My kids and I (the 5-year-old is in on this too now) have read through chapter 3 of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone together. For me, this is maybe the 3rd or 4th time through the book. For them, it’s the first, and it’s fascinating to view the book through their eyes.
You’ll recall that Chapter 2 is where Harry is looking at a boa constrictor at the zoo and, without meaning to, he magically makes the glass disappear. What makes this chapter work is the build-up. For Dudley, a trip to the zoo is a perfectly normal event. For Harry, it’s epic, and Rowling spends 5 pages letting us know why. We see Dudley getting spoiled rotten with birthday presents. We see Harry getting lied to about his past and verbally abused. And when a trip to the zoo becomes an option, we see Harry thrilled at the prospect, and Dudley desperate to keep Harry at home. By the time the story gets to the zoo, we know something big has to happen, simply because of the buildup to get there.
In a lesser novel, the zoo scene might have been reduced to a bit of narrative. It might have been told as a quick example of the strange things in Harry’s life. By stretching it out and giving the zoo scene its own chapter, Rowling is able to use the buildup to get us invested in the characters. In that buildup, we find ourselves rooting for Harry to make it to the zoo, both because he deserves to and because we know something big will happen if he does. Once we’re rooting for Harry, Rowling’s hardest and most important job as an author is already accomplished.
My kids loved the snake escape. They loved the letters from no one too. They are batty for this book now and can’t wait to read the rest.
