Dusting down in the vaults
24/07/2003 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaNow that we have all spent the last five weeks tearing the latest Potter to pieces, Izzie figures that she may as well toss in some stuff written previously in another place and another time concerning the book that started it all. You know, I still can't believe how when it comes to Harry, people even volunteer to do extra homework assignments. You have 14 year olds in Europe up against international publishing companies for posting their own translations on the Internet....the very same kids who probably previously moaned ..."You mean we have to translate a whole PAGE of Dickens into German!"
“See what I have become?......Mere shadow and vapour…. I have form only when I can share another’s body……but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds”
The man with two faces
There are more themes and scenes in this chapter than flavours of Bertie Bott’s beans.
One might expect as a Slytherin for Izzie to be extremely interested in the outrageously arbitrary end of year allocation of points for the House Cup. However – there are some themes even more important and certainly more interesting than that!
These include The Vampire, Love and Fear, Deception and Illusion and the transformative power of the One Stone.
Vampires and demonic possession form a central theme in the whole series. This can be literal as in the case of Quirrel and Voldemort feeding on the blood of the unicorn, and Harry’s blood in the fourth book, Ginny Weasley and Tom Riddle or the Dementors or more metaphorical – where in the fourth book the Imperius curse is used on numerous occasions to control people, or can simply refer to characters who thrive on chaos, misery and the humiliation of others and have a soul destroying effect on those whom they come in contact with, such as Peeves the Poltergeist, Professor Snape, Moaning Myrtle or the whole Dursley family.
Love and Fear are the two elements at the centre of the struggle between Harry and Voldemort. Voldemort’s power base is based totally on fear. This is how he controls Quirrell (he seems to be using the Cruciatus curse) and he also believes he can do the same with Harry. “Better save your own life and join me….. or you’ll meet the same end as your parents.”
But there is a force greater than fear, as he discovers when he commands his temporary human form to kill the boy. His plan fails for the same reason it did 11 years previously and he was either too proud to learn or simply unable to comprehend the power of Lilly Potter’s sacrifice. As Professor Dumbledore explains to Harry “If there is one thing that Voldemort cannot understand, it is love.”
This theme constantly reappears in later books. When Voldemort’s followers believe he has lost his power, they abandon him. In contrast, when Dumbledore is demoted, his followers still remain loyal to him.
Deception and Illusion. The chapter begins with Quirrell fooling Harry and ends with Harry deceiving the Dursleys who do not know he is not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. In between, we have Harry shocked by the discovery that Professor Snape was actually trying to save him. Unlike a later DADA teacher who shall remain nameless, Professor Snape never does claim glory for this achievement which came at considerable cost to him.”All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular…..” says Professor Quirrel to an astonished Harry.
Harry of course, lies to Quirrel/ Voldemort about the images in the Mirror which is certainly a symbol of deception and illusion. One wonders if Quirrel would have been able to find the stone in the mirror – since it can be seen only by those who want to find rather than use it – if he and Voldemort hadn’t been sharing the same body. This remains to be explained as neither Harry nor Quirrel actually wanted to use it.
There is also the illusion that wealth and eternal life can bring happiness. Certainly in the Muggle world without the One Stone – most attempts to gain these come in the form of taking wealth and life from others – as witnessed by the behaviour of many tyrannical rulers. In the end however – these people may gain the world but lose their souls. The search for security is surely the root of all evil.
The power of the Stone. The Philosopher’s Stone not only has the power to bestow wealth and immortality but also aids in the transformation of an untrained sorcerer’s apprentice into a boy able to able to take on and defeat the self proclaimed “greatest sorcerer of all time” Harry does faint with the effort of it all but in each successive encounter he remains conscious somewhat longer till the fourth book where he remains alert and awake during the whole battle with Voldemort and needs less and less assistance each time ( His mother’s sacrifice, Fawkes the Phoenix, the Patronus and Time-turner etc)
Professor Dumbledore takes on the role of Merlin as a form of mentor for the boy. He gives him the Invisibility Cloak and lets him learn how to use the Mirror .As Harry explains “It’s almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could….”
