CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Chapter 23,
Malfoy Manor

We start the chapter with the Trio outside their tent, surrounded by 
Snatchers. Hermione silently points her wand at Harry and casts a hex 
that makes his face swollen and painful. The enemies close in and 
seize our heroes, and their leader proves to be Fenrir Greyback. 
Despite Hermione's quick thinking, the identities of the Trio are 
suspected, since the Snatchers have a photo of Hermione, and Harry's 
scar is still visible, upon closer examination. The Snatchers also 
find the Sword of Gryffindor in a search of the tent.

Eager for the reward Voldemort has promised, Greyback takes his 
group, the Trio, the Sword, and his other prisoners (Dean Thomas and 
the goblin Griphook) to Malfoy Manor, which is being used as a base 
by Voldemort. There an initially skeptical Narcissa orders the 
prisoners brought into the drawing room for positive identification 
by Draco. Lucius is also present. Draco is not willing to identify 
Harry, but Fenrir points out Hermione, and Narcissa thinks she looks 
right. Draco halfheartedly agrees it might be she, and Lucius 
recognizes Ron. Bella walks in, and she too recognizes Hermione.

An argument ensues about who gets the honor of summoning Voldemort, 
Bella or Lucius. Lucius seems about to win by the expedient of 
preventing Bella by main force, when Bella freezes, having seen the 
sword. She screams that no one must call Voldemort, and demands the 
sword. The Snatchers, thinking she means to steal a valuable bit of 
booty, resist her, and she stuns three of them, before demanding 
Greyback explain where the sword came from. Upon learning he found it 
in the prisoners' tent, Bella examines the sword, growing even more 
frightened. She assures the Malfoys they are all in terrible danger 
if Voldemort comes. She convinces Narcissa to allow the rest to be 
taken away and secured "downstairs" except for Hermione, whom she 
wishes to question. 

Harry, Ron, and the others are left in a dark room, and Hermione's 
screaming is heard from above. Ron is beside himself over the danger 
to Hermione. Luna, it turns out, has been a captive in the same room 
for some time along with the wandmaker, Ollivander. As she works to 
untie them, Ron releases lights from his Deluminator. Harry, driven 
to desperation by Hermione's screams and the situation, searches for 
anything that might help them in his pouch, and sees, as once before 
at Privet Drive, Dumbledore's eye. He calls to it for help and tells 
it where he is, and the eye blinks and disappears from the mirror.

Overhead, Bella can be heard interrogating Hermione. Her questions 
center around what else may have been taken out of her Gringotts 
vault. Hermione insists they have never been in Bella's vault and 
just found the sword. When Bella persistently refuses to believe her, 
she comes up with the story that the sword is fake. Lucius sends 
Draco down to fetch Griphook, who as a goblin can verify whether the 
sword is goblin-made. Desperately, Harry begs Griphook to lie to 
Bella, and tell her the sword is a fake.

Draco comes and takes Griphook away, and as he shuts the door behind 
him, Dobby the House Elf appears in the room with a loud crack.  He 
announces he is there to rescue Harry. Harry orders Dobby to take 
Luna, Ollivander, and Dean to Shell Cottage, and Dobby Disapparates 
with them in tow, with another loud crack.

This time, the Death Eaters above hear the noise, and Narcissa 
suggests Peter be sent to investigate. Since hiding the fact that 
prisoners are missing is not an option, Harry and Ron jump on Peter. 
Peter begins to choke Harry with his silver hand in the struggle, and 
Harry reminds Peter he once saved Peter's life. Peter hesitates for a 
moment, but then redoubles his efforts to free himself from Harry and 
Ron.  His silver hand, Voldemort's gift, wraps itself around Peter's 
neck and strangles him.

Harry and Ron escape the dungeon just in time to hear Griphook tell 
Bella the sword is a fake. She touches her Dark Mark, and Harry's 
scar burns. He knows Voldemort is on his way.

Throughout this chapter, Harry has been fighting off powerful 
thoughts and emotions from Voldemort, who has flown to a tall black 
tower to speak to a skeletal old man in a cell-like room. In separate 
snippets, this man indicates he has expected the visit, he does not 
have what Voldemort seeks, he welcomes death, and finally, at the 
moment Voldemort is summoned, the man asserts Voldemort cannot win, 
and the wand will never be his. Angered by this defiance and the 
interruption, Voldemort kills the man and answers the summons, 
promising himself some retribution against his Death Eaters if the 
summons was in error.

Ron, using the wand he seized from Peter, disarms Bella, but Bella 
threatens to kill Hermione with a knife to her throat. The impasse is 
broken by the return of Dobby, who makes the chandelier fall down, 
causing Bella to release Hermione, and injuring Draco. Harry seizes 
the opportunity to grab the wands Draco is holding and Stuns Greyback 
with them, then works to get Griphook, who is clutching the Sword of 
Gryffindor, out from under the chandelier. Meanwhile Ron gets 
Hermione. Dobby disarms Narcissa, who tries to interfere. Then Harry 
grabs Dobby and Disapparates with him and Griphook.

Upon his arrival outside Shell Cottage, Harry discovers that Bella 
has thrown her knife at Dobby, and hit him squarely in the chest. He 
lays Dobby gently on the grass, and Dobby dies with Harry's name on 
his lips.

Discussion Questions:
1) What did you think of Harry's story, that he is a Slytherin 
named Vernon Dudley whose father works at the Ministry?

2) Greyback takes the party to Malfoy Manor rather than 
summoning Voldemort himself. Harry surmises this is because Greyback 
is not a marked Death Eater. What do you think? 

3) Narcissa Malfoy seems to have some authority: Greyback and 
his men defer to her, and she decides to let them in. What is her 
status, do you think? Which events of this chapter helped to form 
that opinion?

4) What did you think of Draco in the scene where he is asked to 
identify Harry?

5) Lucius, Bella, and Greyback all argue over who should get 
what credit for the capture. What does each hope to gain?

6) Did you learn anything knew about/form any new opinions of 
Bellatrix in this chapter?

7) What did you think prompted Bella's extreme fear when she 
believed the Sword of Gryffindor was stolen from her vault?

8) What did you think was the explanation for Dumbledore's eye 
in the broken mirror?

9) "May your loyalty never waver again", Voldemort said to Peter 
after giving him the silver hand in GoF. Now we know what he meant. 
What did you think of Peter's death? Did you like or dislike the way 
it ended his story? Do you see any special meaning in it?

10) Do you think, when Peter let Harry go, he experienced a 
sincere regret for his past actions? Why or why not?

11) Why do you think Griphook lied to Bella?

12) What did you think was going on with Voldemort in this 
chapter? What ideas did you have concerning the identity of the old 
man in the tower?

13) Can someone explain to me why Dobby's death is the one death 
in this book that originally did, and still does, move me to tears, 
even though I always found him annoying? 

--Zara

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