Blog response #1: Being a Gryffindor puts me at a disadvantage

The first quote from Wolfgang Iser basically describes how we get pulled into a story, and start accepting whatever information the author is spoon-feeding us at face value - instead of reading critically and possibly coming to the conclusion "Snape may not be the culprit" before the big reveal. This inability to tell apart fact from fickle speculation becomes exacerbated while I read, because I am a Gryffindor like the majority of the main characters in the series. While I'm reading, I begin cheering Harry on, hoping that he is right, and very confident that he will survive for he is the hero character of a series which appears to be geared toward children. Someone in the Slytherin House, however, may have a very different point of view. They may think that Draco is a reasonable child with slight daddy issues. They may also think that Snape is well within rights to take as many points as he wishes from Gryffindor, because Hermione is a know-it-all. So they may be more likely to look for small details which poke holes in our main characters' assumptions. In the first two books of Harry Potter, certain expectations are fulfilled and some are not. One of the many expectation is the inevitable success of our heroes to prevail over the true evil doers - which is obviously fulfilled in the first book, and is followed in the second. However, we are more interested in the expectations that are raised during the progression of the story, the guiltiness of Snape for example. This helps allow Harry Potter to fall partially in the mystery genre. Snape is a natural red-herring which distracts other Gryffindor readers from the true villains, however cannot be fulfilled because of this device.