*Harry has a dream about a flying motorcycle...obviously because of Hagrid's mode of transportation while bringing him here.
*We get a pretty decent description of Harry's looks. Thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, bright green eyes, round glasses with scotch tape, scar, etc.
*"Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley look like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig." This is one of my favorite quotes from the chapter. Does the "pig in a wig" have to do with the pig tail that Hagrid later gives Dudley?
*Weird things that have happened to Harry without explanation: hair growing back when Aunt Petunia made him nearly bald, the revolting old sweater of Dudley's that had shrunk as Aunt Petunia forced it on his head, and Harry ending up on the roof of the school when Dudley and friends were chasing him.
*A snake communicates with Harry at the zoo. The snake is from Brazil. Bill Weasly had a penpal from Brazil who sent Bill a cursed hat that made his ears shrivel up, because Bill couldn't afford the student exchange program, therefore offending the penpal. Is this relevant at all?? And is the fact that the snake is a boa constrictor meaningful?
*Harry uses parseltongue, though he doesn't know it. How does Harry know how to use it? Sure, it's in his blood, but is he really that natural enough so that the first time he sees a snake he pulls parseltongue out of his pocket? And how does he not notice he's speaking a different language completely?
*Harry recalls the green light from the "car crash".
*Harry has met wizards and witches in the streets, who obviously know Harry Potter. The next paragraph is about how Harry has no one at school. This may be symbolic that Harry does not fit in in the Muggle world.
ok im gonna try to be really deep here but i have a feeling it's not going to work.
ReplyDeleteactually it's more of a question.
isn't that snake that it the old lady in the one we just watched a boa consticter typeish thing??? MAYBE IT'S ALL SPECIAL AND STUFF THAT IT IS A BOA CONSTICTER BUT IM PROBABLY WRONG AND NOW IM JUST RAMBLING. ok im done.
<3, sarah
He seems to always not notice he is speaking Parseltongue... he can hear himself speak though right? And he doesn't hear himself hissing? that is weird...
ReplyDeleteI looked up symbolic meaning of a boa constricter on some sketchy dream website and it said if you dream about boa constricters "you are feeling suffocated or restricted in some personal relationship". He doesn't dream but still..
It says Harry is used to spiders, opposite of Ron who is afraid of them.
Are the Dursley’s rich? They never seem to have problems with money because they get Dudley all those birthday presents.
From Mugglenet- "In Book 1, on page 27 (American paperback), it mentions that the snake in the zoo winked at Harry. Harry can't be blamed for being so surprised, as snakes don't have movable eyelids. Thanks, Bethany!”
You also meet Mrs. Figg, who becomes important later. “"Fig" means "not literal" and a "fig leaf" is something that "conceals or camouflages." Arabella Figg keeps her identity a secret from Harry until Order of the Phoenix, and is able to conceal herself in the world of Muggles.” -mugglenet
Dudley's friend Piers means rock or stone. And from some random website i found when I googled it... “Polkiss may be a variation of Polk, which itself is a variation of the Scottish names Pogue, Pollack, or Pollock, meaning "from the pool or pit." So Piers Polkiss is a rock from a pool or a pit. ????
It would be cool if we could identify
“a tiny man in a violet top hat”
“a wild-looking old women dressed in all green”
“a bald man in a very long purple coat”
Marge is mentioned- and marge means pearl...
I found this on Mugglenet too. It explains the dedication...
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone
For Jessica, who loves stories, for Anne, who loved them too, and for Di, who heard this one first.
Explanation: Jessica is JK Rowling’s daughter. Anne was Jo’s mother, who, unfortunately, died of Multiple Sclerosis on December 30th, 1990. Dianne, or “Di," is Jo’s younger sister who she read Philosopher/Sorcerer’s Stonebefore Jo sent it off to be reviewed.” -Mugglenet
Two off topic things that J.K. Rowling personally said in an interview so it is true, the first of which makes me sad...
Hagrid was NOT in Hufflepuff.
The animal an Animagus turns into is a reflection on his/her personality.
I love the picture Ada! We should all put a picture for each post! I will add one to mine for the fist chapter. Who is doing next week? Once we all do one we can keep that order.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the :wild-looking old woman dressed in green" could be Aunt Muriel? And could the "tiny man" be Flitwick? I wonder if it really is a character that we meet later...
ReplyDeleteI like how you said Dudley is "dangerously spoiled" because it's very true. If his parents give him what he wants and let him depend on them, he will never be able to keep a job or survive on his own!
The fact that Harry doesn't fit in with Muggles is definitely symbolic...maybe you can't be successful as a wizard and a muggle. Arthur doesn't fit in with muggles either, and Petunia doesn't fit in with wizards. The only exception would be Hermione. But we don't know much about Hermione's life living with muggles...does Hermione have trouble in the Muggle world as well?
Good job Ada! :)
I will do next week.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole Parseltongue thing...we had the natural ability to speak English, so we speak it automatically when talking to other English-speakers. We don't register that we're speaking English, we just do it. I think it's probably the same for Harry and Parseltongue. If you're fluent in a language, when someone speaks that language you completely understand them. I think all Harry realizes is that he understands the snake and doesn't bother thinking about the language. Later in the books, he knows he's speaking Parseltongue if he thinks about it. I read a book where a girl was naturally able to speak French, and she spoke French with a French-speaker. She didn't realize it (she didn't even know she could speak French) but all her friends were really surprised. So that's my thoughts on that.
For the Braziliness, maybe JK Rowling has a Brazil obsession just like I have a UK obsession :)
I do wish we knew more about Hermione's Muggle life. I doubt she has too much trouble because she was raised as a Muggle...but then Harry was too. But still, Hermione has more common sense and seems like she would be better at fitting in than Harry would. Also, I wonder if Harry's mother had trouble in the Muggle world? I feel like she wouldn't have, but that's just my intuition...
I wonder how Dudley's life was as an adult. I read somewhere that JK Rowling said Harry and Dudley stayed on "Christmas card terms" or something and she may have said they visited each other occasionally but I might have made that up. And did Harry stay in contact with Vernon and Petunia?
Thanks for the Animagus info Allie!!! That wraps up one debate :)
I think I read the Christmas Card terms thing somewhere so I don't think you made that up...
ReplyDeleteHermione may have not got on in the Muggle world because she is not that good at making friends, as you see in the first book. But she probably did get on. I think Lily would have. She seems normal enough in the Pensieve memories.
I don't think Harry would have kept in touch, but maybe he would write to them or something to say he got married or had kids.