The Keeper of the Keys

I am writing this blog post on the Eurostar train to Brussels, on my way to visit my lovely boyfriend for the weekend. I’m not sure if I’ve ever written anything on a train before – I usually either read or snooze. I must admit: it is much easier to focus on writing when one has no internet connection. There are absolutely no distractions (except for the scenery outside, but the majority of this journey is through a tunnel, so even that’s missing!).

Chapter 4 - The Keeper of the Keys

Chapter 3 ended on a cliffhanger, something JK Rowling is really good at doing. We can argue from now until the cows come home (is that an actual saying? I think I got it from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my absolute favourite TV show of all time. I would at some point like to do a similar challenge and re-watch all 7 seasons and blog about that. But I digress…) about whether or not JK Rowling is a ‘good’ author, but even the biggest sceptics have to admit that she does a great job at keeping readers hooked (I hope).

Welcome back Hagrid, you great big bearded man! I don’t know where JKR got the inspiration for this character, but Hagrid is simply amazing. I am racking my brains trying to remember a scene with him that I didn’t like – there are many characters throughout the series who do things that annoy me and make me dislike them, but Hagrid is not one of them. There is just so much love and understanding in him. He really is one of the best characters and I’m glad Dumbledore tasked him with finding Harry – perhaps for the very reason that he is so nurturing?

Thanks to Hagrid Harry finds out he is a wizard and finally reads his letter – an invitation to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Having first read the book a few months before my 11^th birthday, I am not ashamed to admit that I eagerly awaited my own such letter. Alas, the owl delivering it must have gotten lost, which is understandable because we moved many times that year…

Hagrid proceeds to tell Harry a little bit about the wizarding world and how awesome his parents were and how evil Voldemort was, but honestly? He doesn’t really do that good a job at convincing me that Voldemort is all evil and super scary. Like, he doesn’t even mention he was anti-Muggle, which is kind of Voldemort’s raison d’être! I understand that it’s still very early on in the story, but considering we meet the son of a Death Eater in the next chapter and start to see some of this anti-Muggle thinking, I am of the opinion that it could have been mentioned.

Another thing that struck me as I was reading was Hagrid’s reaction to the Dursleys having told Harry that his parents had died in a car crash:

“CAR CRASH! How could a car crash kill Lily an’ James Potter? It’s an outrage!”

Why wouldn’t a car crash have been able to kill Lily and James? Is Hagrid trying to say that they could have somehow escaped an accident? Or that, being wizards, they could have somehow withstood any injuries? It seems a bit far-fetched – I know that wizards have remedies for many things (the ability to magically grow back bones, for example) – but car crashes can be truly horrific and catastrophic. There must be some injuries that not even wizards can fix, surely.

Also, why is Hagrid able to get away with using magic in front of Muggles? Not only is this a criminal offence because his wand was snapped in half after he was expelled from Hogwarts, as he himself admits, but wouldn’t it also constitute a breach of the Magical Statute of Secrecy? I know he says he was allowed to do some magic to follow Harry and ensure his letter was delivered, but who (if anyone) was monitoring what exactly he used magic for? I mean, he gave Dudley a pig’s tail, for crying out loud! This sounds like a serious transgression!

First Appearance Of (magical things)

1. Wizards communicating by owl

First Mention Of

1. The McKinnons
2. The Bones
3. The Prewetts
4. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Until next time,
Lucia