The Harry Potter series has widely been recognized as being part
of several different genres. In class, we have discussed several of these,
including fantasy, mystery, and even elements of a gothic sense. In response to
this prompt, I will be focusing on the mystery aspect of the first two novels
of Rowling’s award winning series: The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chamber of
Secrets respectively.
Contrary to popular belief, the biggest mystery in the first novel
is not whether or not Harry is actually a wizard, because, quite frankly, it’s
obvious to the reader that he is indeed a wizard even if he himself does not
know it. The biggest mystery centers around the many journeys of Harry around
the castle, as well as several encounters between Professors Quirrel and Snape.
I believe that the largest expectation raised in the first book is the
following: Professor Snape is attempting to get past all the professor’s
defenses to steal the sorcerer’s stone for himself. Several different occurrences
around the castle lead readers to believe this. For example, Snape threatening
Quirrel in a corridor Harry stumbled upon when looking in the restricted
section of the library for information on Nicholas Flamel, Snape being seen
with wounds to his leg, presumably from Fluffy, Snape must have released the
troll in the dungeon to occupy the castle’s occupants while he tried to steal
the stone, and, finally, Snape once again threatening Quirrel in Harry’s midst.
All of the incidents above turned out to be completely wrong; as
the real perpetrator of the crime was Professor Quirrel, who also just happened
to have a manifestation of Lord Voldemort implanted on the back of his skull.
I believe that it is important to raise an expectation in a book
because it engages the reader in what they are reading. Without expectations, I
believe that there is nothing to look forward to in a book; and, therefore, no
real reason to continue reading.
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