The Midnight Duel
chapter nine of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
The first years’ flying lessons end dramatically when Harry confronts Malfoy in mid-air and, instead of being punished, is spotted by McGonagall and placed on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Seeking revenge, Malfoy then lures Harry and Ron to the trophy room at midnight – and when Filch arrives instead, they run away and discover a three-headed dog in the forbidden corridor.
No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. “Did you see his face, the great lump?”
(by Laura Freeman)
“Give that here, Malfoy,” said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.
(by Keith James)
“Give it here,” Harry called, “or I’ll knock you off that broom!” Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin.
(by NicoPony)
Professor McGonagall… suddenly smiled. “Your father would have been proud,” she said. “He was an excellent Quidditch player himself.”
(by Mudblood428)
“I’d take you anytime on my own,” said Malfoy. “Tonight, if you want. Wizard’s duel.”
(by Laura Freeman)
“Don’t you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don’t want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you’ll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells.”
(by Cambryn)
Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all foward. They flitted along corridors… at every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris….
(by Hala Zabaneh)
It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. “Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner.”
(by salamandersoup)
They weren’t in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.
(by Laurence Peguy)
about the chapter
The Wizarding World
In this chapter Hermione introduces us to the Alohomora charm for unlocking doors. It’s one I’ve always wondered about. If it’s basic enough for a first year to adequately perform, then why (aside from keeping out small children or Muggles) would wizards ever lock their doors in the first place? We’ll see a large number of locked doors over the years that can be unsealed with this simple spell. The only way I can make sense of it is to think of it as a social cue – it’s just accepted among wizards that one doesn’t unlock a locked door, even if you can. But it’s hard for me to imagine that other students wouldn’t have explored this forbidden corridor if this spell, and Dumbledore’s cryptic warning, are the only things keeping them out.
Life at Hogwarts
At first glance it seems funny that Neville was in the hospital wing late enough to get stuck in the hallway – after all, flying lessons were at 3:30 in the afternoon and he says Madam Pomfrey mended his broken wrist in “about a minute.” But we’ll see over and over with Madam Pomfrey that even after her patients are completely healed (at least physically), she almost always prescribes rest. It’s never really explained, but it seems that somehow the healing process for a witch or wizard takes longer than the few seconds it takes to place their bones back in the right order.
The Boy Who Lived
The morning after he found out he was a wizard, Harry woke up with the feeling that it had all been just a dream, too good to be true. It’s a feeling that he seems to have a hard time shaking for most of the year, as he spends a lot of time worrying that he might be expelled at any minute. To be fair, part of this is probably due to Hagrid’s expulsion, for which Harry has no adequate explanation (Hagrid seems like a decent guy…), and the casual way in which teachers like Hooch throw around the suggestion. But more than that, it’s probably just Harry adjusting to his new life, and getting used to the idea that this is where he really belongs. It will take him a while, but in time Harry will learn that he is exactly where he belongs – both in the wizarding world and in this unique moment in its history.
Something to Remember
Teasing out differences between Crabbe and Goyle is difficult (though fun, if you’re into that sort of thing. Okay, it’s just me). Anyway, here we get our first inkling that they’re not entirely interchangeable – given a choice between them as his second in a duel, Malfoy picks Crabbe. It won’t be the last time we see something that makes me suspect Crabbe may be the more powerful of the two.
The Final Word
“Once ever in the four books that are published I’ve sat down written something beginning to end and let it stand and that was in the chapter in the Philosopher’s Stone where Harry learns to fly. I remember vividly the afternoon, my daughter fell asleep I ran into the café on a beautifully sunny day, I sat down and I wrote that chapter from beginning to end and I think I changed two words and that’s very unusual for me.
“–J.K. Rowling, July 2000
The picture of Filch is bloody terrifying. Just horrific. But extremely accuracte.
Kara said this on February 22, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Neville could just be there that late because he fogot his way back
Sarah said this on February 22, 2009 at 4:54 pm
re: “Alohomora.” We see throughout the books that just because a spell exists, doesn’t mean that wizards and witches can do it. People seem to have their specialties. Hermione can do things others can’t. However, one expects that upperclassmen and teachers would be able to do “Alohomora” also. That must be why Dumbledore puts extra boundaries around Hogwarts in “Half=blood Prince,” and why apparition doesn’t work in Hogwarts. It’s too easy for wizards and witches to get in places, and hard for them to keep places secure.
linden swallow said this on February 25, 2009 at 6:40 am
It does seem strange that Fred and George never got into the 3rd floor corridor if Alohomora is all it takes to open the door.
I always assumed Neville got lost as well, but I like the Madam Pmfrey theory much better. After all, he would have been very upset, embarassed and shaken even after his wrist was healed, so Pomfrey would almost certainly have kept him there for a while.
