Today we see Harry start classes and meet the man who secretly loved his mom.
The book
The early part of this chapter deals with Harry's early days at Hogwarts,including the Transfiguration lessson where McGongall repremiands him and Ron for being late. Oddly, not much mention of Defense Against the Dark Arts in this entire book,perhaps to protect Quirrel's secret. Then we get to Potions. Snape immediately recognizes Harry because presumably he looks exactly like James. He asks him 3 questions in a kind of first-day pop quiz. All 3 have sigifiance; the Draught of Living Death sounds like what Snape gives Dumbledore to prolong his life, a bezoar saves Ron when accidenntally poisoned, and wolfsbane sounds like werewolf, which we see a lot later. Harry is throughly dispirited when he goes to visit Hagrid later. At the hut, Harry sees a Daily Prophet article saying Gringotts was almost robbed earlier, but that the vault in question was empty. This,of course,introduces the mystery of this book,what was taken and where it is.Hagrid deftly avoids the questions Harry asks about the break in.
Pottermore
We get more background on McGongall's early heartbreak with a Muggle,like her mother,and how she went from the Ministry to Hogwarts. We also get a little info on Quirrel and his background. Both essays are worth reading. Besides the bonus material,you can brew potions starting with this chapter, which I have not tried yet. I may devote a seperate post on potions and also casting spells. You also collect more items and potion ingredients. I'll be back next week to discuss Fluffy and trolls.
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