PS/SS:CH2:ITEMS OF INTEREST

Again, some of these will undoubtedly prove fruitless. However, we might as well consider all of them....

1. brass no. 4 -- four has already been mentioned in NUMBERS AND NUMEROLOGY. However, is there anything to the fact the house number is made of brass? Brass house numbers are common...they are shiny...they are a poor replacement for gold....
2. the flying motorcycle -- gets mentioned twice in this chapter. Harry keeps dreaming about it, and Vernon is livid that Harry would suggest a motorcycle could fly...even in dreams. Not only are we seeing just how Vernon despises imagination, we're also getting really early doses of GW's Rule #1. Sirius's flying motorcycle will be important again in Book 7. I'm quite willing to bet on it. Actually, I wonder if it originally belonged to Regulus....
3. socks -- will be mentioned quite often throughout the septology. They tie in nicely with the running bits about knitting, patterns, and spinning. Socks seem to represent comfort and freedom.
4. spiders -- are everywhere! Harry gets used to them quite early because he sleeps in a cupboard that must be quite full of them. We'll be seeing lots more of them later.
5. the cupboard under the stairs -- is where Harry slept for several years. I wonder at what age they placed him in there....
6. Harry's round glasses (held together with Scotch tape) -- Did the Dursleys actually buy him glasses? Is the shape of them important? Is there something special about these glasses?
7. Harry's bright green eyes -- are very important. Actually, it's not so much simply that they are green, but we find out later they are "Lily's eyes".... It could be that it's all he has physically inheritted from Lily...the only thing people would notice about him that would remind them of Lily. However, there could be much more to it than that.
8. Dudley's racing bike -- Dudley immediately uses it to knock Mrs. Figg off her crutches.
9. Dudley's computer -- I just wish Harry could have had a go on it....
10. Dudley's second TV -- Dudley had destroyed the first one when a favorite show got cancelled.
11. Dudley's video camera -- which Dudley quickly breaks. Wonder if Harry can fix it....
12. Dudley's remote control airplane -- also gets destroyed rather quickly.
13. Dudley's 16 computer games -- any particular reason for 16?
14. Dudley's VCR -- man Dudley's spoiled rotten....
15. Dudley's gold wristwatch -- ditto. hmm...something that's actually gold, or at least we think it's gold...could be fake.
16. Mrs. Figg's cats -- well, we know she breeds cat-kneazle hybrids, and some of them become useful later.
17. chocolate ice cream vs. cheap lemon ice pop -- I just think it's interesting because of all the later references to chocolate and lemon (chocolate given out after dementor attacks, Dumbledore's sherbert lemons/lemon drops).
18. knickerbocker glory -- it's a decadent mix of ice cream, whipped cream, and fruit (especially strawberries). It's particularly amusing when we find out later that Dudley's Smeltings uniform includes knickerbockers. Dudley's getting increasingly too big for his, if you know what I mean. Perhaps if he'd stay away from the knickerbocker glory.... Oh, yeah, and there is a mix of petunia varieties also called "knickerbocker glory"....
19. strong, sweet tea -- tea is another "comfort" used throughout the series.
20. large brandy -- let's face it, there's a lot of boozing in the series. Alcohol is often imbibed as a calmative by various characters. We'll also see people using alcohol to get what they want from others.
21. the vanishing glass -- itself. Well, we know that Harry has released some uncontrolled magic, but it's very effective. At this point Harry still has no idea what's going on.
22. Dudley's old sweater/jumper -- is hideous! It's only of interest because of what Harry does to it, and I'll get to that in the next post....