At times like these, when the world just seems like such an cruel and scary place, I like to escape inside a book. I haven't had a chance to do that today, as I had experiments to run during the day, but I'm happy now to flick through Chamber of Secrets and find comfort in the old and familiar.
Chapter 6 - Gilderoy Lockhart
I still have a bit of a sour taste in my mouth left over from the previous chapter and while I generally abhor public humiliation, I must admit I derive some pleasure from Ron being berated by Mrs. Weasley's Howler.
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| Howler concept art by Adam Brockman for Chamber of Secrets film (source) |
I never really liked the way the Howler was depicted in the movie. There is no description in the book saying anything about the Howler levitating off the table and developing a mouth to speak through. I can see why they chose to make it like this but it annoys me nonetheless. I always imagined it as just a simple, red envelope that is bewitched to start shouting some specific time after being delivered.
Again I shake my head at the lack of forethought from either of the boys - Molly says they received a letter from Dumbledore the night before. Presumably this was after the boys had arrived at the castle. Can you imagine the worry the Weasleys must have felt, not knowing where their son was for hours? Neither of the boys thought to send them a message to let them know they were alright. I can only assume that Molly and Arthur may have figured out what the boys had done, but that would not have alleviated their worries - what if the boys had had an accident?
While being extremely embarrassing for both Harry and Ron, the Howler does have the positive effect of cheering up Hermione. They make their way to their first lesson of the year - Herbology with Professor Sprout and the Hufflepuff second years - and meet Professor Lockhart outside of the greenhouses.
Gosh but he is annoying and self-centered. At this point of the story I find Lockhart quite harmless, even amusing. Reading over his conversation with Harry as I type this, I can even appreciate some of what he is saying:
Don't know when I've been more shocked. Flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you'd done it. Stood out a mile...Gave you a taste for publicity, didn't I? Gave you the bug...
Considering this is only the second time Lockhart and Harry have interacted, I can kind of see why he would come to this conclusion - and there is something I never thought I would say! I mean, while it was certainly not the motivation, there is no denying that Harry didn't imagine gaining recognition and popularity for flying a car to Hogwarts. Of course, everything else Lockhart says is completely ridiculous, up to and including the fact that he is harboring under the delusion that he is more famous than Harry Potter. Oh well, he can dream.
Mandrakes sound quite interesting - did you know that they are real plants? I didn't until now, but it turns out that they are the roots of the plants from the genus Mandragora and their shape does, in fact, often resemble human figures. This, combined with the fact that they contain hallucinogenic alkaloids, means that they have historically been associated with witchcraft (Wikipedia)! Apparently, it can induce a state of unconsciousness and, get this, according to one superstition 'people who pull up this root will be condemned to hell, and the mandrake root would scream as it was pulled from the ground, killing anyone who heard it!'
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| Re-potting Mandrakes by Eachee (source) |
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the first time our heroes actually interact with students from Hufflepuff House (except for a Qudditch match in Philosopher's Stone, which had no dialogue). We are properly introduced to Justin Finch-Fletchley, an extremely chatty curly haired boy who we find out is a big fan of Lockhart and is also Muggle-born, which will be important later on in the story.
This is also the chapter in which we meet Colin Creevey, a Harry Potter fanboy if ever I knew one, who asks Harry for a signed photograph. I think Colin is quite sweet the way he is fascinated by everything at Hogwarts. As much as he makes Harry uncomfortable, we shouldn't forget that Harry was also once that wide-eyed eleven year old arriving at Hogwarts for the first time!
Draco Malfoy arrives - does he, like, stalk Harry? He's always around it seems. He makes some rude remarks about both Harry and Ron which, honestly, really aren't as funny as the older Slytherins seem to think they are. Why would a bunch of fifth years be hanging out with Draco anyway? Is it just to be in his good graces?
And then, it's on to the main event - the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year in which we see just how useless Lockhart actually is. Not only does he set his students a remarkably stupid test about his life and accomplishments, he is unable to gain control over a bunch of Cornish pixies. The best he can do is brandish his wand and yell "Peskipiksi Pesternomi."
I never really looked too closely at the words he says, they sounds like gibberish. However, upon closer inspection, I think I've figured out what the phrase is supposed to mean: "Pesky pixie, pester no me!" If this is indeed the case, I just think it's absolutely hilarious.
I had always assumed that 'Cornish pixie' is the technical nomenclature for these creatures, when in fact they are simply pixies that are most common to Cornwall. I dug through my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and also found out that they do not, in fact, have wings. Which means the movie - which was released a year after Newt's book - got their depiction of the pixies completely wrong. They are described as delighting in playing tricks and jokes on other, which makes them sound like ideal friends for Fred and George. It is not exactly clear to me why they would be required learning in DADA - would they not be better suited for Care of Magical Creatures lessons?
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| Cornish Pixies are devilish tricky little blighters (Source) |
The class descends into chaos as the spell obviously doesn't work and it is up to Ron, Harry and Hermione to clean up after Lockhart's mess. Hermione once again shows us how adept she is with magic, by successfully performing a Freezing Charm. I wish we had a list of spells that the students are required to learn each year, because I don't remember if this spell has ever been mentioned before. Were it any other student doing the spell, I would be happy to think it is just a minor detail that has been glossed over as it is not particularly important for the story. However, it being Hermione, I would be curious to know if it's a spell that she learned in her spare time, to be ahead of the other students.
*wanders off to find out*
Well, as it turns out, it is a spell found in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 (source). You may be interested to know that other spells taught to the second years from this book are:
Dancing Feet Spell - Tarantellegra
Disarming Charm - Expelliarmus
Engorgement Charm - Engorgio
Freezing Charm - Immobulus
General Counter-Spell - Finite Incantatem
Memory Charm - Obliviate
Tickling Charm - Rictusempra
I find it worrying that a spell as powerful and harmful as the Memory Charm is standard learning for twelve year old children.
Seeing Hermione perform magic so easily and readily, I have decided to keep tabs of the successful magic the three main characters actually do throughout this book. So far, the score is thus:
Harry - 0? (He yelled 'reverse' on the car in the previous chapter and it did, but I wonder if that wasn't more self-preservation on the car's part)
Hermione - 2 (transfigured beetles into buttons, froze pixies - both in this chapter)
Ron - 0
Until next time,
Lucia
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