Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone - Chapter 4: The Keeper of the Keys

Hello everyone! Back to the magical land of Harry Potter. When we left off, there was an knock (more like a bang!) on the door.

Chapter 4 The Keeper of the Keys

“

Do you mean ter tell me,” he growled at the Dursleys, “that this boy — this boy! — knows nothin’ abou’— about ANYTHING?”
Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren’t bad.
“I know some things,” he said. “I can, you know, do math and stuff.”
But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, “About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents’ world.”
“What world?

”

Thoughts

The door smashes. "A giant of a man was standing in the doorway".

Artwork by Keith Johnson

Image from the illustrated edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"
© Jim Kay

That's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.

“

Yeh’ll know all about Hogwarts, o’ course.

”

"Er- no" Harry replies, mirroring our response.

Then Hagrid delivers hp icon pic #2:

And finally Harry gets to read his letter:

And the another revelation comes up:

The Dursleys knew all along about Harry. They lied about his parents' death, something that upsets Hagrid greatly. Harry ended up with his aunt and uncle because a dark wizard targeted his family but couldn't kill him. This is why he is so famous. "The Boy who Lived".

All that Vernon has to say is that he is not "paying for some crackpot old fool to teach [Hary] magic tricks"

This is the last drop: Hagrid is furious. In retaliation he gives Dudley a pig's tail, when his attempt to turn him into a pig fails, as he "was so much like a pig already, that there was not much left to do".

Additional Comments

⚡️ When Hagrid explains how it was when Voldermort was at the height of his power, the Dursleys are present. It only shows how awful Petunia really is when she doesn't express a single emotion during all this. She was so jealous of her sister. What a b****. Hagrid teared up. We got nothing from her though. She didn't even defend her sister when Vernon insults them, commenting that they "asked for all they got, mixed up with these wizarding types.."

⚡️ Harry's questions are spot on: What happened to Lord Voldermort? What indeed. This key question will be answered on the last book of the series. Why was Hagrid expelled? He isn't rude. He wasn't simply allowed to ask questions before. Throughout the series, especially in the first books, Harry asks a lot of questions.

⚡️ Hagrid's backstory

Hagrid was born on 6 December, 1928 to Mr Hagrid, a wizard, and Fridwulfa, a giantess, and grew up in the West Country of England, near the Forest of Dean, where he acquired his distinctive accent.^[scr]^[src] When Hagrid was about three, his mother returned to her Giant colony, leaving his father to raise him alone. Hagrid said he had very few memories of his mother from his childhood, but remembered his father fondly; as a half-giant, he overtook his father in size by the age of six, and amused the "tiny" wizard by picking him up and setting him on top of a dresser when Hagrid was annoyed with him. Later, when talking to Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the death of his mother, Hagrid admitted that she was not a great mother at all.^[src]

I love Hagrid. But what I like more is his relationship with Harry. From the first moment we are introduced to this character we like him: he talks back to the awful Dursleys and he is the bearer of amazing news. True, he has some peculiar monster affections, but he has a heart made of gold.

(show spoiler)

Fun facts

(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ You are a Muggle!

Muggle is derived from the word "mug," which refers to a gullible person. J. K. Rowling has commented that she added a syllable to soften the word, which she wanted to suggest "both foolishness and lovability."^[15] In the Brazilian translation of the series the term "muggle" was adapted to "trouxa", which literally means "fool", albeit not necessarily lovable at all. Wizards define themselves in contrast to muggle, since the words "wizard" and "wisdom" have a common etymological origin [2]

(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ Gallopin whaaat?

Hagrid uses the phrase: "Gallopin' Gorgons!" when he is reminded to send a letter to Dumbledore. As the series progresses, characters use the phrase "Merlin's Beard" or "Galloping Gargoyles".

The Gorgon is a creature from Greek mythology, it's a monstrous feminine creature whose appearance would turn anyone who laid eyes upon it to stone...The Gorgons are monstrous creatures covered with impenetrable scales, with hair of living snakes, hands made of brass, sharp fangs and a beard. They live in the ultimate west, near the ocean, and guard the entrance to the underworld.(src) The phrase was invented by Rowling to sound appropriately magical.

(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ This is pronounced how?

Hagrid can't spell You-Know-Who's name. Rowling pronounces Voldemort with a silent 't' at the end--VOL-duh-more.^[src] This may be to the fact that the French word mort, meaning death, has a silent T.

Just about everyone else, including the cast of the films, says VOL-duh-mort. Jim Dale pronounced it Rowling's way until the recording of the fifth book, when he inexplicably changed to the incorrect pronunciation.

(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ Family Trivia

The Prewetts are Molly Weasley's brothers, Fabian and Gideon.

Things you might not notice on your first read

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"Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."

This is one of the many mentions of Harry's eyes and how much they resemble his mother's.

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Hagrid sends word to Dumbledore using an owl. Harry was dumbstruck.

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This is the first time Harry hears of Dumbledore.

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When Hagrid explains to Harry, why he lost his parents, he doesn't say why. He doesn't know. This brings us to the conclusion that Dumbledore didn't bother sharing Trelawny's prediction with him. (click the spoiler tag to see what secret Hagrid could have shared with Harry had he known)

(show spoiler)

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Families like the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts are mentioned. We later find out that they were members of the Order of the Phoenix. These families have surviving relatives that are introduced when Harry attends Hogwarts.

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Hagrid was expelled. Why? We learn on the next book.

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Hagrid's pink umbrella probably contains the pieces of his broken wand. We suspect Dumbledore is behind this, especially knowing the incredible powers of the Elder wand.