Read All the Things: The Writing on the Wall

Just to follow on slightly from my post yesterday, the events in Paris have been absolutely shocking over the past 24 hours, and my thoughts are with those affected. I was using the hashtag "pray for Paris" on Twitter, and getting some criticism for it, because people have been saying that religion is what has got us into this mess in the first place. I'm not particularly religious myself, and I simply want to say that we could all do with practising a little kindness, tolerance and compassion to everyone - not just Parisians.

On that note, let's move on to something a little more light-hearted - Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the tricks our heroes get up to in this chapter!

Writing on the Wall

This chapter jumps straight in where the previous chapter left off, with Dumbledore sweeping in to take control of the situation. The other teachers join him, as well as a shell-shocked Filch, and they head to Lockhart's office to figure out what has happened. Lockhart must feel like his day has been made - a chance to make himself act the hero in front of the whole school!

With McGonagall and Snape also with them, we have a pretty party, with the two most senior teachers in the school, the most inept, the most vindictive, and...well, Filch.

Fan art by ratgirl84 (source)

We see evidence of just how amazing a wizard Dumbledore actually is, with an examination of Mrs Norris using nothing but his sense. Meanwhile, Lockhart is throwing around fantastic words like "Transmogrifian Torture" and "Ouagadougou", oblivious to Filch quietly falling to pieces in the background. We see another instance of Harry's goodness with the following:

Harry couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for [Filch]...

I would agree with him, I'm an awful coward when it comes to seeing other people in pain. Not that I would necessarily want to be in pain myself, you see, but when someone you know loses someone they love, it's impossible not to feel sorry for them. I read an interesting theory on Mrs Filch today, with someone putting forward the suggestion that Mrs Filch is actually an Animagus! You can read it here...I have to say, it kind of makes sense!

Luckily, as I have mentioned before, the Petrification of Mrs Norris will be able to be reversed when the Mandrakes can be 'whipped up into a Mandrake Restorative Draught', and that is the end of it as far as we are all concerned.

(source)

There's just that little mystery of the voice that Harry can hear in the walls to sort out...

What I don't understand is why Harry won't tell Dumbledore about the voice - even if he didn't want to say in front of the other teachers (particularly Snape), why doesn't he tell Dumbledore or McGonagall in private? You would have thought that by now he would trust the Headmaster slightly more...but no. I also don't really understand why, when Dumbledore clearly knows that Harry is lying, he doesn't press further. You would have thought that he would have learned after the whole 'Tom Riddle/Hagrid/Aragog' debacle.

The other big thing in this chapter is it becoming public knowledge that Filch is a Squib, and we find out what a Squib actually is. Speaking of tolerance...Ron isn't particularly kind about it, which is unfortunate, as Ron is my favourite character.

The story is given some double meanings here, with Ginny being upset about what happened to Mrs Norris, apparently because she is a cat lover. Ron says "They'll catch the nutter who did it and have him out here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled." At this point, Ginny 'blanches' and Ron thinks this is because of the terrible thought of someone else being Petrified - however, as we find out once have finished the book, it's actually because Ginny is the 'nutter'.

Mrs Norris is played by a Maine Coon - a
gigantic breed of cat! (source)

We get the first glimpses of Muggleborns being scared of Harry, with Justin Finch-Fletchley being scared of him. We know that Justin is a Muggleborn because he tells Harry that he was down to go to Eton in the Herbology lesson in which we meet the Mandrakes.

For those who do not know what Eton is, it's an extremely elite private boys school where the rich and influential send their boys to receive a private education in the UK. A boarding school, many of the UK's top government officials went to school there, as well as our male Royals. It's in a beautiful setting, which is about all that us 'normal people' are allowed to know about the place...but I have spent some time looking at it, and I have to say that it's as close as us Muggles can get to Hogwarts! Grand old buildings, big lawns, boarding...if you are an avid Harry Potter fan and can't get to Cambridge or Oxford Universities, which are also two places in which some of the films were actually filmed, Eton is another place to look at if you get a chance.

Eton Boys...those are wizard's robes if ever I saw any!

Anyway, I digress.

For the first time ever, Professor Binns is interrupted in History of Magic when Hermione asks about the Chamber of Secrets. Binns reluctance to tell the story is brilliantly countered by Hermione showing her brains with "Please sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

As well as telling us what the Chamber is actually all about, we get some of the back story of Hogwarts, which is incredibly important for the rest of the series and the context we need for the history of Voldemort, the Gaunts, the Deathly Hallows...it's a pivotal moment of history, and as far as I can tell one of the only important things that ever actually happens in a HoM lesson!

I've always wanted to know more about Professor Binns' history, and Pottermore is the place to go if you're interested. I won't tell you too much, other than his first name is Cuthburt. This is the best!!! I love that name and am so thrilled to hear it.

Professor Binns by elen89 (source)

Gosh, a lot happens in this chapter! I'm looking through it again as I'm reviewing it and phew! Ron, Harry and Hermione find themselves back at the scene of the crime, and we learn about Ron's phobia of spiders. This is all thanks to Fred playing a prank on him as a three year old, and I urge you to remember this...I've definitely got a few quirks to my personality that are a result of pranks played on me by family, and they can be debilitating! Poor old Ron.

I don't understand why Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is so disgusting - perhaps because of Myrtle, the house-elves are afraid to go in there and clean? It was clearly a working bathroom before she died because that is where she was when she died. Call it atmosphere?! It definitely sounds like somewhere haunted.

"Under a large, cracked and spotted mirror were a row of chipped, stone sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the cubicles were flaking and scratched, and one of them was dangling off its hinges."

Another question occurs to me suddenly. We know that ghosts have some substance, because people can walk through them (sounds good if you're ever in need of a cold shower!) and Peeves was throwing peanuts at Myrtle at the Deathday Party. Clearly she can affect water, because she regularly floods the bathroom, and presumably Professor Binns can mark the long essays that the students always have to hand in to him! Where is the boundary?! I think I could handle being a ghost if I could knit...otherwise it sounds boring.

Moaning Myrtle by Roby (source)

Ron brings forth the suggestion that Malfoy could be the Heir of Slytherin because he hates "Mudbloods" (we were all thinking it). Hermione mocks the boys for not having listened in Potions, and tells them about Polyjuice Potion...at which point we realise they are going to have to raid the Restricted Section again. If Harry hadn't had an incident with a screaming book in Philosopher's Stone, maybe he would have tried the Invisibility Cloak again. However, they decide they need a teachers signature and comment that they would need a really stupid teacher to sign a book like "Moste Potente Potions" out.

I wonder where we could find one of those...