Chapter 6- The Journey from Platform 9 and 3\4

-There is a really interesting meaning for why King's Cross Station is the station that Harry leaves from, besides that J.K. Rowling's parents had met there. I am too tired to explain at the moment, but I will write something on it and post it soon.
"My mother and father were both Londoners. They met on a train travelling from King's Cross station to Arbroath in Scotland when they were both eighteen; my father was off to join the Royal Navy, my mother to join the WRNS (the women's equivalent). My mother said she was cold, my father offered her a half share in his coat, and they got married just over a year later, when they were nineteen."-From J.k. Rowling's official site


-I wonder what the Doctors at the hospital in London thought when Dudley arrived there with a pig's tail. Did the Ministry have to intervene?


-I have always wondered why they make everyone go to Kings Cross. Shouldn't they just have everyone go to their local train station, and go to Platform 9 3\4 and be transported to the same area everyone else is?


-Ginny being at Platform 9 and 3\4 and wanting to go is very similar to what Lily (2nd generation) and even Petunia wanted. 
Ginny says "Mom, can't I go..." "You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first." 

and
"It won't be long and you'll be going too," Harry told her.
"Two years," sniffed Lily. "I want to go now!"
- All of the people on the chocolate frog cards were real people, or are in mythology. I looked them all up.


-In this chapter both Ron and Harry meet their future true love's. Neither of them have "love at first sight". Quite the opposite. Harry barely notices Ginny and Ron hates Hermione.


-Nicholas Flamel was a real alchemist.


-Guess what? This is where the boats end up. I never imagined it like this. "...as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles."


Keep each other safe, Keep faith. The next password will be obscure.








Name Meanings from Mugglenet-
Hedwig - The Saint of Orphans that lived in Germany in the 13th and 14th Century. Means "refuge in battle." Mentioned in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Ginny - "Ginevra," an Italian female and woman of the people, her name means "Juniper" as in evergreen tree. There is an old myth about a bride named Ginevra, who playfully hid in a trunk on her wedding day. The lid fell, burying her alive; and eventually her skeleton was discovered. This could relate to Ginny being taken into the Chamber of Secrets where her "skeleton would lie forever." However, J.K. Rowling has also said that she picked the name because she wanted something different and special for the only Weasley girl!
Weasley- From J.K. Rowling's site weasels were known to have a bad reputation, especially in Ireland, as an unfortunate animal. And well, the Weasleys are unfortunate because they're poor. J.K. Rowling said: "Ron was the only one of three major characters whose surname never changed; he has been 'Weasley' from start to finish. In Britain and Ireland the weasel has a bad reputation as an unfortunate, even malevolent, animal. However, since childhood I have had a great fondness for the family mustelidae; not so much malignant as maligned, in my opinion." The Weasleys and the weasel both share red hair. The Weasleys live near Ottery St. Catchpole, and it is interesting that a family with weasel in their surname lives near a town that has otter in its name (an otter is a member of the weasel family). Also, in Goblet of Fire, the group all go to Stoatshead Hill to take the Portkey to the Triwizard Tournament. A stoat is another relative of the weasel family.
Grindelwald - Perhaps derived from the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf character Grendel, the demon. (Many theories in which the Dark wizard Grindelwald is compared to Hitler have been explored by <i>Harry Potter</i> fans in the past, especially since the date of his demise, 1945, is the same as the end of WWII.) A beautiful village in the mountains of Bernese Oberaland, Switzerland. Also, a well-known hotel chain in Germany.
Neville - Old French for "from the new farmland."
Longbottom - The name itself is considered quite humorous, but "bottom" is an old word for "staying power." This seems to accurately fit Neville's personality and overall devotion to Harry.
Hermione - Means "well-born," "earthy," or "stone." Refers to peony-type flowers. The feminine version of Hermes. In Greek mythology, was often known as the patron saint of high magic (no surprise our Hermione is so gifted). She was the daughter of Helen of Troy and King Menelaus of Sparta. In the Aeneid, Hermione was kidnapped by Pyrrhus, but her loving Orestes came and murdered Pyrrhus while he was praying. Hermione is also a character in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. The character is accused of adultery and dies before the intermission. At the end of the play she is brought out as a statue, and finally returns to life at the very end of the play. A possible connection to her petrification in Chamber of Secrets?
Granger - Possibly from the Granger movement in the 1800s, a movement to improve the lives of farmers. Could be a connection to Hermione's desire to start SPEW, a movement to improve the lives of house-elves. A granger was also a very common person, just like Hermione's parents. Granger is the name of a character from the book Fahrenheit 451. He is the leader of a group of intellectuals known as "The Book People," whose goal is the preservation of liturature in the face of their government's efforts to burn and destroy all books. A possible reference to Hermione's fanatical love of books?
Quidditch - J.K. Rowling has stated that the origin of this name is entirely made up (she wrote five pages of "Q" words until she found one that she liked), but it is still interesting to the note that the word "quiddity" means "the essence or real nature of a thing."
Charlie - A diminutive of Charles, which means "manly" and "strong."
Draco - Draco is a constellation that looks like a dragon but is a snake. In Latin, Draco means "dragon." There was also a Greek ruler named Draco who developed a system of severe punishments for the smallest of crimes. "Draconian" means "harsh or cruel." In Romanian, "drac" means "devil."
Malfoy - In Latin, "malus" means "bad" and "mal" means "pale." "Mal foi" means "bad faith, an act with bad intentions, or a malicious act" in French. "Mal de foi" means a "loss of faith." The similar French phrase "Mal fait" can be interpeted as "badly made" or "evil deeds." In Portuguese, (J.K. Rowling taught English in Portugal for a few years) "Mal foi" means "was bad" or "is bad." In Arthurian legends, Lancelot (King Arthur's greatest knight and his betrayor) is sometimes called "Le Chevallier Mal Fait" (the "mal fait" knight). "Foy" means "a farewell feast, drink, or gift, as at a wedding."

