This message is a Special Notice for all members of http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups In addition to being published onlist (available in webview), this post is also being delivered offlist (to email in boxes) to those whose "Message Delivery" is set to "Special Notices." If this is problematic or if you have any questions, contact the List Elves at (minus that extra space) HPforGrownups-owner @yahoogroups.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With apologies in advance for the length of this (I should be named Siriusly Overwordy Snapey Susan), here we go.... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 24: The Wandmaker Dobby has died, lying on the grass beside Harry. Harry repeats Dobby's name again and again... and recalls a time not so long before when he knelt beside Dumbledore's silent body on the grounds of Hogwarts. It takes a moment for Harry to realize that they have arrived at the place they'd hoped to get to - Bill & Fleur's cottage. The others, who had arrived earlier, come over to them, and after he learns that Hermione is okay, Harry turns back to Dobby. He removes Bella's dagger from Dobby's body and wraps him in his own jacket. Harry feels acutely both his own grief and Voldemort's rage at those who failed to prevent the escape from Malfoy Manor. The grief wins out, and Harry speaks to Bill, saying he wants to do Dobby's burial "properly... not by magic. Have you got a spade?" [UK hardback children's edition, pp. 386-387]. Harry begins the task, alone, "relishing the manual work, glorying in the non-magic of it." His scar does burn, but Harry is "master of the pain" [p. 387]. He feels it, yet is apart from it; he has learned to control it, learned to shut his mind to Voldemort. Grief and mourning have driven Voldemort out, Harry believes, though he knows DD would have said it was love.... Harry digs and digs, long into the night. He spends the time reflecting while he digs ("Hallows... Horcruxes ... Hallows... Horcruxes...."), and a new understanding comes to him; he feels as though he's been "slapped awake again" [p. 387]. Harry now knows with certainty where Voldemort has been, whom he has killed in Nurmengard. He also thinks of Wormtail and what one thought of mercy had done to him. He considers how much Dumbledore had forseen there... and wonders how much more DD had known. (Don't we all, Harry!) Before dawn, Ron & Dean return with spades of their own. Once the grave is complete, Harry wraps Dobby up more tightly, Ron places his own socks & shoes upon Dobby's feet, Dean adds his wooly hat, and the others also arrive at their sides. Luna closes Dobby's eyes, and Harry places him into the grave, thinking to himself that he wishes Dobby could have had as grand a funeral as DD's had been. Luna says a farewell to Dobby, but the others are not really interested in final remarks, beyond "Thanks" or Harry's own "Goodbye, Dobby." Harry stays while the others head back to the cottage. Choosing a large, smooth, white stone and placing it upon the grave, he then uses one of the wands in his pocket to magically etch upon it: "Here lies Dobby, a Free Elf." When Harry finally arrives at the cottage, Bill is in the midst of telling the others that he has, for their safety, moved the Weasley family members to Aunt Muriel's, where they're protected by the Fidelius Charm. Bill announces he will move Ollivander and Griphook there as well, but Harry says no, that he needs to speak with them both first. Harry moves on to the kitchen to wash up, and while doing so, he stares out the window, thinking. He contemplates how it was that Dobby had come to Malfoy Manor - it was after Harry had seen the blue eye in Sirius' mirror and called to it for help. He "knows" it was Albus Dumbledore who'd been behind it. He also feels "closer, this dawn, than ever before, closer to the heart of it all." And he asks the Dumbledore in his mind, "Am I meant to know, but not to seek?" [p. 391] Upon returning to the others, Harry insists upon seeing Ollivander & Griphook, separately, and immediately. Bill erupts with a "What the hell's going on?" but Harry reminds him that he *can't* answer that, as they're on a mission. Bill relents and asks Harry whom he wants to see first. Harry, fully realizing "what hung on his decision... Horcruxes or Hallows?," selects Griphook. Harry has Hermione & Ron join him in the bedroom. When Bill brings him in, Griphook is still clutching the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry & Griphook gaze at one another, "sizing each other up." Griphook speaks first, remarking upon Harry's burial of Dobby, and saying, "You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter." When asked why, Griphook points out that Harry also saved a goblin, which makes Harry "a very odd wizard" [p. 393]. Harry cuts to the chase and bluntly tells Griphook what he wants from him: his help breaking into a Gringotts vault. Harry knows he's stated this badly, but he is battling pain in his scar and images from Voldemort which keep trying to force their way in. Griphook states the impossibility of the task and then reinterates it when Harry says which vault he's after: the Lestranges'. Harry stresses that he's not after treasure, not after personal gain. Griphook tells him that if there was any wizard of whom he would believe