Lately I’ve been rereading the Harry Potter series (to my children but does it matter?). We started the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and noticed that once again it didn’t start with a happy chapter. I thought that was interesting so decided to look back at the first chapters of each book. As it turns out the tones of the first chapters are a little more complicated than I initially thought.
Philosopher’s Stone
The first chapter of this story starts with the Dursleys going about their normal day. Except it isn’t a normal day for anyone but them. Crazy things are happening and Mr. Dursley only notices anything because of the people in funny clothes and a suspicious cat. The Dursley’s time in the chapter ends with Mr. Dursley thinking it can’t have anything to do with his wife’s weird relatives.
Except it does. The next thing that happens in this chapter is the appearance of Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, and the transformation of the cat into his deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall. These two get to talking and we find out that Mrs. Dursley’s weird relatives, the Potters, have died at the hand of a dark wizard named Voldemort. We also find out that their young son survived. He arrives on a motorcycle with a gigantic man named Hagrid and is left on the Dursley’s doorstep.
The takeaway from this chapter is that Harry has lost his parents and is going to be raised by his wizard hating Aunt and Uncle. This does not seem like a happy chapter to me.
Chamber of Secrets
The first chapter of the second book is called The Worst Birthday, and boy is it. It starts out with an argument. We find out that the Dursley’s have locked away all of Harry’s school supplies. The Dursleys forgot his birthday (except for Dudley who rubs it in his face). His uncle’s having a dinner party he’s not invited to. And to top it all off his friends haven’t contacted him.
Once again this does not feel like a happy chapter. It’s a similar kind of unhappy as the first book; Harry is feeling lost and alone in the world just as he actually was when he was dropped off on the doorstep.
Prisoner of Azkaban
The beginning of this first chapter is mostly backstory. It does mention that Harry is finally getting to do his homework. It also mentions that Ron made a bad phone call so Harry hasn’t heard from even Hermione for several long weeks.
Then Harry gets an owl from Ron with a long letter that includes happy birthday. He gets a couple other birthday cards and a card telling him about getting to Hogwarts. The chapter ends with him, for once, feeling like a normal person and glad it’s his birthday.
This was almost an unhappy chapter, but it turned around the moment Harry saw the Weasley family’s owl. It’s not often he gets to feel anything resembling normal and he’s never had a happy birthday before.
Goblet of Fire
Our point of view changes in the fourth book’s first chapter. We are seeing the world from an old muggle tending to an old house. It gives some of the man’s, and the house’s, history. It then gets into the present day.
The man thinks there are vandals in the abandoned house and goes to investigate. Once there he hears people talking about a boy named Harry Potter and a sporting event. By the funny words they use he thinks they’re probably criminals; he also assumes they want to kill Harry Potter.
This is all before Nagini the snake sees him, and Voldemort kills him. Also, Harry has seen the entire exchange in a dream and wakes up.
Starting off a book by killing a muggle is not what I would call happy. In fact, it’s a very dark chapter and it’s made even darker from realizing that Harry saw the murder. This chapter is not the same kind of unhappy we’ve had before. It’s a bit more intense than the first two books.
Order of the Phoenix
The first chapter of this book starts off with Harry trying to overhear the news since the Dursleys think it’s suspicious that he wants to know muggle news. When he is caught, he decides to go to the park where he encounters Dudley and his gang. They pick on him a bit, to Dudley’s objection, and then Dudley and Harry head back home.
This is where Dudley encounters the dark part of the wizarding world; they are attacked by dementors. Mrs. Figg, Harry’s undercover squib neighbor, appears out of nowhere and tells Harry not to put away his wand.
The darkness is slightly less intense in this chapter. It is downplayed compared to the previous book. The thing is it’s happening directly to Harry and his cousin.
Half Blood Prince
This book is closer to the fourth but still a little different because it’s from the point of view of the muggle Prime Minister. He is trying to deal with all the new, not seemingly natural, problems that have popped up since he became minister. He is then visited by the previous Minister of Magic, and eventually the current Minister. They tell him that it’s all the work of a dark wizard and muggles, like himself, are in danger. They also emphasize that there is nothing muggles can do about it. The wizard government are working on it.
This chapter is still not nearly as dark as the Goblet of Fire. These things that are happening are dark and horrible, but they are distant. The chapter is more focused on a recap than on the darkness that is going on around them.
Deathly Hallows
This book starts off with Severus Snape obviously on his way to see Voldemort. Him and another Death Eater walk into a meeting. They start talking about when and how Harry Potter is leaving his the Dursley’s house, where he is going to stay, and how they can get him before he gets there. This meeting also involves making fun of the Malfoys and killing the Muggle Studies teacher.
With the last book we once again get a glance into the work of Voldemort. It mirrors the fourth book in this way, has a similar feel of darkness, and ends with a death.
What does all this mean?
I honestly feel there’s a lot to unpack here. First, all but one of these chapters are unhappy. The book with the one happy chapter could be considered a catalyst. It’s the one book that doesn’t directly connect with Voldemort. It’s the book where we start to understand that the Weasleys care for Harry as if he’s their own. And it’s the book where a better life is stripped from him when his godfather, Sirius Black, has to go into hiding.
The first chapter in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban shows us that there is hope. Before the third book there is sadness and desperation. After the third book there are attacks and murder. This chapter is a reprieve in the darkness. This book is a reprieve from the darkness.
On a similar note
I would also like to mention that Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite Harry Potter book. It has always felt different to me, like a calm in a storm. One reason is because Harry meets his father’s best friends and learns that two of them are still looking out for him. I think it also helps that Harry’s enemy is not a piece of Voldemort, and it’s not even Sirius as the rest of the book has led us to believe. Harry’s enemy is the third of his father’s friends.
It fascinates me that of all seven books it is the calm one where Harry loses. Professor Trelawny prophesied the escape of Peter Pettigrew and the subsequent rise of the Dark Lord. Amidst the many converging plot points during the climax, it is this loss of Pettigrew that is the catalyst for the rest of the series.
Like Harry don’t we all need respite from our problems? None of us have the same problems as Harry Potter, the Chosen One, but we all have problems. Wouldn’t it be nice to get a break before it gets too bad? Don’t you just wish for a chapter in your life that makes you feel “just like everybody else?”
If you enjoyed this post you should check out my take on Prince Humperdinck from The Princess Bride.
