Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass
In the second chapter of The Sorcerer’s Stone, we open with a ten year time skip from when baby Harry is left on the Dursley’s front porch. He’s older, taller, and sleeps under a spider filled cupboard because, as the theme recurs, the Dursleys are the worst.
It’s a classic journey: the undervalued hero living like Cinderella that harkens back to Matilda, amongst other beloved stories. It seems that our protagonist, the young boy Harry is ordinary, but this chapter continues our theme of odd magical touches that show he’s actually quite unusual. He dreams about a flying motorbike we know is real. An ugly sweater he hated shrinks until it won’t fit. He escapes bullies by seeming to teleport onto a roof. A terrible haircut regrows overnight. His hair is bizarre and unkempt, no matter how Aunt Petunia attempts to tame it *COUGH*likeitshould’vebeeninallofthemoviesnotjust3*COUGH*
Directly opposed to the fascinating Harry, we’ve got the Dursleys, a family so uninteresting and prone to violence they abhor being asked questions and throw money at all problems except for Harry’s derelicte wardrobe.
We get a clearer look in their parenting style, and how damaging not only neglect (Harry) can be, but also spoiling and overindulgence (Dudley.)
It’s midway through this look at Harry’s rather miserable life that all the hints of magic quietly explode…in a scene where Harry appears to be talking with a snake. They commiserate on their terrible lives, Dudley hits Harry, and suddenly the glass vanishes and the snake is free to visit Brazil. And let’s take a moment to reflect on how the Dursleys are so incredibly awful that the best conversation Harry’s had in perhaps years is with a trapped reptile in a zoo.
We end our chapter with more tantalizing hints about Harry’s past. Who are the people who approach him in public to bow, and why do they do this to a strange kid? What is this green light, and the laughter Harry hears? How does baby Harry have such a good memory that he recalls green light and flying motorcyles in dreams, things that happened to him when he was barely a toddler?
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What did you think of the Dursley’s treatment of Harry? Dudley?
What did you think the most suspicious magical act of Harry’s was?
Were you mad at Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid for leaving Harry with the Dursleys after seeing how they treated him?
How come no one who knew James and Lily well reached out to Harry with even a letter?
And what on earth is a Knickerbocker Glory?!
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