A day of spewing slugs

This chapter has always absolutely horrified and enthralled me. The slugs and stuff...ew.

I saw one of our participants last night and she said she was terrified because she thought we were both waaaay ahead in the series (we all know Lucia is on Order of the Phoenix)! I just wanted to say that I am reviewing the chapters literally as I read them - I have just completed Chapter Eight, and this is Chapter Seven, so don't be intimidated by that!

The Problem with Slugs

With Lockhart properly established as useless, annoying and arrogant, the next chapter opens with Harry dodging him wherever possible, until we get to the weekend. Harry is woken at the crack of dawn by Oliver Wood, for a ‘first of the year’ Quidditch practice.

Oliver Wood by Sean Biggerstaff (source)

I really love Oliver Wood. He is the stereotypically attractive person to me – clearly not because of his looks (although I won’t share my mental image with you, ahaha) but because of the amount of passion he shows for the game that he is obsessed with. I think he is such a wonderful character. He doesn’t care one jot for sleep, irritating his team members, evil plots to get Harry murdered or the school destroyed – all he wants is to win the House Cup.

I also love that in this chapter, Harry leaves a note for Ron to tell him where he is going, so that Ron doesn’t worry when he wakes up and finds Harry’s bed empty. This is so sweet! I went to boarding school as a very small girl, and we lived in big dorms in a very regimented way, and not at weekends, so I never got that ‘hanging out with your mates’ time that is so present at Hogwarts. (And, for that matter, Enid Blyton books and so forth.) This makes me just love Harry a little bit, which is a good thing because I find Harry quite irritating, if you haven’t worked that out yet.

Oliver Wood by carriebreathsbooks (source)

An unsuccessful Quidditch practice is interrupted by snakes brandishing new broomsticks, and slugs putting an end to Ron’s productivity for the day. There’s a wonderful description of how the Slytherin’s react to Ron’s backfiring curse here:

"The Slytherin team were paralysed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging on to his new broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist."

Ron has a sluggy problem...by Silly Nate (source)

I’ve rarely experienced something so funny that something similar has happened to me, but when it does happen, it’s the best feeling in the world. At least something good comes out of Ron’s misfortune!

I’ve completely skipped over Colin Creevey, who is present here and trying to take photographs of the whole incident. This is hugely important, but I’ll talk about him in more detail another time. I just want to point out, before I forget, that I find it amazing that it’s the potion that photos are developed in that makes them move! So, theoretically, we could take film from our cameras and develop them so they move, if we only found the right potion! The blog ends here guys, I’m off to the lab…

Joking aside, I totally get what Colin is trying to do, and I say all power to him! Except, maybe not when someone is throwing up slugs in front of you.

Here's a particularly vivid Ron... (source)

A brief visit to Hagrid in which I immediately fear for Harry’s teeth as they tuck into some fudge, and the boys find out about their detentions. Ron is off to the trophy room to polish cups, and Harry is signing fan mail with Lockhart. Each detention is as significant as the other – for the first time, Harry hears the mysterious voice in the walls, which at the moment seems to be doing nothing but slithering around talking to itself menacingly. I find it a little odd that he only hears the voice and there is no attack this time – every other time the voice appears, someone gets Petrified…I guess there could be a castle rat that gets got, or something similar! For that matter, what does a basilisk eat??

Our three heroes in Hagrid's hut by blindbandit5 (source)

Meanwhile in the Trophy Room, Ron has a slug attack over an Award for Special Services to the School, and has to spend hours buffering Tom Riddle’s name. The trophy aside, I always wondered why such a specific trophy would have stayed with the school, and not gone to the student? I mean, sure, if the inter-school Quidditch tournament was won by Hogwarts, the school would get the cup…but why the trophy given to a student? This is a loose end that I’ve never managed to get to grips with.

Tom Riddle's Award for Special Services to Hogwarts is in the background.

The story is starting to move on now, and for that I am grateful. Things are happening, mysteries are occurring, and it starts to become a more adventurous book.

That’s all from me for today!

Much love,

Corrie xx