{"id":547,"date":"2011-09-15T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=547"},"modified":"2011-09-11T23:02:32","modified_gmt":"2011-09-12T06:02:32","slug":"mark-re-reads-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-chapter-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/09\/mark-re-reads-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-chapter-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Re-Reads ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’: Chapter 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone<\/em>, Hermione, Harry, and Neville are filled with shame over being caught out of bed, and Gryffindor suffers because of their actions. So, in return, they’re forced to serve the most fucked up detention of all time. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to re-read Harry Potter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE FORBIDDEN FOREST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay, perhaps I should have read chapter fifteen first before ending my last review with the statement that I’m glad that the main characters faced punishment. I had forgotten just how brutal<\/em> the first part of this chapter is. Rowling’s got some of her best writing in the first few pages; you can feel the tangible sense of fear and shame in these characters. You can sense the dread that hangs over Professor McGonagall’s study. And then when Neville arrives? Well, it just becomes downright sad<\/em>. Poor Neville! He was only trying to help his friends.<\/p>\n

Once they lost 150 points from Gryffindor’s total (150!!!!!!!!), I realized something I’d not thought of the first time: DUDE. HAGRID. Why on earth are you not stepping in to tell McGonagall what really happened?<\/em> I didn’t pick up on this at all. Hagrid, these kids are getting 50 points taken from their House EACH, and they have to face detention, and it’s all because you kept a dragon around<\/em>. This is technically your fault! I think that Rowling had<\/em> to get Harry into that forest, and I don’t complain one second about it because I love it so much. Still, Hagrid, bro. BRO. <\/em>You should have looked out for Harry, Hermione, and Neville!<\/p>\n

I had no idea at this point that the idea of Harry Potter’s fame would be OBLITERATED in the next book, so reading how he became the scorn of the school for sneaking around at night is fascinating to me. I don’t think it’s foreshadowing so much as a neat parallel of what is to come. Even though Harry hadn’t done much of anything to gain this attention, he still has to deal with it. And it’s particularly harsh because another Slytherin victory seems imminent. (The Slytherin house isn’t developed much in this book, is it? I’m pretty sure I thought it was house full of evil bullies at this point.) (Also, can we talk about sorting non-HP characters into houses? I’m becoming more and more obsessed with it.) (No, seriously, Dana Scully is so fucking Ravenclaw that it hurts my heart. Then sometimes I think Fox Mulder is a combination between a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor, but you couldn’t make me choose, so I’ll just say he’s a Gryffinpuff.) (Did you know that the other day, I actually experienced a brief pang of anxiety at the thought that Pottermore might sort be into a house that’s not Ravenclaw? I have only Ravenclaw mercy. Is that the<\/em> definitive Sorting Hat now?) (Wait, I have another stray thought: Is the Sorting Hat a Legilimen? Techinically, isn’t it?!?!?!) (If I had to sort the Doctor Who<\/em> characters right now, I’d stick River in Slytherin, Rory in Hufflepuff, Amy in Gryffindor, and Eleven in a miss-mash between Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, as he may be the only person on the face of the fucking planet whose personality and qualities somehow eclipse into all four houses.) (Admittedly, I think of Eleven as a Hufflepuff almost purely because of Matt Smith’s obsession with badgers, and I don’t think you can take that away from me.) (My mom’s a Slytherin. I don’t think I’ll tell her that.) (My brother is definitely way more of a Gryffindor than I am. And he’s my twin! That’s pretty cool.) (The cookies I just ate were definitely Hufflepuffs.)<\/p>\n

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
HARRY, HE IS IN THE FUCKING TURBAN<\/em><\/strong> oh my god i love this book<\/em>.<\/p>\n
“Go to Dumbledore. That’s what we should have done ages ago.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hermione, you literally have no idea what’s about to come. If only you’d used your Time-Turner to go back to this moment and assault Ron and Harry so that the memory of your bit of advice would be etched permanently into their memory. Because they should have gone to Dumbledore every single time<\/em>. Well, except the time Dumbledore wasn’t there. Or the time he was there, listened, and then didn’t do anything because he was trying to stay distant from Harry, and then Sirius died, and then I sobbed for like a week straight.<\/p>\n
But let’s talk about detention. I luckily never had to attend detention once in my entire schooling career. That doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about it. And I know that detention ranged from the mundane and banal to, very rarely, something a little more severe. And I know I expressed shock at the idea that their detention would be in the Forbidden Forest, but I sort of didn’t care because I just wanted to see what was in the forest more than anything. Now that I know more about it (AND I LOVE THE FORBIDDEN FOREST give me a book about that too<\/em>), I can fully reflect on what this scene means:<\/p>\n
HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL KIND OF DETENTION IS THIS?????<\/strong> Hey kids, you snuck out of bed at night. Go track down a unicorn murderer in a forest so full of mysterious creatures that no one actually knows what is there, and while you’re at it, you should definitely split up so that only one group has an adult with them. I mean, yes, it’s rather amazing, but I never stopped to think how utterly absurd this is. Maybe this is just a thing<\/em> that the professors think about? Can you imagine that? Maybe they sit up the staff room and come up with one terrifying, trauma-inducing punishment, and when the worst student does the worst thing possible that year, they convene and agree to release the terror upon them. Because, again, GO FIND THE UNICORN MURDERER FOR US. <\/em>Thanks! (Yes, I realize that they’re just supposed to find the unicorn itself, but you are basically<\/em> setting yourself up to confront the thing that killed it.<\/p>\n
Enough shenaniganry. I love the Forbidden Forest, and I will forever refuse to take that back. First of all, it’s the debut of Malfoy using his only good line: MY FATHER SHALL HEAR ABOUT THIS. Oh, you rich, privileged little shit<\/em>. Why didn’t Volde-Quirrell eat you alive and suck your blood in the forest? Okay, that’s a bit harsh, but I just remembered when Malfoy breaks Harry’s nose and covers him with his Invisibility Cloak and leaves him to bleed out on the Hogwarts Express. I am not feeling particularly sympathetic right at this very moment.<\/p>\n
But I’m distracting myself from the awesome<\/em> that is the Forbidden Forest. It both creeps me out and fascinates me. I of course want to see more, but I’m sure I also would have peed myself multiple times. Have I ever told the story of how I peed myself just a little bit while playing video games? I swear I put that on my Tumblr. I should do that soon. Anyway, I still find the end of this chapter to be unsettling, and the introduction of the centaurs and their senseless rambling about prophecy contributed to that. Is it ever explicitly stated what the centaurs “see” here? Is it the return of Voldemort? Or something more horrible concerning Harry? Firenze hopes that he’s read the planets wrongly; does Harry change the prophecy by stopping Voldemort’s return? I actually like that idea because I love characters either destroying or defying the concept of “destiny,” even if they do so without knowing they do.<\/p>\n
For real, though: Children read this book where Voldemort drank the blood of a unicorn in front of Malfoy and Harry. That is horrifying<\/em>. It causes the whole chapter to erupt into chaos: Firenze saves Harry and then pretty much hands him the “answer” to the mystery. Voldemort is returning, and he’s trying to get to the Sorcerer’s Stone in order to have eternal life. Of course, Harry thinks Snape is behind this, and the irony is not lost on me. I wonder what this is like for Snape; his old master nearly returns at the end of this novel. Does he legitimately suspect that Quirrell has something to do with it, or is there some other reason for his suspicion of Quirrell?<\/p>\n
Oh god, the trapdoor chapter is next. YES. YES<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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