Let sleeping trolls lie, Order of the Phoenix and the 5th task to find the Philosopher's St |
 Apr 27 2007, 06:07 PM
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Madame Pince's House Elf  Posts: 4,716 Joined: 5:46pm January 28, 2005 Location: In HP Book Club 5, awaiting Deathly Hallow's release.  |
TROLLS IN THE DUNGEON! Throughout the previous Book Clubs, the seven tasks to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone have foretold and linked into the sorts of adventures the trio faced in each of the other books in the Harry Potter series. Fluffy acted as a Hogwarts-style Cerberus, introducing the reader to the Devil’s Snare, put there by Hufflepuff’s Professor Sprout. Then Professor Flitwick, the head of the House of Ravenclaw, revealed to Harry in an overheard conversation at the Three Broomsticks pub, much about the Fidelius Charm as well as Peter Pettigrew’s supposed role in the betrayal of the Potters. Professor McGonagall’s overgrown and transfigured Chess game, the next task, implied much about the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire story. The Chess game, itself, like all such games, involves rivalry, motive, strategy, and adherence to the rules. For example, there were the chess pieces, black opposing white, lined up like enemy combatants in an ancient war-game. But Ron, who knew the rules, was able to read the board and direct Hermione and Harry accordingly. And so Hermione and Harry passed onto the next stage in their quest. Which was a stinking, smelly troll, fortunately for Harry and Hermione, lying sound asleep. The troll Harry and Hermione had to get past in the fifth Philosopher Stone task was the defence of their first year DADA teacher, Quirrell, to stop anyone reaching the Philosopher’s Stone. Quirrell even mentioned his skill with trolls at the end of PS/SS, (UK ed. Ch 17, p. 210): QUOTE ‘Certainly. I have a gift with trolls. You must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off- and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn’t even manage to bite Snape’s leg off properly.’ How do these smelly, stinking creatures influence the action in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Where do they crop up throughout Book 5, and in what ways are this Defence Against the Dark Arts task particularly relevant to DADA as it is taught by one Professor Umbridge? On the other hand, is Hermione’s and Harry’s passing the sleeping troll really the fifth task? Before the publication of the sixth book in the series, on July 16th 2005, one Mugglenet article did not see any connection between Order of the Phoenix and the fifth task to find the Philosopher’s Stone. They thought that Harry’s and Ron’s demolishing the troll in the girls’ bathroom was the first book task, reprised by the sleeping troll, and that the fifth task was actually Snape's potions task. What do you think? And there is another parallel. When Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny found themselves visiting Gilderoy Lockhart in St Mungo’s, they revisited other Chamber of Secrets connections, such as a woman covered in fur, and barking like a dog. And there was a second task herbology connection, the cutting of Devil’s Snare, a Christmas gift. Finally, accompanied by his formidable grandmother, Neville, always best at herbology, who had tried to stop the trio from attempting to face the Philosopher’s Stone task, was visiting his parents, unable to remember and recognise him. Was that particular encounter enough to reorganise the order of the Philosopher’s Stone tasks? Or was the reappearance of the Devil’s Snare, merely a horrible co-incidence? This post has been edited by WaggaWaggaWerewolf: Apr 27 2007, 06:13 PM --------------------  Check out Book Number 5 POA edition. |
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