Week 3 Discussion: Chapters 7-9

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Here we’ll be discussing chapters 7-9 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Feel free to offer any thoughts that occurred to you while reading or to use some of our suggested questions below. If someone else has said something you find interesting, you should definitely respond to them – this is a discussion, after all!

Your response should be at least 50 words long and will earn you 10 beans and a turn. You’re welcome to post as many times as you like but you’ll only earn beans for your first 3 posts (we’d also prefer it if you wait for other people to respond before posting again, rather than doing it back to back, unless it’s been a few days and nobody else has posted).

Optional Questions
If you’re not sure what to say, here are some discussion prompts to get you started
Do you remember which aspects of the castle you found most captivating when you read it for the first time? Are there any details you’d not noticed or not really appreciated before reading it now?
Professor McGonagall starts her lesson by warning the first years that Transfiguration is some of the most dangerous magic they’ll learn at Hogwarts. Do you agree?
Harry makes several decisions (going to retrieve the rememberall, agreeing to duel Malfoy…) in chapter 9 that could be considered reckless. Do you think you would have acted the same when you were 11 or do you think you’d have had more in common with Hermione’s perspective?

The deadline is 11:59 PM HOL-time on the 31st of May.

[Luna Ravenlong]

I think I wouldn’t have been anywhere near as reckless as Harry was, I was pretty shy and introverted at 11 so avoided confrontation- I would have agreed with Hermione's perspective, but wouldn’t have voiced it. Reading the books as an adult, I think Harry acts this way as he has never had a supportive adult figure that he can remember, who would have given him safe boundaries. He’s also never had a friend before, so going along with Ron, and standing up to those who pick on him and Neville would have felt like the right thing to do. Hermione has a strong respect for authority and, at that point, hadn’t had any close friends, so she feels that rigidly sticking to the rules is what should be done.

[River Fenwick]

I agree that Transfiguration could be some of the most dangerous magic in the wizarding world. It could be used for many purposes and be a generally helpful form of magic, but the fact that it can change things at a molecular level and works on both objects and humans makes it something to be cautious about. Too many things can go wrong, or it could be used for harm, though that can likely be said for many forms of magic in the wizarding world.

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

[OUT OF CHARACTER, but very consistent with my student and professor HOL profiles]

My first experience with the Hogwarts castle was a July evening in 2007, two days after the Deathly Hallows release. I finally decided to see what the fuss was all about, being marooned in an incredibly boring New Mexico city for most of the summer (and noticing that the Deathly Hallows release had been one of the very few things to wake this city up). When I got to the Hogwarts castle and welcoming feast, I was reminded of one of the best years of my life: my time studying in England (in the 2004-5 school year where I did a one year masteres degree)! Comparing the decor, community, and food at Hogwarts to the New Mexico wilderness made me remember just how much I had missed my time in England - and how much I wanted that experience again. Sure enough, six years later I got my second chance to get another graduate degree in England... and, of course, I enroled in HOL right around that time! (HOL classes that year started pretty much right when I left for England!)

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Other than Luna (as future books came out), Neville is a character I resonated with the most in my pre/early teens reading the series for the first time, and I remember really empathizing with his experience during flying class.

I appreciated Harry’s readiness to leap into action when Malfoy taunted him over the Remembrall, but couldn’t imagine I’d relate to the feelings of “fierce joy” he experience on his broom, or that it would be described as easy and wonderful for me. Stoked for him, and envy how naturally it came, but flying up in the sky on nothing but a broomstick does not bode well with my anxiety around falling from great heights.

Been to a climbing gym once with a close friend who’s really into it. Was fully harnessed in and resolved to make my way up to highest part of their wall before repelling back to the ground. No matter how much I breathed deeply, telling myself I was safe (and in many ways was able to keep my mind more calm can expected), my heartbeat was racing wildly, my breath was difficult to control, and my limbs were shaking uncontrollably almost the entire time because my body felt I was in total survival mode.

But I did it once!

When my friend asked if I wanted to have another go, I said absolutely not. I’d be happy to spot her for the rest of our time there, but no way was I interested in putting myself through that a second time.

Add in the fact that to this day I’ve got some level of anxiety while operating vehicles, and flying a broom makes even less sense for me. Grown to be much more comfortable with it over the years (even come to enjoy it for the most part), but getting behind the wheel of a car was somewhat miserable for me when I first started going for my driving permit and then license. While I appreciate the convenience of having one, I’m not super into cars or the experience of navigating the road, especially out with other drivers to contend with.

The idea of being able to fly at all sounds magical, but I don’t expect it would be my preferred means of travel in real life outside of aircrafts designed to keep me contained where other people are in charge, lol. Or at very least it would take me quite some time to adjust to floating around like that.

I have had quite a bossy little streak of sticking up for (admittedly often only perceived) injustices, particularly in my youth when I was less inclined to know the lines of when to jump in or let something go, so I probably would have told Malfoy off, but when Malfoy got on his broom and took to the air, I would by no means have followed suit.

Suffice to say, this was obviously such a crucial point for Harry, and I have mad respect for his response and the new talent discovered, but the situation would have had to be a lot more dire for me to take the same actions he did.