The Harry Potter Official Thread

[Cassie]

The trailer or the chapters? XD

Well we're so badly behind with the chapters, so lets start on them!
I'll just start with chapter one first.

Chapter One - The Boy Who Lived
So, to round-up this chapter, we're introduced for the first time to the Dursleys, we learn that Vernon Dursley is a 'big, beefy man with hardly any neck', whereas Petunia Dursley is quite skinny and loves to pry on the neighbours. We also learn that they have a baby, who we all know is Dudley Dursley, and that they think he is quite possibly the greatest child on Earth. {rolleyes}

There's not that much time spent on the Dursleys as a whole... we get a basic description of their personalities and lifestyle, then we jump to Vernon Dursley and a majority of the chapter focuses on his journey to work, right? I don't have my copy with me at this second but I'm almost certain. We follow him to work through morning traffic, and he spots people sporting very strange 'get-ups'. It's funny how well this chapter encapsulates Mr Dursley personality throughout the whole series. When I first read these books, as a young child, I actually presumed that Petunia was a really nice lady, and it was just Uncle Vernon that was the terror. I don't really know what gave me this idea... maybe because I was little and didn't read into things correctly. Although in my defence it doesn't really go into much detail about her personality at the beginning of the chapter, so you could sort of form your own opinion. It's only later in the chapter when Vernon and Petunia are having that dicussion about Harry that we realise she is pompous and overbearing.
Maybe it was the name Petunia, which sounds flowery and sweet to me, or maybe it's because the book say she was blonde (although this differs in the films of course as she is brunette), and to me blonde hair symbolised a good character then, innocent and kind. Haha, I was a teeny bit off. Although in DH, she did seem like she wanted to say something nice to Harry before she left, but this is a whole different bag of chips so I'll leave off that for now.

Personally I thought the beginning, with the Dursleys, is only slightly dull - I prefer the second half of the chapter, where we meet Dumbledore and McGonagall. LOL, I remember I had a ton of trouble pronouncing so many names in this book when I first read it, and it began with these two right here.
I adore Dumbledore's personality throughout this chapter. He has the best lines. 'It is lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.' Also, 'scars are useful. I have one myself above my knee, which is the perfect map of the London Underground.' [sorry of those quotes were a little off as they're from memory {unsure}]. LOL. Classic Dumbledore rigth there. Instantly we know he's a quirky character, a good character. I was a little iffy about McGonagall when I first read this, but later in the chapter we can see she is a nice character. A little stubborn, but genuinely nice all the same.

Hearing of Lily and James Potter's death is saddening in this chapter, and knowing Harry has to live with teh cruel characters we were introduced to earlier is yet worse. I remember being all 'poor little Harry' when I first read the book, haha. But you know what I love most about this whole scene? HAGRID'S ENTRANCE. On SIRIUS' BIKE. Mwhahaha, I love this. Obviously it means nothing to you when you first read this book for the first ever time, as we have no idea who Sirius is until book three. But I like this reference to him, I like it a lot. I like how he is 'young' Sirius Black, because he WAS very young during this scene, in fact he was about 21, right, consdering he was the same age as Lily and James Potter, and they died when they were 21, correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, yeah, I do love this line.

Finally, I adore the ending. I love how we are left to imagine these large congregations of witches and wizards celebrating in secret, all over this little baby who's resting in a breezy, silent Muggle neighbourhood in the middle of the night. There's something nice about that last paragraph, if I had my copy I'd quote it and go through it but unfortunately I don't, but I do know I enjoy reading it and it's a perfect end to the very first chapter of a very long adventure.


Characters introduced in order of appearance;
Vernon Dursley
Petunia Dursley
Dudley Dursley
Dedalus Diggle
Albus Dumbledore
Minerva McGonagall [in human form, though in cat form she would be before Dumbledore]
Rubeus Hagrid
Harry Potter

Mentioned but not met:
Lily Potter
James Potter
Madam Pomfrey
Sirius Black
Lord Voldemort

So, there's my thoughts on Chapter One, I'll do Chapter Two either later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Anyone wants to discuss this chapter and further chapters if they wish now?