Summary
As Easter approaches, Hermione begins to worry about exams, while
Harry and Ron merely try to keep up with the tremendous amount of
homework assigned. One day, Hagrid comes upon them studying in the
library. They bombard him with questions about the Sorcerer’s Stone.
He invites them to come and talk to him later but says he does not
promise that he will reveal anything. They visit Hagrid’s hut later,
and Hagrid tells them he does not know what else is guarding the
stone besides the three-headed dog. He does tell them which teachers
cast spells to guard the stone. He adds that he will never give
out any information on how to bypass the dog.
Hagrid shows the students a dragon egg that he won in
a poker game the previous night. Dragons are illegal, but Hagrid
wishes to raise one anyway. Later, Harry gets a note saying the
dragon egg is hatching. Excitedly, he and his friends rush over
to Hagrid’s to watch the dragon’s birth. The children realize that
Hagrid must get rid of this dragon, which Hagrid names Norbert,
before he grows too big. They decide to write to Charlie, Ron’s
older brother, who is studying dragons in Romania. Charlie agrees
to help them and arranges for them to meet some of his friends to
take the dragon away. The plan is set for the children to meet Charlie’s
friends at midnight one Saturday atop the tallest tower of the castle.
They take the invisibility cloak and sneak up carrying Norbert.
Charlie’s friends come and take the dragon away. As they descend
from the tower, they forget to wear the invisibility cloak, and
Filch catches them.
Analysis
Rowling fleshes out the character of Hagrid more fully
in this chapter. Hagrid initially seems like an uncouth but affectionate
and well-meaning oaf sincerely concerned for Harry’s welfare after
the boy’s arrival at Hogwarts, sending him a much-appreciated invitation
to tea. Hagrid’s fondness for animals shows that he can see the
gentle side of even fierce creatures, as he is the owner of the
murderous three-headed dog he cutely names Fluffy. For Hagrid, even
wild and monstrous nature is full of kindness; he simply cannot
believe in the bad side of anything. Unfortunately, this naïveté
makes him ill-equipped to understand the villainous plots afoot
at Hogwarts, because he cannot imagine that anyone would want to
unseat the beloved Dumbledore. This simple faith is not just wrongheaded
but downright dangerous, because, as we later discover, Hagrid’s
trust in a stranger who brings him a couple of drinks is what enables
the villains to learn the secret of the guard dog.
Hagrid’s optimism also keeps him from understanding the
dangerous consequences of raising a dragon at home, not only because of
the destructive potential of the beast, but also because it is a
major offense and could get him and any accomplices into a lot of
trouble. The dragon becomes a symbol of bad consequences that can
come from good intentions. In insisting on seeing only the optimistic
and kindly side of life, Hagrid makes us think about the dangers
of being naïve and unaware of evil. In this sense, he makes us draw
parallels between him and Harry, who may be similarly naïve. When
Harry gets into trouble for helping Hagrid with his dragon, we see
that being naïvely kind can be punished severely. Harry’s awareness
of evil is growing, as evidenced by the fact that he urges Neville
to stick up for himself against the wicked Malfoy. But he still
has some things to learn. Harry, like Hagrid, needs to think more
critically and realistically about the consequences of his well-intended actions.
