It was Quirell!
Did anyone else see that coming when they first read the series? Maybe I'm dumb, but I didn't see it at all. I guess I counted on the fact that it is a children's novel and I expected it to be predictable. If you look back at all the clues, however, it's easy to see how it was Quirrell and not Snape.
On a side note, I must apologize to Sam O. After doing some research, I found out that Professor Quirrell's first name really is Quirinus, but I was correct in stating that his first name is never mentioned in the series. (My source is imdb.com)
It was Love?!?
Dumbledore explains to Harry that the reason Quirrell couldn't touch Harry was because of his mother's love. When I read the series for the first time, I thought this was the lamest explanation. Is this freaking Care Bears or the best selling novel of ever? It gets explained a little better later in the series, so I feel better about it now.
Politeness
We know well by now that Harry hates Snape. When Harry speaks of Snape to Dumbledore, Dumbledore has to frequently remind Harry to refer to him as Professor Snape out of respect for the title. Notice that when Harry is speaking to Dumbledore in the hospital wing that Harry refers to Professor Quirell as Quirell, but Dumbledore doesn't ask that Harry refer to him as professor. I think this shows a level of trust and respect for Professor Snape that isn't really even explained until the later books.
The First Question
The first question that Harry asks Dumbledore when they are talking in the hospital wing is why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry. We find out that this is the precise question Dumbledore didn't want to answer yet. For those of you who have read the 5th book, in that book, this is the exact question Dumbledore says he should have answered that day.
Final Thoughts
This first book is the shortest in the entire series, yet sets up the series extremely well. For a seven-book series, this one accomplishes the task of setting up the master plot and laying a foundation for the characters, yet it is also a very good story in and of itself. It's not incredibly deep, but it is a well-written and compelling story.
One bit of trivia: Harry's first year at Hogwarts takes place in the 1991-1992 school year.
A little quiz:
Who was the first to thwart Quirell in his attempts to steal the Sorcerer's Stone?
A) Dumbledore
B.) Hagrid
C.) Harry
D.) Snape
E.) Fluffy
My Ranking: Of my favorite books in this series, I rank this book 6th out of 7.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Chapter 17 - The Final Chapter
Posted by Tyler the Gryffindork at 5:14 PM
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6 comments:
I told you I knew Quirell's first name. Quirinus and I play bridge every Wednesday.
My guess is that Snape was the first to head off Quirell, since I don't think he actually made it as far as Fluffy on that Halloween night.
You guess Snape? Well, I'm not telling you whether you're right just yet. Your sister and others need to weigh in first.
You and Queerness need to invite me over for bridge sometime.
My guess is Fluffy, actually.
my guess would be Hagrid.
By the way, what's your 7th out of 7 favorite book in the series?
It depends on how you look at this question you posed.
It could be a couple of them if you you ask me and here are my reasons why.
Dumbledore: He was the one that sent Hagrid on his assignment to go and get the stone out of vault 713 (I think that is the right number). So I guess you could say that it was him who was the first to get in the way.
Hagrid: He was the one that actually picked up the package so I guess you could make an argument for him as he did all the dirty work for Dumbledore.
Harry: If he had just died when Voldemort tried to kill him the first time there would have been no need to search for the stone. But if he would have died there would be no story so I guess this is kind of a ridiculous argument.
Snape: Once the stone was in the castle it was him who headed him off on his way to the stone after he had set the troll loose in the castle during the halloween feast.
Fluffy: I guess it was the first obstacle that he had to face on his way down to the stone but this is a very poor argument compared to that of the other ones that I have made.
From my thoughts I would have to say it is Dumbledore or Hagrid who first gets in the way.
By the way I am a friend of Lee's from ND. I started reading them again after Lee showed me your blog when I was out there two weeks ago. I just started the 3rd book today :S
She does a great job of increasing the reading level as the series progresses which one of my favorite qualities of her as a writer. I would have to agree with your 6 out of 7 assessment of the book.
Richie,
I'm impressed with your analysis of the question. Firstly, yes, it is vault 713 that the stone was taken from. The answer to my quiz was Hagrid. You could argue Dumbledore since it was on his orders that Hagrid took the stone from the vault, so I guess I would accept either answer. But since I'm offering no reward for the correct answer, it's a moot point.
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