this, it would be Harry Potter. But then Griphook begins to speak about "wand-carriers," saying that the right to carry a wand has long been a source of contention between wizards & goblins. Griphook says wizards won't share any of their wandlore secrets with goblins, but Ron quickly points out that goblins don't tell wizards about their special magic either. Harry is impatient with all of this, saying this is not about wizards vs. goblins. Griphook, however, diagrees: "It is precisely about that!" [p. 395] It is Hermione who points out that there are wizards, too, who suffer for being mudbloods, as well as wizards who do fight on behalf of goblins and elves. (Ron squirms a little at this.) Griphook lets go of the argument and instead inquires as to what they seek in the Lestrange vault. Harry doesn't answer directly but tells Griphook that he provides their only chance. Griphook promises to think about it, and Harry thanks him. Harry silently removes Gryffindor's sword from the room as he departs. Away from Griphook, Harry confides to Ron & Hermione that he suspects a Horcrux will be found in the Lestrange vault. Hermione & Ron are dubious, but Harry explains how a Gringotts vault would impress Voldemort... and how much Voldemort trusted Bella & her husband... and how he doubts Voldemort would have confided to Bella that it was a Horcrux but would have just told her it was something treasured. Ron remarks, "You really understand him." "Bits of him," says Harry. "Bits. I just wish I'd understood Dumbledore as much" [p. 397]. Next, H/R/H go in to see Ollivander. Approaching him, Harry is cognizant of Ollivander's having been imprisoned for over a year and of his weakened state. Harry is also painfully aware (literally) that he has little time if he is to thwart Voldemort's plans. Harry presents Ollivander with the two halves of his broken wand and asks whether they can be mended. Ollivander says that a wand so damaged cannot be repaired by any means he knows of. Harry next shows Ollivander the two wands which have ended up in his possession and asks if Ollivander can identify them. He can: the first was Bellatrix's and the second was Draco Malfoy's. Harry questions the use of past tense with Draco's wand, and Ollivander explains that it *might* actually be Harry's now. "The manner of taking matters. Much also depends upon the wand itself. In general, however, where a wand has been won, its allegiance will change," and points out that the best results come when there is "the strongest affinity" between wizard and wand [p. 399]. Harry explains how he took Draco's wand by force and asks if it is safe to use. "I think so," is the response. "Subtle laws govern wand ownership, but the conquered wand will usually bend its will to its new master" [p. 399]. Ron, too, shows Ollivander the wand he has won from Peter Pettigrew. Ollivander tells him he may use it - "if you won it, it is more likely to do your bidding, and do it well" [p. 400]. Harry asks whether *killing* a wand's former owner is necessary for the new owner to take true possession of a wand. Ollivander says that it is not. Heart racing, Harry next inquires about certain wands of legend - wands which pass through murder. Ollivander whispers his reply: "Only one wand, I think" [p. 400]. Sensing he is honing in, Harry asks, "And You-Know-Who is interested in it, isn't he?" [p. 401] Ollivander is stunned that Harry knows this and that he has figured out that he (Ollivander) had told Voldemort to borrow another's wand in order to get around the twin- core connection. When Harry pushes further, asking if Ollivander knows why this did not work -- why Harry's wand beat the borrowed one -- Ollivander says that he truly does not know. It was just "something unique" [p. 400]. Harry turns the discussion back to "that other wand," and Ollivander acknowledges that Voldemort had wanted to know everything about the Deathstick, aka the Wand of Destiny, aka the Elder Wand, and that, beyond wanting to know about it, Voldemort has been seeking it. Harry thinks (hopes?) that Voldemort might stop seeking the Elder Wand if he realizes that Harry's wand is broken. However, Ollivander tells him that Voldemort wants the Elder Wand in its own right, in hopes that it will make him invincible. Hermione is dubious about the truth of the Elder Wand, but Ollivander says it is quite possible to trace the wand's history. He is uncertain whether it *must* pass by murder, but the history is indeed bloody. Harry asks Ollivander whether he told Voldemort that Gregorovitch had had the Elder Wand. Ollivander says it was a rumour only but, yes, he told Voldemort. Finally, Harry asks Ollivander about the Deathly Hallows. Ollivander appears to truly have no idea what the Deathly Hallows are. Harry reassures an upset Ollivander that he understands Voldemort was torturing him for information, and encourages him to get rest. As H/R/H walk outside, Harry is nearly overcome by the visions which are trying to push into his mind, but he resists, knowing that soon he will give in, in order to confirm his theory. For now, though, he wants to bring Ron & Hermione up to speed. He summarizes how Gregorivitch had had the wand but Grindelwald took it, how Grindelwald used it in his rise to power, how DD finally dueled Grindelwald and took the Elder Wand. "Where is it