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== Analysis ==
Hermione's ongoing unbending is shown herewhen byshe her decisiondecides to raid Snape's stores. Her willingness to break the rules is hardly surprising to readers, who have seen her growgradually steadilygrow lessmore stiffpliable through this and the previous book; however, it is quite a shock to Ron, who clearly continues to believe that Hermione is entirely rule-bound, despite evidence to the contrary.
The Dueling Club shows us Gilderoy Lockhart's continuing ineptness, unable to block Snape's simple spell, stopcontrol the student duels, or eliminate the snake that Draco's hadconjured producedsnake. By now, we should be wondering whether Gilderoy is a wizard at all, or merely a very good self-promoter. It is curious that Hermione is still seems so apparently taken with him. Snape sees through Lockhart, of course, and Ron observes that if Snape looked at him like he did Lockhart, Ron would run for cover.
In the dueling club, everyone learns that Harry can talk to snakes, though readers had seensaw this when Harry and the Dursleys visited the zoo in Book 1. It is an extremely rare ability, linked only to Salazar Slytherin and his descendants. Given that the school fears "the Heir of Slytherin's" ongoing depredations, this is a major concern, of course;. proofProof that there is a connection between Salazar Slytherin and Harry could not be any plainer, and Harry, unsure of his own ancestry, cannot disprove even to himself that he could be the Heir. The only mitigating factor is that Harry was absent when the petrifications happened. Harry knows this, but is unable to prove it.
This whole episode throws Harry into confusion. The Sorting Hat wanted to place him into Slytherin House; he plainly remembers that the only reason it did not was because he asked not to be. Obviously, the Hat recognized the link to Slytherin that is now made manifest by Harry's [[Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Parseltongue|Parseltongue]] ability. Though Harry enjoys being aloves Gryffindor, is he there under false pretenses? This uncertainty, to a greater or lesser extent, will prey on Harry for the remainder of the book.
== Questions ==
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