Observations from: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
As I do my second read-through of the Harry Potter series, I thought I would write down anything that sticks out to me, from a world-building perspective, as well as anything that can help me grow in my own academic journey as an amateur witch.
Last Updated
09/21/24
Chapters
8
Reads
291
The Sorting Hat (or, Reduction of the Soul)
Chapter 8
If anyone is reading along themselves, I'd like you to try and note how many objects and things in Hogwarts are described in the colours of precious metals, mainly gold and silver. I don't know if this is because it is supposed to be associated with richness or magic, or some combination of both, but it stood out to me.
As this is misrepresented in the films, it is often not remembered that in Hogwarts, each house is quite isolated from each other. As McGonagall notes: "your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your common room." (p. 122). This seems like an odd decision to me. Perhaps it is supposed to foster one's house traits to their greatest extent, but to me, it seems like this might force you into being somewhat one-dimensional, which would be remedied by letting students of each house interact more. However, this could be where the idea of "aspirational sorting" comes in, where you are sorted based on your potential, not your current qualities. The powerful magic of the Sorting Hat is not fully understood, so all we can do is speculate.
As I mentioned before, I am trying to work out what the exact curriculum of Hogwarts was during Harry's time at school, and one hint to that is revealed in this chapter by Percy Weasley, talking about Transfiguration class: "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing." (p. 134).
Another magical detail that stood out to me was Dumbledore's use of a spell that I am unfamiliar with, and not sure if it ever appears again: "Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick (...) and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above tables and twisted itself snake-like into words." (p. 136). These words are the lyrics to the school song. No doubt, this spell seems like it would be extremely useful, and I wonder what exactly it is.
In summary
- Hogwarts is associated with gold and silver
- Each house is quite isolated within itself, and aspirational sorting
- A bit of the Transfiguration curriculum
- An unknown "golden words" spell by Dumbledore for the school song