Something I always notice in this chapter is when Pansy says “Never thought you’d like fat little crybabies, Parvati.” (emphasis on “you’d). I think it implies that they knew eachother before Hogwarts.
palantiriel said this on April 9, 2009 at 9:54 am
palantiriel, that’s an interesting point about Pansy – it’s certainly curious that she would say something like that to a fellow student she’s only known (and not well) for a week and a half. Maybe they met and talked on the Hogwarts Express?
Of course it’s also possible Rowling just screwed this up. A few pages later Draco tells Harry and Ron that the trophy room is “always” unlocked, and I have no idea how he’d know that in his second week either….
John Kearns said this on April 16, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Perhaps Lucius Malfoy told Draco it waa always open? Although that does seem a strange thing to tell your son…
And yes, I’ve always wondered that about Pansy.
Eliza said this on July 17, 2009 at 12:53 am
Pansy Parkinson is a notorious taunter. It’s basically what she lives to do it seems. This taunt to Parvati could have , in fact, been a backhanded compliment since we know the Patil twins are the best looking in their year, or are according to Seamus anyhow . She implies that Parvati is ‘slumming it’ when she could so obviously ‘do better’.
grrreg said this on September 10, 2009 at 11:37 am
Did anybody realize the irony of Fluffy being the guard here? He is based on Cerebrus, guardian of the Underworld in ancient mythologies. Yet here he is guarding something that gives eternal life. Coincidence?
Sean said this on October 2, 2009 at 2:14 pm
I wonder if the Fat Lady left her portrait after Harry, Ron, and Hermione exited the common room to inform Dumbledore that Harry was wandering around. And thus he learned they saw Fluffy. She sounds like one of the sources Dumbledore may have used to monitor Harry’s first year at Hogwarts.
And from this chapter, I figured Parvati and Pansy grew up near each other, though Grrreg’s idea sounds possible too! Wish JKR would comment on this site and answer these theories! :D
Roonil Wazlib said this on November 5, 2009 at 7:18 pm
No, Sean, it’s probably not a coincidence. That’s awesome, I never thought of it that way. Thanks.
Lindsay Lovegood said this on January 3, 2010 at 10:33 pm
I appreciate Keith James’s picture, not only for its richness of detail, but because he has bravely tackled the subject of the two unnamed Griffindor girls in Harry’s year.
Billie said this on January 13, 2010 at 7:47 am
I also read Pansy Parkinson’s comment in the same manner as grrreg. Parvati is pretty and popular, and Pansy is astounded that someone with all that going for them would jeopardize her social credit to stand up for Neville. This also highlights again the differences between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Pansy as a Slytherin will taunt whoever necessary in order to build her status with the in-crowd, but Parvati as a Gryffindor isn’t afraid to stand up for what is right.
I also love how Rowling establishes Hermione as a voice of reason right from the trio’s first adventure together. Although she comes across to us at first only as a bossy know-it-all, Hermione is right when she realizes that Malfoy has tricked Harry into going to the trophy room where he should be caught by Filch. Harry knows deep down she is right, even if he won’t admit it to her. This event foreshadows Hermione also being right about Harry being lured to the Ministry of Magic by Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix, and about the potential danger of journeying to Goderic’s Hollow in Deathly Hallows. Don’t we all wish that Harry would listen to Hermione more often… even if she can be a bit of a nag?
Perhaps in further bit of foreshadowing (potentially to emphasize the future importance of his character), Harry, Ron and Hermione are accompanied on their first adventure oddly enough by Neville… who of course also joins them on the mission to the Department of Mysteries and in the final battle at Hogwarts.
Andrea said this on February 7, 2010 at 10:15 am
Did McGonagall teach Harry’s parents and the rest of the Marauders? She seems old, but not that much older than Snape…she couldn’t have gone to Hogwarts with them…could she?
yraM said this on March 20, 2010 at 2:51 pm
yraM, McGonagall did teach James and Lily – she says in OP15 that she has been teaching at Hogwarts 39 years as of December 1995, so she would have started there in 1956. James and Lily were born in 1960, according to DH.
McGonagall also talks about having taught James, Sirius, and Pettigrew in the Three Broomsticks in PA10.
John Kearns said this on April 2, 2010 at 10:36 am
In response to palanteriels comment about Fred and george, I think it would b really untwin like not to check put the locked room. Can’t you just see them sneaking in there with lee and seeing fluffy? They obviously didn’t get any farther but I wonder how Harry wouldn’t have heard them bragging about their encounter with fluffy in te commen room?
Soraya said this on April 20, 2010 at 8:26 pm