The Deathday Party
chapter eight of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Nearly Headless Nick saves Harry from detention, and Harry agrees to go to his Deathday party on Halloween. After the dreary occasion, however, Harry hears the voice again – and follows it upstairs to find Mrs. Norris hanging by her tail, a warning to “enemies of the heir” written behind her on the wall.
Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students. Her Pepperup Potion worked instantly, though it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterward.
(by reallycorking)
“Dung,” he muttered furiously, “great sizzling dragon bogies… frog brains… rat intestines… I’ve had enough of it… make an example….”
(by Laura Freeman)
Fascinated, Harry thumbed through the rest of the envelope’s contents. Why on earth did Filch want a Kwikspell course?
(by haystax45)
The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people….
(by Edgar Torné)
On the other side of the dungeon was a long table…. They approached it eagerly but next moment had stopped in their tracks, horrified.
(by MartinTenbones)
“Don’t lie to me,” Myrtle gasped…. “D’you think I don’t know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!”
(by Laurence Peguy)
“Welcome, Patrick,” said Nick stiffly.
(by haystax45)
“Enemies of the Heir, beware! You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat.
(by Maria Abagnale)
about the chapter
Something You May Not Have Noticed
This isn’t the only time we’ll see Gryffindor players returning from a Quidditch practice covered in mud, but I’ve always wondered – how do they get that way? Wet from rain I can understand, but wouldn’t practice take place entirely off the ground? And you’d think they would learn pretty quickly not to land in enormous puddles….
The Wizarding World
Nick’s deathday party is one of just a couple glimpses we’ll get into the world of ghosts in Britain, and it’s a strange one. For one thing, it seems that ghosts aren’t able to affect much in the physical world – so who provides their rotted food? And for another – where do they go when they’re not at these parties? There are “hundreds” at the party, and it’s a big deal that one came all the way from Kent, so there must be at least hundreds more in southern Britain. And traveling can’t be easy, as they presumably just have to float their way across the countryside. This is one area where more backstory could be really fascinating.
The Boy Who Lived
I love how dense Harry can be sometimes. While reading Filch’s Kwikspell literature, he seems amazed at the prospect that Filch might not be “a proper wizard” – a full two pages after Filch told him that cleaning mud off the floor will take him a full hour. This is a task that any proper wizard (especially one whose job it is to clean the castle) could do in seconds, and in fact we’ll later see Madam Pomfrey do just that. Filch certainly seems to think his lack of magical skill is a secret, but it’s hard to imagine there aren’t a few Ravenclaws somewhere who figured it out quite a long time ago.
Something to Remember
The vanishing cabinet that Peeves crashes over Filch’s office is described as “extremely valuable.” It’s not the first valuable cabinet we’ve seen in this book, and it won’t be the last time these mysterious magical devices come up, either.
The Final Word
“In the first draft of ‘Chamber of Secrets’, Nick sang a self-penned ballad explaining how his head had (nearly) come off. My editor was not very fond of the song and so I cut it. However, for those who are curious, here is the story of Nick’s decapitation in his own moving words:”–J.K. Rowling, jkrowling.com (you can read the full ballad on her website)
Earlier on, I always figured the Weasley twins might have had something to do with all that mud. They could have created mud balls to throw around, rather than the Bludgers or, in protest of having to practice in such dreary conditions, started a mud fight. I don’t recall if practices after the fifth book have folks leaving in such icky conditions, so perhaps my theory is just wishful thinking. :)
Natalia said this on April 16, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Nearly Headless Nick is celebrating his five hundredths deathday. In book 1 (chapter “The Sorting Hat”) he says, that he hasn’t eaten in nearly four hundred years. So has he maybe eaten the first one hundred years of his death out of habit and then quit? Since he’s talking about how the food looks tasteful I don’t think that’s it. A slip-up?
Kim said this on April 16, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Natalia, I love this idea – not only that the twins would have all the mud-fights, but that they would be so accepted by the rest of the team that they’re just considered another dreary part of Quidditch practice. On the other hand, another memorable muddy practice takes place after the twins were banned from the team (when Ginny and Ron come in covered in mud in OP26, as Harry and Hermione talk about Harry’s fiasco of a date with Cho), so I don’t know if it works as the only explanation….
Kim – it was a mistake. This line in PS was revised for later editions, and if you pick one up in a bookstore now, Nick will say he hasn’t eaten in nearly *five* hundred years. :)
John Kearns said this on April 16, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Might Sir Delaney-Podmore, the leader of the Headless Hunt, be an ancestor or Sturgis Podmore (whom we don’t meet until later, sorry)?
