Chapter Eleven: The Firebolt
In chapter eleven of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry gets another fabulous present, McGonagall trolls Trelawney, and Ron and Hermione are the best friends ever when they stay for Christmas with Harry again.
(Please be advised that this is a reread and I will be discussing book and movie spoilers.)
Harry’s still reeling from finding out that Sirius Black, mass murdering psychopath is his godfather and also responsible for his parent’s deaths, and oh yeah, the fact that no one told him, and I don’t blame Harry one bit for being angry about that. He almost found out from Malfoy for goodness sake! MALFOY. I can imagine how that would’ve gone.
Malfoy: Yo Scarhead, did you hear the one about a boy with a stupid scar and a stupid broomstick who is scared of dementors?
Harry: ….
Malfoy: Well his godfather is SIRIUS BLACK and he doesn’t even comb his hair or use product! Oh he also killed your parents or something.
Malfoy: Also maybe I love you.
But of course that’s NOT how Harry finds out, and while we are given this unintentionally humorous movie moment…
…in the books Harry just kind of stews in silence and pretends to be asleep so he doesn’t have to talk to Ron.
Ron and Hermione continue to be amazing friends to Harry (seriously, they skip Christmas with their loving families for this kid!) by trying to talk Harry out of going after Sirius in retribution.
Our trio goes to visit Hagrid and they find out poor Buckbeak’s been sentenced to death when his only crime was a little blood drawn from a Malfoy. Come on, your honor, we’ve all wanted to do it!
It’s Christmas at Hogwarts, and not only do I weep that I can’t get a Weasley sweater with a dragon on it, or spend Christmas in a magical castle in Scotland, now I’m also jealous because Harry’s got a firebolt, the fastest broom ever!
Trelawney shows up for a super awkward Christmas dinner of Hogwarts teachers who apparently don’t have families or lives (why Severus, fancy seeing you in that category) plus 6 students, and McGonagall does what any sane person would do in Trelawney’s presence: relentless trolling.
Professor Trelawney, however, did not sit down; her enormous eyes had been roving around the table, and she suddenly uttered a kind of soft scream.
‘I dare not, Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!’
‘We’ll risk it, Sybill,’ said Professor McGonagall impatiently. ‘Do sit down, the turkey’s getting stone cold.’
McGonagall: ‘Tripe, Sybill?’
Professor Trelawney ignored her.
On Lupin’s absence: ‘But surely you already knew that, Sybill?’ said Professor McGonagall, her eyebrows raised.
Professor Trelawney gave Professor McGonagall a very cold look.
‘Certainly I knew, Minerva,’ she said quietly. ‘But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous.’
‘That explains a great deal,’ said Professor McGonagall tartly.
Professor Trelawney’s voice suddenly became a good deal less misty.
‘If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal-gaze for him –’
‘Imagine that,’ said Professor McGonagall drily.
Harry and Ron got up first from the table and she shrieked loudly.
‘My dears! Which of you left his seat first? Which?’
‘Dunno,’ said Ron, looking uneasily at Harry.
‘I doubt it will make much difference,’ said Professor McGonagall coldly, ‘unless a mad axe-man is waiting outside the doors to slaughter the first into the Entrance Hall.’
Oh, Minerva!
Harry and Ron are admiring the Firebolt when McG comes into the common room, tired and satisfied from all of her trolling, and makes off with the broom, since Hermione snitched that it probably came from Sirius Black. I don’t know why this part always gets me slightly irritated at Hermione. We know she’s literally right, in that Sirius sent the broom, and we know her intentions are wrong but well meant, in that she thinks the broom will kill Harry. Yet I still find her snitching kind of annoying.
What can I say?
<—Previous Chapter Next Chapter —>
Join in with your thoughts below, on twitter, or instagram with #ReadHarryPotterWithMe. Follow me on my twitter @HSecretLibrary, pinterest, and my instagram @hermionessecretlibrary
Why didn’t anyone tell Harry the truth about Sirius?
What are your thoughts on the movie magic: HE WAS THEIR FRIEND?
Who does McGonagall prefer trolling, Lockhart, Trelawney, or Umbridge?
Did Hermione do the right thing in telling McG about the firebolt?
Read all of my Harry Potter reviews here!
Picture taken near Linderhof Castle, Germany. Send me/tag me in your pics of you reading Harry Potter!