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Chapter Six:
Draco's Detour
Notes by Steve Vander Ark and Michele L. Worley
Synopsis and links by John Kearns
U.S. hardcover edition: pages 105 - 128
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 103 - 123
Timeframe: Wednesday, 31 July - Saturday, 3 August,
1996
[Y16]
In which we learn of several disappearances including Florean
Fortescue and Mr. Ollivander, and Harry, Hermione,
and the Weasleys go shopping at Diagon Alley, escorted by Hagrid.
There they discover a much-changed atmosphere and an empty Leaky
Cauldron,
have a run-in with Draco and Narcissa Malfoy in Madam Malkin's, tour
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and sneak out to follow Draco into Borgin
and Burke's,
where they overhear a mysterious conversation between him and Mr.
Borgin.
Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:
Harry remained within the confines of the Burrow's garden over the
next few weeks.
This gives us a very rough idea of how much time passes between Harry's
arrival at the Burrow and his trip to Diagon Alley: more than one week,
less than one month.
He spent most of his days playing
two-a-side Quidditch in the Weasleys' orchard (he and Hermione against
Ron and Ginny; Hermione was dreadful and Ginny good, so they were
reasonably well matched)
So Hermione can fly a broomstick well enough to at least try
to play pickup Quidditch games, but she's not
very good. It's interesting that Harry teamed with a bad Quidditch
player is reasonably well matched playing against Ginny teamed with
Ron, given that Ron's actually a decent player.
well, frankly, I'm surprised he stayed alive for even a year after deserting
the Death Eaters; Sirius' brother, Regulus, only managed a few days as
far as I can remember
Interesting.
He used to give me free ice creams.
This was during the summer before Harry's third year,
while he was staying at the Leaky Cauldron.
The day after this rather gloomy birthday tea, their letters and
booklists arrived from Hogwarts.
That is, on the first of August.
Harry's included a surprise: He had been made Quidditch Captain.
So whoever selects the Quidditch Captain - Professor McGonagall as Head of
House seems likely, since there has been no mention of the team voting
on the matter - has not chosen the most senior player on the team as
was done the previous year.
You can use our bathroom now and everything!
This explains why Harry and Ron are using the same bathroom later on.
We'll go on Saturday
So the trip to Diagon Alley takes place on a Saturday in early August.
the nearest apothecary
The phrasing implies that there is more than one apothecary on Diagon Alley.
We'll do better at Twilfitt and Tatting's.
Nice name for a clothing store, although it's not clear if it's on
Diagon Alley (probable) or Knockturn Alley (possible).
we can pop in at the Apothecary
This phrasing (in contrast to the earlier line) suggest that only
one Apothecary has a shop on Diagon Alley.
Neither Harry nor Ron bought any ingredients at the Apothecary,
seeing that they were no longer studying Potions
Apparently the Apothecary's primary business is to sell potion ingredients.
U-NO-POO - THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION
Here's a joke that will have difficulty surviving translation.
The whole business of the Ministry of Magic posters reminds me (MLW)
of the posters that were commonplace in the U.K. and the U.S. during
World War II.
trick wands
The trick wands are apparently triggered when someone attempts to use them.
The cheap variety transforms into some other item when waved (such as a
rubber chicken or a pair of briefs), while the most expensive variety
attempts beat the user around the head and neck. This implies that the
transformation spell is easier to build into the trick wand than the
attack spell.
A beaming Fred stood before them, wearing a set of magenta robes that
clashed magnificently with his flaming hair.
As
we see later when we encounter one of the twins' employees, these are
the staff robes for the shop. Possibly we have a clue here as to why
Molly has a mental block about Ron not liking maroon, if the twins like
magenta well enough to pick it as the colour of their staff uniforms.
thick yellow paste
It's not clear whether the bruise-removing paste is a WWW product or just
something the Weasley twins managed to locate elsewhere.
"Right you are, Verity, I'm coming"
"Verity" means "truth", but it's also a (rather uncommon) girl's name in the
English-speaking Muggle world (along the lines of other "virtue"
names such as Charity or Mercy).
It's interesting that what with her colouring and the staff robes,
Verity's description is reminiscent of Rita Skeeter.
range of love potions
Fred's
description of the effectiveness the effectiveness of the love potions
is geared to explain how they'll work when consumed by a boy and geared
toward a girl. The weight of the boy is a factor on how long it will
take a dose to run through his system, while the attractiveness of the
girl is a factor because it determines how much work the potion has to
do in the first place.
Pygmy Puff
A miniature puffskein that looks like a round ball of fluff.
A Pygmy Puff may be either pink or purple in colour.
Turning left?
So from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes heading down Diagon Alley,
the entrance to Knockturn Alley is on the left.
large black cabinet
The
large black cabinet at Borgin and Burkes in which Harry hid from Lucius
and Draco Malfoy the summer before his second year is presumably the
Vanishing Cabinet that figures later in the story.
Is this necklace for sale?
This is, as Harry indicates later (HBP12)
the cursed opal necklace we last saw four years ago; at 1500 Galleons,
no wonder it hasn't sold.
Characters introduced in this chapter:
Characters returning in this chapter:
Borgin, Mr.
Delacour, Fleur
Granger, Hermione
Hagrid, Rubeus
Lupin, Remus
Malfoy, Draco
Malfoy, Narcissa
Malkin, Madam
Potter, Harry
Weasley, Arthur
Weasley, Bill
Weasley, Fred
Weasley, George
Weasley, Ginny
Weasley, Molly
Weasley, Ron
(surname unknown) Tom
Characters mentioned in this chapter:
Black, Regulus
Black, Sirius
Buckbeak (Witherwings)
Corner, Michael
Dumbledore, Albus
Fortescue, Florean
Greyback, Fenrir
Hedwig
Karkaroff, Igor
Lestrange, Bellatrix
Malfoy, Lucius
Ollivander, Mr.
Philpott, Arkie
Pigwidgeon
Riddle, Tom Marvolo (as Voldemort, You-Know-Who)
Thomas, Dean
Weasley, Charlie
(unnamed) muggles who stare at Hagrid on Charing Cross Road
Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:
Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:
Exceptional character moments:
Spells and Potions:
Links and Resources:
Memorable lines:
"WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO?
YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO -
THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!"
"And our Decoy Detonators are just walking off the shelves,
look," said Fred, pointing at a number of weird-looking black horn-type
objects that were indeed attempting to scurry out of sight.
"Whatever you've heard from Ron is a big fat lie."
Strictly British:
Timelines/Calendar:
This chapter zips through much of July, then spents a bit of
time on Harry's birthday, 31 July. Booklists arrive
on 1 August, the next day, and "a few days" later, which we know to be
a Saturday, they all go to Diagon Alley. There is a relatively
small inconsistency here: according to the calendar the rest of the
year is based on, 1 August should be a Thursday, which doesn't really
allow for 'a few days' to pass prior to Saturday (which would be 3
August). But it's certainly not a big enough discrepency to merit
changing the whole calendar around.
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