Blog Post #1 Response: Prompt 2

There are many expectations created in Harry Potter that are created while reading the books. In the first book alone, one great expectation that is created is that Snape is the antagonist of the story. You are lead to believe along with Harry, Ron and Hermione that Snape is the one who is trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone and within that, trying to kill Harry. As you read the book, you along with Harry, Ron and Hermione learn to dislike Snape as he swoops around the castle like "an overgrown bat". When in comes time for the big showdown through the trapdoor, as Harry walks into the last chamber and you find that he wasn't facing Snape, or even Voldemort, it's none other than Quirrell. As a reader, you might find this shocking, how could it have been Quirrell? As Quirrell explains himself, you might go back and read through some key points in the novel that is mentioned. For instance, when Hermione goes to set Snape's cloak on fire at the Quidditch match, there is a brief statement made that Hermione bumped into Quirrell and knocked him over. There are other small details that are often overlooked about Quirrell, because the reader, like Harry, Ron and Hermione, are too focused on Snape to realize that their expectations are wrong. In this case, the first book leads you to believe what the main characters believe. When you come to find out otherwise, you feel the same way the characters do: shock. If J.K. Rowling had let Snape to be the antagonist of the story, the ending wouldn't have as much of a bang as it did. When it comes out that it is Quirrell, the reader has to bring about a whole new idea to the plot line. It's a necessary thing to shock readers into showing them that their expectations of what is going to happen is wrong, because its what draws the readers in to the novels. If we already could expect the ending by our early expectations, how is the ending to the book going to be any fun to read? Any time the plot twists in a way we do not expect, its usually when the reader has made a previous expectation that the author has let fail in order to bring more suspense and excitement to the story.