“Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!”
“Don’t,” Harry advised her.
Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping
down out of the darkness.
Charlie’s friends were a cheery lot. They [1] showed Harry and Hermione the harness they‘d [2] rigged up, so they [3] could
suspend Norbert between them [4]. They [5] all helped buckle
Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with
the oth-ers and thanked them [6]very much.
At last, Norbert was going… going… gone.
(Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)It seems that [1],[2],[3],[4] and [6] refer to ‘Charlie’s friends’, yet who dose [5] refer to?
Who does ‘they’ refer to?
(1) Charlie’s four friends who are going to visit Charlie taking the little dragon.
(2) Charlie’s four friends plus Harry and Hermione.
(3) Harry and Hermione
Answer
There’s more than one possible interpretation for [5]. “They all helped …” might mean Charlie’s friends helped each other buckle Norbert into the harness, or it might mean Charlie’s friends helped Harry and Hermione with the job, or vice versa.
Rowling might have had any of the above meanings particularly in mind when she wrote the paragraph, but there’s no way for us to know without asking her. In any case, it really doesn’t matter much which meaning the reader chooses; the general idea is that several people helped to get Norbert fastened in.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Listenever , Answer Author : James Waldby – jwpat7
