Quidditch
Quidditch season starts in November, and Harry is lucky to have Hermione as his friend—the extra practices are cutting into his homework time, and only Hermione's help gets him through it. Also, she has become a bit more relaxed about rules, so when she, Harry, and Ron are out in the courtyard one day, she bends the rules to create a small wizard fire to keep them warm. Professor Snape, seeing them there, confiscates the book Harry was reading, Quidditch Through the Ages, on a flimsy pretext that library books cannot be taken outside.
That evening, Harry decides to ask Snape to return the book. Hoping to catch him with other teachers so as to defuse his anger, he peers inside the staff room. There he sees Snape with a bad leg wound, being tended by Filch, and talking about something with three heads that apparently injured him. Snape notices Harry and, enraged, orders him out. Harry, Ron, and Hermione jointly concur that his injury was caused by the three-headed dog in the forbidden third-floor corridor, but only Hermione doubts that Snape would attempt to steal anything. Both Harry and Ron are convinced he would.
The following morning is Harry's first Quidditch match, which is against Slytherin. The match proceeds well, until Harry's broom starts acting strangely, apparently trying to buck him off. Hermione notices that Professor Snape is staring fixedly at Harry and muttering, and concludes he is jinxing it. To stop it, she runs across the stands, knocking Professor Quirrell over in the process, and sets Snape's robes on fire, thus breaking his concentration. Slytherin scores five times while everyone is distracted by Harry and his cursed broom. Regaining control, Harry dives for the pitch, in the process running into and nearly swallowing the Snitch, winning the match.
After the match, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discuss recent events with Hagrid in his hut. Hagrid voices disbelief that Snape would jinx Harry's broom. Harry mentions that Snape had apparently run afoul of the three-headed dog, which Hagrid accidentally identifies as "Fluffy". Hagrid later mentions that whatever he is guarding, "that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel —", thus accidentally providing another clue to what the object being guarded is.
As with any school, sport plays an integral part in student life. At Hogwarts, that sport is Quidditch, and it serves as both a unifying force and a divisive element. Students are bound by their enthusiasm for the game, but their Houses also compete against one another to win the Quidditch Cup, as well as the House Cup. Though these rivalries are generally amicable, Slytherin and Gryffindor have always been particularly competitive, and occasionally openly antagonistic. Slytherin's Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint, actually uses the incident with Harry's broom as a means to score more points for his team, showing just how devious and exploitative Slytherins truly are. The rivalry between these two Houses is so pronounced that it is likely to be central to the series somehow.
Meanwhile, Hermione's newly-formed friendship with Harry and Ron continues to develop and strengthen, and her intelligence and generosity are already proving useful. Initially it is the small (comparative to what comes later) matter of helping Harry with his homework when he becomes overwhelmed with the extra Quidditch practices, but she moves swiftly and decisively to protect Harry when she sees that his broom has been tampered with during the game, putting his life in danger. Her quick-thinking and fast actions become even more important to the Trio later in the series.
The jinxed broom seen during the game indicates that someone has malicious intentions against Harry, and it certainly seems obvious, at least to Harry and Ron, that this person is Snape. Even Hermione has abandoned her naive view that teachers can do no wrong and agrees that it must be Snape who seeks the Stone. Hagrid adamantly disagrees with the Trio that Snape, or any Hogwarts professor, could be involved in a plot against the school or its students. Hagrid's blind faith in Hogwarts and its teachers is noble, but it is simplistic, and almost child-like, though it should be remembered that Hagrid is privy to school information that we and the Trio are not. We, however, have seen that Snape appears to have a particular interest in the forbidden third-floor corridor, the trap door, and perhaps what lies beneath it.
That evening, Harry decides to ask Snape to return the book. Hoping to catch him with other teachers so as to defuse his anger, he peers inside the staff room. There he sees Snape with a bad leg wound, being tended by Filch, and talking about something with three heads that apparently injured him. Snape notices Harry and, enraged, orders him out. Harry, Ron, and Hermione jointly concur that his injury was caused by the three-headed dog in the forbidden third-floor corridor, but only Hermione doubts that Snape would attempt to steal anything. Both Harry and Ron are convinced he would.
The following morning is Harry's first Quidditch match, which is against Slytherin. The match proceeds well, until Harry's broom starts acting strangely, apparently trying to buck him off. Hermione notices that Professor Snape is staring fixedly at Harry and muttering, and concludes he is jinxing it. To stop it, she runs across the stands, knocking Professor Quirrell over in the process, and sets Snape's robes on fire, thus breaking his concentration. Slytherin scores five times while everyone is distracted by Harry and his cursed broom. Regaining control, Harry dives for the pitch, in the process running into and nearly swallowing the Snitch, winning the match.
After the match, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discuss recent events with Hagrid in his hut. Hagrid voices disbelief that Snape would jinx Harry's broom. Harry mentions that Snape had apparently run afoul of the three-headed dog, which Hagrid accidentally identifies as "Fluffy". Hagrid later mentions that whatever he is guarding, "that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel —", thus accidentally providing another clue to what the object being guarded is.
As with any school, sport plays an integral part in student life. At Hogwarts, that sport is Quidditch, and it serves as both a unifying force and a divisive element. Students are bound by their enthusiasm for the game, but their Houses also compete against one another to win the Quidditch Cup, as well as the House Cup. Though these rivalries are generally amicable, Slytherin and Gryffindor have always been particularly competitive, and occasionally openly antagonistic. Slytherin's Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint, actually uses the incident with Harry's broom as a means to score more points for his team, showing just how devious and exploitative Slytherins truly are. The rivalry between these two Houses is so pronounced that it is likely to be central to the series somehow.
Meanwhile, Hermione's newly-formed friendship with Harry and Ron continues to develop and strengthen, and her intelligence and generosity are already proving useful. Initially it is the small (comparative to what comes later) matter of helping Harry with his homework when he becomes overwhelmed with the extra Quidditch practices, but she moves swiftly and decisively to protect Harry when she sees that his broom has been tampered with during the game, putting his life in danger. Her quick-thinking and fast actions become even more important to the Trio later in the series.
The jinxed broom seen during the game indicates that someone has malicious intentions against Harry, and it certainly seems obvious, at least to Harry and Ron, that this person is Snape. Even Hermione has abandoned her naive view that teachers can do no wrong and agrees that it must be Snape who seeks the Stone. Hagrid adamantly disagrees with the Trio that Snape, or any Hogwarts professor, could be involved in a plot against the school or its students. Hagrid's blind faith in Hogwarts and its teachers is noble, but it is simplistic, and almost child-like, though it should be remembered that Hagrid is privy to school information that we and the Trio are not. We, however, have seen that Snape appears to have a particular interest in the forbidden third-floor corridor, the trap door, and perhaps what lies beneath it.
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