I am always a little annoyed at the recap in the beginning of the first chapter. They cannot really be imagining that someone would read the second book without reading the first?

Regarding the Dursleys' treatment of Harry, that surprises me a little (again, every time): If they are worried he will hurt them, they should be nicer, shouldn't they? They shout at him for mentioning magic, for example. Then again, I suppose they are being as nice as they can (limited experience etc.), and they do get worse once they realise he cannot use magic. Hmmm.

Another, related, thing that struck me was that the Dursleys' preoccupation with keeping Harry from Hogwarts seems to suggest they actually care for him, in a warped, twisted way -- if not they would just leave him to magical life, surely? It would be less of a liability for them to have him at Hogwarts 10 months out of the year, than locked up in his room in their house (where he might suddenly lose control and start magicking the neighbours?

Now, Dobbey is the main reason why I think of this as my least favourite HP book. He is Rowling's JarJar Binks. He is annoying, and while he stands as a representative for some very interesting discussions, he overshadows them completely by his sheer annoyingness (if Sarah Palin can coin words, I can coin words).

I love the introduction of Mr Weasley, however. He is lovely, and again, the snap shot Rowling gives us is perfectly framed.

I also love how the twins have learnt how to open doors illegally the muggle way. They take their mischief seriously. That points forward to their later development, I suppose: their mischief is not an attempt to avoid hard work; it is often a product of it.

I also like how the real identity of Dobbey's master is actually provided in the speculations, but that the speculations are still entirely erroneous. That is such a classic Harry Potter herring (red or otherwise).

And I noted how Mrs Weasley told the twins to take a leaf out of Percy's book. I like how that sets up the later reversal, where the twins are heroes and Percy anything but. The later reversal would not be as effective if this wasn't there to lay the ground.

As for muggle-baiting and keys shrinking -- I am not fooled. This has been my theory from day 1.

And how Ron reads comics about muggles, rather than about superheroes with magic abilities. Just a detail, but a cool one. On the whole, the Burrow is rather carnivalesque in the sense that it is full of strange inversions, including Harry's valuation of the place (that despite being smaller, shabbier, less refined and full of errors and bad sounds, it is the best house he's ever been in) -- and we agree, of course. I love that.