PoA Section Three: In Which Harry Meets a Dementor

PoA Section Three: In Which Harry Meets a Dementor


Chapter 5 – The Dementor

As Harry is about to board the Hogwarts Express, Mr. Weasley pulls him aside to warn him to not go looking for Sirius Black, an instruction that leaves Harry perplexed. On the train, he, Ron, and Hermione share a compartment with the new teacher, Professor R.J. Lupin. The train is stopped by the Dementors, the Azkaban guards, for inspection, and their influence drains Harry until Professor Lupin drives them away.


Chapter 6 – Talons and Tea Leaves

Classes begin at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have their first Divination class and learn about the Grim, a death omen with which Professor Trelawney predicts Harry's death. In Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall introduces the concept of Animagi, wizards that can turn into animals at will. Hagrid's first Care of Magical Creatures class is met with disaster when Malfoy insults Buckbeak the hippogriff and is attacked.


Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville experienced when they were faced with the Dementor?

2. Ron and Hermione argue about the lore of the Grim. Do you agree with Hermione that the effect of the Grim is merely psychological and all in one's mind? Or do you, like Ron, think there is truth to the legend?

3. Do you think it was prudent of Mr. Weasley to warn Harry against looking for Black?

What do you think Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville experienced when they were faced with the Dementor?
At first, my thoughts about the dementor is that it's something that makes you go cold and takes away all the warmth inside of you like making someone go "deathly" cold just like when Neville said "Did YOU feel how cold it got when itcame in" (PoA, ch.5) and when Madam Pomfrey said "He won't be the last one who collapses. Yes, he's all clammy"(PoA, ch. 5). Somehow, it gave me an impression that the dementors make someone close to a deathly state physically and emotionally w/o actually dying. Well, based on Harry's description of "a cloaked figurethat towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood" and "a hand protruding from the cloakand it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water"(PoA, ch. 5) that it basically looks like a vision of Death. However, it doesn't just make you go "deathly" but it also takes all of the happiness out of you, which I initially had when Ron said that he'd never be cheerful again (PoA, ch. 5) after their Hogwarts Express encounter, and which confirmed it when George told the trio"They suck the happiness out of a place, dementors. "(PoA, ch. 6). So, dementors suck out your happiness and thus makes you emotionally gloomy, thus the cold feeling.

Ron and Hermione argue about the lore of the Grim. Do you agree with Hermione that the effect of the Grim is merely psychological and all in one's mind? Or do you, like Ron, think there is truth to the legend?
I am partially on the side of Hermione, since it would be impractical to interpret every death omen that you see would mean impending doom on a person. But, somehow it does make a good study when true seers are able to provide better fortune telling and death warnings. Divination may be called hogwash and imprecise, I think there is still something to be gleaned from it (or else Hogwarts wouldn't have put it in the curriculum). And just like what Prof. Trelawney said "Books can take you only so far" (PoA, ch. 6) in her subject, not everything can be explained in this world. To believe that the human mind can know everything is like pouring the vast ocean into someone's head.

Do you think it was prudent of Mr. Weasley to warn Harry against looking for Black?
Maybe Mr. Weasley took the risk so that in case that Harry found something else more than he knew about Black, a reason for Harry to hunt Black, since up to this point, I see no reason for Harry to go after Black. We all know how Harry has the capability to snoop around just about anything interesting or mysterious. That fact isn't privy to Mr. Weasley "You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves" (PoA, ch. 4), so I guess Mr. Weasley just wanted to make sure that Harry stayed in Hogwart even with whatever he finds out that would make him go after Black. He does care after Harry after all.

What do you think Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville experienced when they were faced with the Dementor?

-My first thoughts of the Dementors were like Ghosts that could make your entire body in shake...I think that's what Ron,Hermione,Ginny,and Neville experienced at first but they tried to fight that scruple....

Ron and Hermione argue about the lore of the Grim. Do you agree with Hermione that the effect of the Grim is merely psychological and all in one's mind? Or do you, like Ron, think there is truth to the legend?

-I agree with Hermione, my explanations were just like in real life, legends were just all fictions meaning not true but the reasons and the ideas of Hermione were all scientific....

Do you think it was prudent of Mr. Weasley to warn Harry against looking for Black?

-I think yes, he wants to save Harry from trouble that's why he took his risk just to save "The Chosen One" which was I think already prophesied...

3. Do you think it was prudent of Mr. Weasley to warn Harry against looking for Black?

Obviously, Mr. Weasley, despite having so many kids (almost all of 'em boys) displays his lack of comprehension as to the mind of an average teenager. Hasn't he heard of the adage about teens? That the more you forbid them, the more they will open Pandora's box. They can't help it. The desire to go against the rules is just too much to overcome. And hello. This is Harry Potter. We've seen how our boy hero loves to overstep his boundaries (always for the common good I must add) regardless of the risks he has to face. So to warn Harry not to go looking for Black is just an easy way for Harry to wonder about it endlessly. And once the germ of an idea is in his noggin, the idea is firmly planted and the next step is for him (and by extension, for us) to wait for the actual catalyst that sets the stage for him to violate the rule that was established.

1. What do you think Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville experienced when they were faced with the Dementor?

Ron - "I felt weird", "Like I'd never be cheerful again..."
Hermione - (I reread the chapter and no mention of how she felt.)
Ginny - "who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob" and accdg. to Ron she was "shaking like mad"
Neville - "It was horrible", felt cold

I think they were filled with sadness in different degrees. What Harry and Ginny felt were more intense than the rest.

2. Ron and Hermione argue about the lore of the Grim. Do you agree with Hermione that the effect of the Grim is merely psychological and all in one's mind? Or do you, like Ron, think there is truth to the legend?

I think it's similar to Muggle's superstitions. I don't believe in superstitions so I agree with Hermione on this one. It's all in the mind.

3. Do you think it was prudent of Mr. Weasley to warn Harry against looking for Black?

As a precaution it was okay to let Harry know that Black was after him, but to insist on promising not to go looking for Black was not a good idea. I agree with allan, maybe it was for future reference in case Harry found out something and has to go look for Black. Hmm... I also agree with DADAProfAE, curiosity can kill. Since it doesn't make any sense to go look for Black so there's got to be something else.

Dadaf said we could post sa previous discussions eh. I was just really curious with this question

Elerrina wrote:
Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville experienced when they were faced with the Dementor?

I think Ron would probably experience the memories he's had during his second year in Hogwarts: when he found out his sister, Ginny, was taken into the Chamber of Secrets and he might not see her alive ever again.

For Hermione, I'm not really sure. If I were to guess, though, perhaps something to do with the encounter with Fluffy, or the troll in the dungeon.

As for Ginny, I'm pretty sure the memories of Tom Riddle, the diary, and the Chamber of Secrets came back to her when she was faced with the Dementor.

For Neville, I think what he experienced is similar to Harry: perhaps he could hear the screams of his parents as the Death Eaters tortured them to insanity when he was just a baby.

2. Ron and Hermione argue about the lore of the Grim. Do you agree with Hermione that the effect of the Grim is merely psychological and all in one's mind? Or do you, like Ron, think there is truth to the legend?

-Well, we can't blame Ron for believing such legend since his Uncle died when he saw the Grim. The fact that it happened makes one believe in it.