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07/14/2005 Entry: "Potter ii"

Potter notes

From the first chapter, which was discussed last Friday.

In chapter 1, in the midst of a magical celebratory fervor over the disappearance of you-know-who, orphaned babe Harry is left on the doorstep of his dispicable aunt and uncle by two powerful wizards

One of the most striking-yet-subtle-yet-most-undeniably-intentional things I found in chapter 1 was the lack of magic. Sure, there were people in cloaks, owls flying around and all that hoopla; yet there was know mention of the word "magic" by narrator or character. In fact, there was nothing about "wizards" or "spells" or anything of the sort. There was indeed mention of "muggles" and we know well enough who is meant, yet no definition has been thus far given. The closest they ever get is one character uses the word "power" when speaking of Voldemort, and otherwise the only thing we know of him is that he is a killer.

On the other hand, the "muggle" types (by the way, muggles was slang for canabis back in the 20s and 30s--a bit of trivia I picked up having studied Jazz in college) refer to their magical counterparts simply as those people or the like.

While any eight year old would know a wizard when he reads about him, at this point that stuff is still between lines--albeit busting at the seams.

What we have here is two camps of people marching to two different drums: one to that of the material and the selfish, the other to wonder and mysticism, something more important yet undefined. There is hardly room for the reader to choose which camp he will sooner sympathise with. After all, the latter is far more glamourous.

So, to conclude, chapter one is much less about fantasy and more about real people.

What will happen in chapter 72, when that one professor decides to change the locks on his apartment while his ne'r-do-well room mate is out, and then said prof goes on a trip for a month and then comes back saying "you can have your 1000 magical scrolls back when you've finally paid me the four months rent you owe me", is he really a wizard, or a muggle?