DRACO!!

DRACO!!!

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

Not Neville

No! Not Neville!

LOOK OVER AT THE SIDE

Look over at the side guys. 50 days. 50! This isn't happening. It is just too depressing. There is another one.This time it is Ron. Who do you think tomorrow will be? My bet is on either Snape or Voldemort.

Not Another One

Not another one! This is too depressing.

Harry Potter Joke

I found this Harry Potter Joke on a website and liked it a lot. Theres more that I didn't put on here, but this is the part that I especially liked.

Why did the Weasel cross the road?

Somebody tossed a knut.

Why did Potter cross the road.
No reason, but someone will write a book about it.

Why did Draco cross the road?
So he could swing his hips at Potter.

Why did Crabbe and Goyle cross the road?
Draco did.

Why did the Dark Lord cross the road?
Because Potter couldn't stop him.

Why did Death Eaters cross the road?
The Dark Lord ordered it.

Why did Trevor cross the road?
To get away from Longbottom.

Why did Dumbledore cross the road?
He was following the poisoned lemon drops.

Why did Professor Snape stand in the road?
So no one could tell what side he was on.

Why do Slytherins cross the road twice?
Because we are doublecrossers.

How many Purebloods does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
What's a lightbulb?

How many witches does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None, the Wizarding World doesn't use lightbulbs.

How many wizards does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Two. One to hold the bulb. One to rotate the room.

How many Muggles does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
One. It is the only thing they are good for.

How many aurors does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
The Dark Lord already killed the ones with that kind of know-how.

I Am Going To Cry

Oh my gosh. It's so depressing.

Chapter 5: Diagon Alley

Don't make fun of me; I've never done this without having a prompt to follow.

Chapter 5 is about how Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley to buy all the things he will need for Hogwarts. They go to Gringotts, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions (where Harry meets Malfoy), Flourish and Blotts, the Apothecary, Eeylops Owl Emporium, and Ollivanders.

-"Summat"--Hagrid says this all the time. What does it actually translate to? Something? Some of that? Here's a quote: "Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."

-This may be a really dumb question, but how old do goblins live to be? Griphook seems really old and I don't remember reading about how old they get.

- In the Leaky Cauldron, Harry shakes hands with all sorts of people, but one keeps coming back for more. Doris Crockford. Is she in any of the other books? I don't know why, but her name stuck out to me.

-On Harry's list for school supplies and such, it said "please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags." Do they wear name tags in the movie? I don't think they do, but I'm not sure. If you look at that picture, it has a gryffindor crest on his cloakey thing. If they buy their cloaks before, and not know what house they are going to be in, how does the house crest get on the cloak?

-Are there "muggle" owls? or regular owls? Or are all owls "wizard" owls? Does this question make any sense at all?

-Why are the money measurements/currencies for wizards so random? 17 sickles to a galleon, 29 knuts to a sickle....For us, it's very different.

DISCUSS!!!!!!

-k


picture from ------http://media.dvdtown.com/images/displayimage.php?id=13869

Daniel Radcliffe on The Late Show

This video below is Dan Radcliffe preforming one of his numbers from How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on the Late Show. He is really good, and it is really funny to hear him speak in an "American" accent.

New Harry Potter Character Birthday Calender

Here is a link to the new Harry Potter character Birthday Calender
https://www.google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=OK

Happy Belated Birthday to Pomona Sprout!

Why Dobby Should Be Math Team Captain

Dobby is the man. Or the House Elf. But he is so freakin cool that he really has to be the math team captain. He would revolutionize Math Team and change it for the better and you would love him forever. There are so many reasons he should be captain that I don’t even know were to start. I might as well start at the beginning.

NUMBER ONE- HE IS REALLY GOOD AT MATH....


"Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home." (CoS)

"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir!" he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon's. "I has seven now, sir. . . . But sir ..." he said (GoF)

As you can see from those quotes above, Dobby is a uncommonly gifted house elf. Not only can he count, but he can count all the way to seven, the most magically powerful number. Having Dobby’s extreme counting skills on the Math Team will give our school a high advantage over the surrounding towns.

Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and whispered, "He is wanting paying for his work, sir." (GoF)

"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss. . . . Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better." (GoF)

Not only can Dobby count, but he can negotiate and understands how money works. The students at our school would really benefit from his expertise and wisdom.

NUMBER TWO- HE IS VERY LOYAL

"Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him." (GoF)

Dobby is a very loyal house elf that will keep the secrets of the team and their strategies to himdelf. Even under the influence of Butterbeer, he will mantain constant vigilance that he is not revealing any important information.

"Dobby is a free house-elf and he can obey anyone he likes and Dobby will do whatever Harry Potter wants him to do!" (HBP)

Dobby will bend easily to the mathletes kind demeanors and will put his full efforts into doing what the Math team needs him to do.

NUMBER THREE- HE CAN COOK

“Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this." (CoS)

This shows he knows how to use an oven, so at least he is better off then Ada.

NUMBER FOUR- HE HAS GOOD DECORATING SKILLS

“Harry arrived early in the Room of Requirement for the last DA meeting before the holidays and was very glad he had, because when the torches burst into flame he saw that Dobby had taken it upon himself to decorate the place for Christmas. He could tell the elf had done it, because nobody else would have strung a hundred golden baubles from the ceiling, each showing a picture of Harry's face and bearing the legend: 'HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!” (OoP)

There is no chance of a party being boring when Dobby is around! He will make festive decorations to amaze everyone!

NUMBER FIVE- HE WON’T KILL YOU

“Dobby never meant to kill! Dobby only meant to maim, or seriously injure!”

This is perhaps the most important point of them all. You want to make sure your Math Team captain isn’t a serial killer, so this quote proves Dobby’s innocence.


Not only is Dobby, a fun, lovable guy, he can cook, count, decorate, and is loyal. I don’t get why you ever considered anyone else. Dobby is the man. Elect him now.

Chapter 4: The Keeper of the Keys

This is the fourth chapter of the Sorcerer's Stone. This is a really important chapter, because it's when Harry first finds out he's a wizard!! Here are some things to start off the discussion:

• On page 48, one of the things Hagrid takes out of his pocket is "...a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea." Could this be a potion that is mentioned later in the series?
  
  
• In the movie, Hagrid mistakens Dudley for Harry, but in the book, he recognizes Harry right away. He says, "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes." Changing it for the movie does add a bit of humor, but is it worth it? It's kind of nice how Hagrid can recognize Harry because he looks so much like his parents. (Click here to watch the scene)
• Hagrid says to Harry (about Voldemort), "Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die." Could this have anything to do with horcruxes? Does Dumbledore know about the horcruxes yet?
• To answer our questions from the last chapter about how the letters actually get there and who puts the spells on them, Hagrid says, "I was allowed ter do a bit (of magic) ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff -"

Vote for Harry Potter

Since I will scream in fury if Twilight beats Harry Potter, vote for Harry Potter in all the categories for the MTV Movie Awards!

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2011/

Chapter 3: The Letters from No One

This chapter is where things start to get even more interesting. Harry receives his first letter from Hogwarts, which causes Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia to think of ways to prevent him getting any more letters. They move him from the cupboard under the stairs to Dudley's second bedroom. This doesn't work, and the number of letters increases. When Uncle Vernon nails up the mail slot in the front door, hundreds of letters come shooting out of the fireplace! The Dursleys and Harry start driving around England to get away from the letters and end up at the hut on the rock. Here is where Harry spends his eleventh birthday, and at midnight there is a loud banging on the door.

-We realize how very alone Harry is because the Hogwarts letter is the first letter he has ever gotten. As the book says, "he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back."

-I've always wondered about the letters. How do they get into eggs, through boarded up windows, and down the chimney? We are talking about wizards, of course, but is there someone actually casting spells to put the letters in these places? Dumbledore or McGonagall, maybe? Or maybe the letters are enchanted so that they reach the recipient no matter what obstacles are in the way.

-Would the Dursleys have successfully prevented Harry from going to Hogwarts if Hagrid hadn't come to get him? When students don't answer the letter, does Hogwarts send someone to get them or was Harry an exception? This makes me wonder how many witches and wizards there are that don't go to Hogwarts even after getting the letter. Also, I think Hermione says somewhere that someone from the school comes to explain everything to Muggleborn students. Harry was raised by Muggles so why didn't someone come to him? Hagrid only came because he didn't answer saying he would go.

-"If it was Monday --and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television -- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday." This means that Harry's eleventh birthday is Tuesday, July 31, 1991. However, if you look at a calendar from 1991, you see that July 31 was actually a Wednesday. Also, in chapter 1 it says that Harry was brought to the Dursleys on a Tuesday. His parents died the night of October 31, 1981, so Harry reached the Dursleys on November 1, 1981. But November 1, 1981, was a Sunday!

-It says that for Harry's birthday the year before, he had been given a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. These must be the socks he uses to muffle the Sneakoscope in his fourth year and later gives to Dobby.

Let the discussion begin! Who wants to do next week?