't remembered - like the wizard trick of giving Muggles shrinking keys and the Muggles not catching on and just thinking they lost their keys again. Pretty sure that has happened to me - now I know its not my fault - my keys just shrank!
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Dobby may be more annoying than I remember. Or maybe that's just Fry's excellent voice for him. Overall I like his narration in this book more than the first so far.
The next two are much better though. I love the contrast between Privet drive and the Burrow. And I love visiting Diagon Alley.
Then there is Lockhart. Very well written. Too well in fact. He's easily my least favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and along with Dobby bring this book down for me.
Still, it's short and there a lot of great stuff. Oh and I almost forgot the flying car.
Not on the cover of the US edition. The US edition has the writing on the wall...
J.K. really didn't waste time dropping a huge info dump into things. This is one of my favorite of the entire series [definitely NOT the case with most friends, apparently] so I'm excited to see how it holds up.
In chapter 3 we get the first clue that the Trace doesn't target specific persons, only locations; Dobby's Hover Charm. But that in itself raises a question. Elf magic is different from human magic, that's why house elves can Apparate around Hogwarts. Shouldn't the MoM be able to tell that it wasn't human magic taking place?
Harry had one seriously crappy birthday, though.
Harry had one seriously crappy birthday, though.
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I guess for children of magic families they have to rely on the parents to police their kids. So the Weasley children probably never get to do Magic, but what about Draco Malfoy ?
Maybe it only takes effect once they have their wands and start getting trained.
Rob, when they discuss the Trace later it's mentioned that it's up to the parents to make sure the children don't do any magic at home. So how strictly that's abided to relies on the parents, I guess.
Alex, that was mentioned at some point; children aren't liable where it comes to acts of magic because they're considered not to have control of it as yet. But after Hogwarts year one, they're expected to control it and any magic they do is seen as knowingly breaking the law.
Alex, that was mentioned at some point; children aren't liable where it comes to acts of magic because they're considered not to have control of it as yet. But after Hogwarts year one, they're expected to control it and any magic they do is seen as knowingly breaking the law.
Yep, sounds about right.
The trip to Borgin and Burkes is interesting. Harry's hiding in the second Vanishing Cabinet, Malfoy first sees the Hand of Glory that he used with the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder later in the series to sneak around Hogwarts with. Also, the necklace that makes a mess of Katie Bell in the 6th book, that he tried to send to Dumbledore.
The trip to Borgin and Burkes is interesting. Harry's hiding in the second Vanishing Cabinet, Malfoy first sees the Hand of Glory that he used with the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder later in the series to sneak around Hogwarts with. Also, the necklace that makes a mess of Katie Bell in the 6th book, that he tried to send to Dumbledore.
At this point, I think J.K.'s one of those authors that just plants seeds in her worldbuilding. She writes all this stuff with the intention of tying them into the story later on, but not with any particular moment in mind.
It could be she also keeps a list. Sanderson does that, he basically jots down all his ideas, and when he's putting together a book he just combines a ton of stuff that he think would work well.
I know she definitely had a huge amount of notes and files on the world; I saw a 60 minutes (or similar show) featuring her and she was showing all sorts of files she had and even mentioned knowing where most of the characters go after the final book. I also seem to remember reading she used a Wikipedia page for a lot of research
I can tell it's been a long time since I read this...I thought Dobby showed up a book later than this. Really liked it when George picked the lock Muggle-style.
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NOTE: While this section is meant to focus on the specified chapters of this book, this read is meant for people who have already read the entire series.
As a result, unlike most of our group reads, full spoilers for the series will be allowed without spoiler tags in every discussion post.
If you haven't read some/all of the books (What's wrong with you?) proceed at your own peril.