I was just rereading the book, and i rememberd that J.K. had said that the first chapter was going to be used in a couple of the books, but i dont see how. anyone got an explination?

I haven't heard of it before and I can't say I have an explanation. But it's pretty interesting though.. I'd like to hear why too

I heard that too- that JKR discarded this chapter in previous books, and decided to use it here. I think it's just to show us how slivers of the wizarding world show up in the muggle world, for instance, in the Prisoner of Azkaban, Fudge goes to the muggle prime minister to alert them of the threat of Sirius Black escaping from prison. They set up the muggle hotline. I think that's why she decided to finally use it.

i didnt hear of that bt i can say it did go well in book 6!

Yes, JKR said on her site ('Extra Stuff' section, click on the coffee mug) that 'I have come close to using a chapter very like this one in 'Philosopher's Stone,' [...] 'Prisoner of Azkaban,' and 'Order of the Phoenix.'' I think what she meant by this was not that she was going to use the *exact* chapter, but a scene involving the Muggle Prime Minister interacting with the Minister of Magic. I can see how this would have worked for all three books -- in PS/SS, Fudge would have been talking to the Muggle Prime Minister about the 'fall' of Voldemort, in PoA, he would have been talking about Sirius's escape from Azkaban, and in OotP, he would have been talking about Dumbledore's dangerous 'rumor-mongering.'

As a side note, I'd just like to remind you, dobby_luver001, that one-line posts are not allowed in the forums. Please elaborate on your points a bit more in the future, and review the forum rules. The link's in my signature.

thanks guys! i was thinking something like that, but i just wanted to be sure. thanks again!

Now, now, was that really necessary? I was bored to tears reading it, and it doesn't set up anything. So what if the Muggle Prime Minister knew the Minister of Magic? It doesn't affect anything. Is Rowling is just trying to thicken her book as close as The Order to keep the consistency?

The first chapter may be important later on, IMO. The PM (Prime Minister) was very desperate about the war and he seemed to desire his government's involvement because Voldemort affects the Muggle world too. Although Fudge and Scrimgeour reassured him their Ministry was in control, I wouldn't be surprised if he attempts to make a strategic move against the Death Eaters when the war gets worse than how it was in HBP. But that's just me. If you want another reference to others' opinions about, "The Other Minister", click here.

I think that that chapter was actually very interesting. It's like JKR was establishing that Voldemort DOES actually effect the muggle world as well. Also, i agree with Tuitis that it will probably be alot more important in the next book.

It was boring when I first red it, mainly because I was despretly waiting to read from Harry. But now that I've red it 3 times, I find it very fasinating to get little muggles point of view. It was also a good way to tell readers what has happened it wizarding world since the end of last book, and sum up the main plot to those who don't remember the books upside down.

I dont think it was boring, either.

Jo said it on her site that she had been planning to fit this chapter into one of the books from the beginning but it never really fitted anywhere but in HBP it was ok.
I thought it was intresting, we got to know Scrimgeur (i still cant write the name properly ) and his arguement with DD. Fudge said some really funny lines which really made me laugh.



Edit: Jo writes about The Opening Chapter of Book Six on her site (jkrowling.com) in the Extra section. I cant copy it out, and im really lazy to type it.

it wasnt boring!!!i think it was written so we get an idea of what voldy is capable of doing and it was probably written to shoe that muggles are beggining to notice things!!maybe it'll be more important in the next book

I liked the change. For most of the books it's started at the Durlsey's and we've been thrown straight into the plot. I think the first two chapters, first in particular, help to make the plot build more and make it more exciting when we finally do get thrown in at the deep end. A more subtle approach to opening the novel.

It's like a break in the story, one that gives us another point of view. The whole series is Harry's pov, but for once we are seeing things from a different perspective, and we're seeing more for it. There's no way Harry could know about this kind of thing, and yet I found the discussion with the PM interesting. If it hadn't been used, how could we understand about the new MoM Scrimgeour in chapter three?

They do it with crime shows. We see the plot and then watch the detectives put together the pieces. It happens here too. We find out about Fudge and Scrimgeour, and then Harry finds out gradually through the papers and DD.

I thought the chapter was refreshing and informative. And I think it fits perfectly here.

I enjoyed the first chapter.I enjoy the HP books from front cover to back cover

I enjoyed too the first chapter. It's interesting to notice that it "involves" too the muggles. It's another point of view. IMHO, it's better to introduce the book with the PM than again with the Dursleys and it's also a reminding.
I loved the end:

i really like the first chapter. it was a really nice change and it went back through the history and told us abit more than we already new. so i really liked it.

I thought it was abit boring too but at the same time pretty interesting.Mainly because it is interseting to see how the magical world affects the muggle world.The whole bad weather in July especially.Dementors and the such affecting the muggle world.Pretty interesting stuff.

Mmm...only just spotted this thread. As Tuitus said, there is another thread here talking about this, but I won't lock this one, I'll just merge it with the existing topic to save losing the posts.

I think it's because really in any of the books the magic and muggle leaders could have met. There were events that were mentioned in it that could have been talked about during the book they happened in. I think that it fits in this book more than the others because it is when the huge battle is getting closer and evil is taking over. I really like this chapter because it is showing how things in the magical world affect the Muggles. I like the conversations they have and when it is at the beginning of this book, I find it sets off the story quite well.

I enjoyed the first chapter of the book. It was fun to see about that all of the happenings in the muggleworld are also occuring and are happening because of the wizarding world. I think it is a prefect moment for Rowling to release the fact that the ministers of both worlds have met before because as BRoyals i believe said it was a time of deep troubles and wartime so why not show it then.