Well – that is it until we meet again in the Chamber of Secrets.
“See what I have become?......Mere shadow and vapour…. I have form only when I can share another’s body……but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds”
The man with two faces
There are more themes and scenes in this chapter than flavours of Bertie Bott’s beans.
One might expect as a Slytherin for Izzie to be extremely interested in the outrageously arbitrary end of year allocation of points for the House Cup. However – there are some themes even more important and certainly more interesting than that!
These include The Vampire, Love and Fear, Deception and Illusion and the transformative power of the One Stone.
Vampires and demonic possession form a central theme in the whole series. This can be literal as in the case of Quirrel and Voldemort feeding on the blood of the unicorn, and Harry’s blood in the fourth book, Ginny Weasley and Tom Riddle or the Dementors or more metaphorical – where in the fourth book the Imperius curse is used on numerous occasions to control people, or can simply refer to characters who thrive on chaos, misery and the humiliation of others and have a soul destroying effect on those whom they come in contact with, such as Peeves the Poltergeist, Professor Snape, Moaning Myrtle or the whole Dursley family.
Love and Fear are the two elements at the centre of the struggle between Harry and Voldemort. Voldemort’s power base is based totally on fear. This is how he controls Quirrell (he seems to be using the Cruciatus curse) and he also believes he can do the same with Harry. “Better save your own life and join me….. or you’ll meet the same end as your parents.”
But there is a force greater than fear, as he discovers when he commands his temporary human form to kill the boy. His plan fails for the same reason it did 11 years previously and he was either too proud to learn or simply unable to comprehend the power of Lilly Potter’s sacrifice. As Professor Dumbledore explains to Harry “If there is one thing that Voldemort cannot understand, it is love.”
This theme constantly reappears in later books. When Voldemort’s followers believe he has lost his power, they abandon him. In contrast, when Dumbledore is demoted, his followers still remain loyal to him.
Deception and Illusion. The chapter begins with Quirrell fooling Harry and ends with Harry deceiving the Dursleys who do not know he is not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. In between, we have Harry shocked by the discovery that Professor Snape was actually trying to save him. Unlike a later DADA teacher who shall remain nameless, Professor Snape never does claim glory for this achievement which came at considerable cost to him.”All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular…..” says Professor Quirrel to an astonished Harry.
Harry of course, lies to Quirrel/ Voldemort about the images in the Mirror which is certainly a symbol of deception and illusion. One wonders if Quirrel would have been able to find the stone in the mirror – since it can be seen only by those who want to find rather than use it – if he and Voldemort hadn’t been sharing the same body. This remains to be explained as neither Harry nor Quirrel actually wanted to use it.
There is also the illusion that wealth and eternal life can bring happiness. Certainly in the Muggle world without the One Stone – most attempts to gain these come in the form of taking wealth and life from others – as witnessed by the behaviour of many tyrannical rulers. In the end however – these people may gain the world but lose their souls. The search for security is surely the root of all evil.
The power of the Stone. The Philosopher’s Stone not only has the power to bestow wealth and immortality but also aids in the transformation of an untrained sorcerer’s apprentice into a boy able to able to take on and defeat the self proclaimed “greatest sorcerer of all time” Harry does faint with the effort of it all but in each successive encounter he remains conscious somewhat longer till the fourth book where he remains alert and awake during the whole battle with Voldemort and needs less and less assistance each time ( His mother’s sacrifice, Fawkes the Phoenix, the Patronus and Time-turner etc)
Professor Dumbledore takes on the role of Merlin as a form of mentor for the boy. He gives him the Invisibility Cloak and lets him learn how to use the Mirror .As Harry explains “It’s almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could….”
Well – that is it until we meet again in the Chamber of Secrets.
