The Potions Master
In which Harry meets the Potions Master and gets a whole two points deducted from Gryffindor on his very first day of school.
This chapter was, first of all, extremely short, and it didn't have a lot going on in terms of the plot, but we do get to meet most of the teachers, and there are a couple of things to note. We should start with Harry's classes and teachers.
Hogwarts seems so confusing to navigate, because everything moves and changes. There are portraits acting like doors, doors acting like tapestries, passwords to remember, trick staircases, and hallways that only exist on Mondays when the weather is nice. It's like a giant Haunted House, but Peeves is the only poltergeist that really haunts it. Maybe the Bloody Baron. I was reading about poltergeists and found that some people believe they're created by people and composed of the frustrations people feel. An entire castle of moody teenagers would make Peeves one mean Poltergeist.
First and second years don't get to choose any of their classes. They only take the required ones. There's History of Magic with Professor Binns, a ghost who just kept teaching even after he died. Professor Flitwick, a tiny teacher, teaches charms, which seems like such a cool class, definitely one of the best. Professor McGonagall, the transfiguration professor is also the head of Gryffindor House. She's tough but fair, and she already shows a liking for Hermione, who can turn her matchstick into a needle. Transfiguration also seems really cool; I just don't know how useful it'd really be, having to learn a new spell for everything you would want to transfigure. Quirrel's Defense Against the Dark Arts Class is pretty much a joke, and his room is a little too garlicky for anyone's liking.
Lastly Snape. After reading the series, although I can understand why Snape is the way he is to Harry, I wouldn't call him my favorite character. That he loved Lily, and Harry reminded him too much of James isn't a good enough excuse for him being an outright bully to Harry for the majority of Harry's time at Hogwarts. Snape does have his redeeming qualities and saves Harry's neck many many times, though. So, while not my favorite, he is certainly one of the most compelling characters that J.K. Rowling has created. His flippity floppity from good to bad, as well as the fact that Dumbledore trusted him so steadfastly really adds dimension to him. A lot of the characters are like that: they're kind of cliché-seeming at first, but Rowling adds more and more dimension to them as Harry gets older.
We don't know much about Snape at this point in time, even though I just wrote a huge paragraph on how complex he was, but we do know these things: Snape teaches Potions. Snape likes Draco. Snape hates Harry. Dumbledore never gave Snape the job he craved, Defense Against the Dark Arts. And I'm not sure if we do or don't know this yet, but Snape is the head of the Slytherin house (and was in Slytherin himself.)
Snape deducts two points from Harry the first day. One was for Harry's cheek, which Harry probably deserved. He is rather full of cheek. Cheeky Gryffindor.
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