{"id":539,"date":"2011-09-10T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-09-10T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=539"},"modified":"2011-09-09T15:21:00","modified_gmt":"2011-09-09T22:21:00","slug":"mark-re-reads-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-chapter-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/09\/mark-re-reads-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-chapter-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Re-Reads ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’: Chapter 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone<\/em>, QUIDDITCH and DRAMA and OLIVER WOOD and FLUFFY. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to re-read Harry Potter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER ELEVEN: QUIDDITCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wow, I really didn’t like this chapter the first time around. Hindsight is a funny thing, because now<\/em> I feel the exact opposite about chapter eleven. Of course, I was limited in my scope when I first read this, and there was no way I could ever know how important<\/em> this was to the entire book, nor did I see how much character development was placed here.<\/p>\n

There are some obvious differences in opinion right from start. I don’t think Rowling’s use of the passage of time is sloppy at all, but it’s taken reading the full series for me to appreciate why<\/em> she needs to do that. It works for me now because of the mental images I’m able to create. I like seeing Hagrid dressed in warm clothing out on the school grounds, preparing the broomsticks, the lake in the distance. It isn’t until later in the series that I get a better idea of how large the Hogwarts grounds are, so it’s nice to be able to know that as I re-read this and picture it so perfectly.<\/p>\n

Even as far back as this chapter, we see how Hermione is positioned to provide support to Harry and Ron, and it’s here that Rowling begins to seed an incredibly long character arc. There was that post going around on Tumblr a month or two ago that repositioned the series as being truly about Hermione; while it was hilarious, there was an air of truth to it. Of course, of the trio, I relate to Hermione the most, as I was the overly-smart and morally-sure person in junior high and high school, the one kid others turned to constantly<\/em> for help. To be fair, sometimes I was threatened with bodily harm as a coercion method to do someone’s homework. It took me a few years to figure out that I could charge<\/em> people for doing their work, and when I was supporting myself my junior and senior years, it was actually a way to leverage more control on my end.<\/p>\n

Here, though, it serves a more basic purpose: it’s the beginning of the powerful friendship between Ron, Hermione, and Harry. It starts off with Hermione chipping away at her own behavior, characterized by her willingness to bend the rules. (Seriously, think how often she breaks the “rules” in Deathly Hallows<\/em>. HHHNNNNGGG.) It becomes a problem later, but for now, Hermione helps Harry because they are friends. And it’s just that simple. I enjoy how simple things can be in Sorcerer’s Stone<\/em> because I have had enough moral complexity lately to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n

On that note, while I do love the “adult” nature of the latter books, I do enjoy just how downright silly<\/em> the first couple books can be. For example:<\/p>\n

Harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that the most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As the mythology of the series became more complex, I feel like the absurdity inherent in the magic world took a backseat. I could totally see myself at age twelve thinking this was the funniest paragraph I’d ever read. I still think it’s pretty amusing, and then I just wish Hogwarts was real, and then I just feel sad. Oh well. I’ll take Pigfarts, too.<\/p>\n
SNAPE. SNAPE. SEVERUS SNAPE. Wow, I seriously<\/em> bought into Rowling’s attempts to initially paint Snape as the most evil villain who has ever villain’d. I’m almost embarrassed that I fell for this so easily. CLEARLY HE WAS TRYING TO STEAL SOMETHING AND THAT’S WHY FLUFFY BIT HIM. or yeah. That being said, it is still <\/em>hard to ignore how irritating he can be, even when he’s saving Harry’s life in the same chapter. And it speaks to the larger character of Snape in the context of the full series. Snape does<\/em> do good things, and he certainly looks out for Harry during times of need. (Not all of them, mind you, but some of them.) I don’t think it’s fair to ignore this, but then I see how quick he is to pick on Harry and it just SENDS ME INTO A RAGE. The guy is an adult. He’s an adult! What is he doing? Harry is what…eleven? Snape, he is willingly reading books<\/em>. You are punishing a child for being interested in reading<\/em>. I’m with Ron on this one: I think Snape invents rules that the trio “broke” in order to bully them. And let’s not kid ourselves: He is bullying Harry, Ron, and Hermione. (And he bullies other kids as well, especially Neville.) He has all<\/em> of the power in this dynamic, and he uses this power to shame these kids and to make them feel miserable.<\/p>\n
I have a lot of feelings about Snape. CAN YOU TELL<\/em>.<\/p>\n
I’m still not the biggest fan of Quidditch or the scenes in the novel, but I’ll rescind my previous statements because I’ve come to really like the first Quidditch match of the whole series. For Harry, it’s a real chance to prove himself and to boost his own self esteem. He still feels like he’s been thrust into a strange world that everyone else is used to, and it makes him feel left out. However, if he can help win a Quidditch match, it could help him integrate into the magical world better than he has in the past. On top of this, I’m impressed by how much this feels like the first time you compete for something in school. Rowling captures the nervous energy and anticipation rather well, but we all know that there are large parts of these books that remind us of our schooling experience, regardless of where<\/em> we went to school.<\/p>\n
(For the record: I wish the American school system had houses. Seriously.)<\/p>\n
I think that I got the idea for writing a review entirely from the point of view of Lee Jordan from this chapter, or at least I’d like to think so. It’s so fun to read a second time because it’s so easy to hear Lee’s voice in my head. It’s an interesting choice, though, because Rowling entirely relies on the fact that we should understand Quidditch at a basic level, and that we can imagine what’s going on. It helps that Lee is both descriptive and hilarious because it gives an interesting perspective on the chaos. (A side note: There are a lot of names\/characters we don’t ever see again. WHERE IS THE FANDOM SUPPORT FOR ADRIAN PUCEY?)<\/p>\n
And then we come upon Snape casting a spell on Harry. Again, I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. I completely glossed over Hermione running over Quirrell, and put not a moment of thought into this. Even beyond that, think about what a huge risk Hermione takes to save her new friend. They’ve been friends for like…two months. And she is already setting a professor’s cloak on fire<\/em>. This book should be re-named Hermione Granger and the Beginning of My Quest To Constantly Save My Friends With Little Credit.<\/em><\/p>\n
The “mystery” at the center of this book is really well composed, I must add, because of the way that Rowling plays on our perception. We are<\/em> inclined to believe the trio’s claims that Snape is behind this all because that’s the structure of these fantasy stories. Our heroic characters can’t convince the world that the villain is real, so they must face them on their own! Except OOOPS YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT VILLAIN<\/strong>. Rowling plays with this trope multiple times throughout this series, but it’s a huge reason why I expected this particular book to end differently than it did.<\/p>\n
And let’s end this proper: Few things bring me joy quite like Hagrid accidentally spilling secrets. Love that man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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