now?" asks Ron. "At Hogwarts." Ron wants to go there immediately, but Harry can feel that Voldemort is already there and tells them so. Ron is incredulous about the time "wasted" talking to Griphook, but Harry says no, that Hermione had been right - DD didn't want Harry to have the Elder Wand; he wanted Harry to get the Horcruxes. Finally, Harry allows the visions to fill him up, and he sees Voldemort at Hogwarts with Snape... then walking alone on the grounds... then alongside the white marble tomb, using his wand to split open the tomb... DD's body revealed, the Elder Wand resting on his chest... and finally, Voldemort claiming the wand as its new owner. QUESTIONS 1. "It was like sinking into an old nightmare; for an instant he knelt again beside Dumbledore's body..." [p. 386]. Is there any character in this series who has as much experience with old nightmares? If you think there is another (or other) candidate(s), present the case, or the case that it *is* Harry. 2. Many readers feel that the death & burial of Dobby is a turning point in Harry's journey. What significance do you think there is, if any, in the fact that Harry prepared Dobby's grave without the use of magic? Why does it lead to "understanding blossom[ing] in the darkness" [p. 387]? 3. What do you think of the description that "every drop of [Harry's] sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who had saved their lives" [p. 387]? What do you imagine Dobby would have thought of that? 4. Why, after all this time and all the various efforts, has Harry *now* managed to "learn control at last... the very thing Dumbledore had wanted him to learn from Snape" [p. 387]? Why does the death trigger this in Harry? 5. Is there significance to JKR's choice of "Nurmengard" as a name for the prison? 6. Is there significance to the fact that Harry used the wand which was Draco's, rather than the wand which was Bellatrix's, to etch the words "Here lies Dobby, a Free Elf"? 7. As you read this the first time, did you feel confident that Harry could know and not seek? Could YOU have known & not sought? 8. When Harry is talking in his mind as if to DD and asks if he is meant to know but not to seek, he also asks, "Did you know how hard I'd find that? Is that why you made it this difficult? So I'd have time to work that out?" [p. 391] What do you think is the answer to that? How about what you thought on your first read? Did you feel a new understanding along with Harry, or had you see his mission differently than he had before this dawning? 9. Harry Potter has been derided by many for not being much of a thinker. He becomes a thinker in this chapter, and quite decisive. What do you make of this? Is it a change? Did it surprise you? Has it always been there? 10. What did you think was going on when you first read that Harry was laboring over seeing Griphook or Ollivander first... and chose Griphook? 11. What, in your opinion, was carried in Griphook's comment, "You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter"? Do you think Harry is an unusual wizard? If so, in what way(s)? 12. Is Griphook correct that this is "precisely about" wizards vs. goblins? Why did he drop the subject so abruptly? 13. Why did Harry remove the Sword of Gryffindor when he left Griphook's room, and why did he not say anything as he did so? 14. When Harry said he understood bits of Voldemort and then went on to say he wished he'd understood DD as much, were you surprised? Why do you think he made this remark instead of sticking with Voldemort as the topic of his understanding? 15. How do you react to those remarks of Ollivander's concerning wand ownership and control? Since they're really JKR's words - and rules - are they reasonable? Fair? Do they tell us enough? "Subtle," "complex," "usually," "in general" - is this just the nature of wand lore, and it *is* nebulous and imprecise? Or is this simply a way to leave open more possibilities for the author? 16. Ollivander says he has no idea why the wand Voldemort borrowed failed against Harry's wand. He says "something unique" happened. What was that something unique, do you think? 17. It has long been an interest of many just what Ollivander is all about. Something about the way he described Voldemort as "great"... something about how he made the hair stand up on Harry's neck.... In this chapter, we have Harry suddenly thinking about having been unsure how much he liked Ollivander back when they first met, and even now, "the idea of the Dark Lord in possession of this wand seemed to enthral him as much as it repulsed him" [p. 402]. And yet Luna seems genuinely fond of him. What do you make of this man? 18. How is it that, compared to the end of OOTP, Harry can be so certain the visions he's having are real? We know now that they are, but how could he be so confident after what happened in OOTP? 19. What did you think was coming next, as you read the end of the chapter and knew that Voldemort had taken possession of the Elder Wand? Please feel free to add your own questions to the discussion! Siriusly Snapey Susan -------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: For more information on HPfGU's chapter discussions, please see "HPfGU DH Chapter Discussions" at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/database Next chapdisc, chapter 25, Shell Cottage - July 21, 2008.