Kim said this on April 28, 2009 at 7:03 am
I would say it’s likely the Podmores are related. Rowling throws in a lot of names like this that reappear over the generations, and her names are so unique that I doubt it’s coincidence one would come up twice. Though to be fair, we also saw the name ‘Evans’ come up twice and it’s not as though she’d forgotten about it being Lily’s last name, so anything is possible.
John Kearns said this on April 29, 2009 at 6:51 am
Harry wouldn’t recognize the thing Filch said, ’cause he’s still to much muggle. And Filch is stupid enough to say such a thing when he’s very angry. He anyway tends to exaggerate
Rika said this on May 3, 2009 at 8:05 am
I like the idea of Fred and George enchanting mud pies to fly after their team mates, but they are travelling pretty quickly around the pitch, is it possible that on a low pass, they could stir up a puddle and get splashed that way?
Amy said this on September 24, 2009 at 1:53 am
This chapter always makes me feel sorry for Filch. On the one hand, I’m sure he’s happy (as far as Filch can be) to retain a link to the wizarding world. But it seems so pointless to employ a squib to be the caretaker – as you say, he has to spend an hour cleaning the floor when he knows full well that any witch or wizard could do it in seconds. Not only is he worthless (because anyone can do his job, and much quicker than him) but no-one lifts their wand to help him, despite the fact they’re able to – not even the teachers. It’s like Fred and George refusing to help Harry and Ron peel the sprouts in HBP, except for Filch it’s everyone, all the time. I imagine anyone would feel resentful in that situation.
Caitlin said this on November 18, 2009 at 5:03 pm
John, “Evans” is an extremely common surname in Britain, and the two Evans families are both (predominantly) Muggle. We shouldn’t read anything into the repetition of this name.
However, “Podmore” is an unusual name and the wizarding community is small. Just how many surnames could be shared by 10,000 people, half of whom are quite closely related? I think Sturgis probably is descended from Sir Delaney-Podmore. In this case, the repetition of the name indicates the close blood-ties in the wizarding world.
The pure-blood supremacists are very much defending THEIR OWN FAMILY because they truly are all one family. Their moral error lies in their assumption that “family first” means “people outside the family don’t matter at all”.
Grace has Victory said this on November 25, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Minor Spoiler
Could the fact that Peeves drops the vanishing cabinet be the reason its broken in the sixth book?
Soraya said this on January 9, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Great site, John! I am re-reading the books for the ?th time and the companion is helping me look into the series more deeply this time through. I am up to this chapter now and I noticed that Nick died on October 31, just like James and Lily. If Harry hadn’t have been so preoccupied with Quidditch, dodging Lockhart and Colin, an empty stomach from skipping the feast, the later incident with Mrs. Norris and all this heir business, he might have made the connection that this was the day his parents died 11 years earlier. He and Nick might have had the conversation regarding Sirius (OP 38) at this time.
David said this on February 11, 2010 at 7:23 am
I love how Rowling casually slips in that Ginny was looking “peaky” at the start of this chapter, prompting Percy to bully her into taking the Pepperup Potion. It doesn’t sound like Ginny had a cold particularly, but perhaps her palour is a first hint that something is not right with her.
It’s funny that (considering he’s a ghost) Nearly Headless Nick is described as taking “several deep breaths” to calm down after telling Harry about his rejection letter for the Headless Hunt.
It’s also interesting considering Filch’s lack of magical ability that he does seem to have a supernatural connection with his cat Mrs. Norris. When Filch catches Harry dripping mud on the floor in this chapter, it says that Filch was “Drawn to the spot by the mysterious power that seemed to connect him with his foul cat.” If he can’t do any magic, how does Filch know when Mrs. Norris has found a student who’s causing trouble?
Andrea said this on February 11, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Filch lacks magical powers all right, but even in the Muggle world cats can do very mysterious and unpredictable things. I’m inclined to think that Mrs Norris is at least part Kneazle and that Filch is more her pet than she is his. Not that he would think of it quite like that!
Deborah Hubbard said this on March 15, 2010 at 4:23 am
I always saw the mud as a result of some training done on the ground. To me Wood seems like the kind of person to make his team run laps or do pressups just to get them generally fitter. If you think about it a match could last for hours depending on the skill of the seekers, so stamina is pretty vital, especially since they wouldn’t have substitutes like a proffesional team would to call on.
Liz said this on March 27, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I too feel sorry for Filch in this chapter, even though he is a bit disturbing with his love of cruel punishments. I like to think Dumbledore sees something in him though, and possibly took him in, much like how he took in Hagrid.
Tyler said this on May 16, 2010 at 4:32 pm