[HPforGrownups] Chapter 29 Summary: The Dream

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 11881

sarvalsha at dellnet.com wrote:

> 1. You are Hermione. Harry and/or Ron has just speculated that someone
> apparated/disapparated on the Hogwarts grounds . . . yet again. What
> do you do?

Well, she's old enough for the time of the month to make a difference.
If I were Hermione, a response could vary from anything to a simple
telling them again why not, to marching them down to the library and
finding the relevant passage in "Hogwarts, A History" and *making* them
read it, to going and getting the volume and hitting them on the head
with it.

> 2. Harry jokes that the only way Snape could have gotten to the
> forbidden forest before Harry and Professor Dumbledore was to turn
> himself into a bat or something. Is Snape a bat (animagus, vampire,
> etc.)?

No. I think the "bat" imagery that has been cast around Snape is simply
to draw on a cultural response, to help with characterization. Bats
aren't the icky things that rats are, but they *are* outside the Normal
Order--they're associated with the night, with vampires (one of the
"romantic" type of monster in modern culture), etc. But I don't think
there's any evidence that Snape is a vampire or an animagus. The latter
is unlikely, I think, because it takes years of study of a non-potions
kind, and Snape's true (and only?) love is really the crafting of
potions. Now, a *potion* to turn him into something periodically....

> 3. The twins compare Ron to Percy and say he will be made a prefect if
> he continues meddling. Why does this make Ron so angry?

I can't put my finger on it, although I relate to it on a personal
level. But I think it's that Ron identifies with the twins and their
style, much more than Percy and his. This declaration of the twins is
like a refutation of Ron. I say this because when I was a child, the
very, very best way for my brother to send me into a reasonless,
towering, ineffectual rage was to say I was more like Dad than Mom. Mom
was the wonderful parent, Dad was the prickly, unpredictable one. We all
liked Mom better as kids (my father was a great parent of an adult
child, but not as good with small children), so saying I was like Dad
meant he didn't like me as much, that other people wouldn't. So Ron's
reaction made perfect intuitive sense to me.

> 4. Ron thinks the twins capable of law-breaking to gain gold for their
> joke shop and Percy capable of turning the twins in. Is Ron just a bad
> judge of character or are either of these two things likely to happen?

I don't think the twins would break any *serious* laws, but their
opinion of serious might differ from others' views. And I don't think
Percy would hesitate to turn them in, *if* he thought it was for their
own good; he might hesitate if the circumstances were such that his
parents would be hurt by it.

> 5. Moody suggests Hermione consider becoming an Auror; he had
> previously said the same thing to Harry. Considering Moody'sphysical
> and mental scars, would you want Harry and/or Hermione to make that
> career choice?

We don't know enough about it. I still think Moody has the scars because
he has chosen to. He's not the type to trust anyone, even those he knows
intimately, and medical magic makes one very vulnerable. I'm betting he
cured himself, with all those injuries, with the basic "stop-bleeding,
end shock" type spell most wizards must know, and then never went to
anyone to get further treatment. So we don't even know if all Aurors
look like that. So we can't really answer the question yet.

> 6. What kind of teacher is excited when a student starts rolling on
> the floor screaming in pain, and frustrated when the student insists
> on going for medical help?

One who sees students (or anyone) as a means of teaching and/or an end
to a purpose, rather than as individuals with feelings.

> 7. Sirius had previously told Harry to seek out Professor Dumbledore
> the next time his scar hurt, and Harry actually does it. How big of a
> step forward is this for a kid who has previously avoided confiding in
> anyone or asking for help?

Massive. And I still think Lupin's friendship played a big role in
opening Harry up to the possibilities of trusting adults. And now
trusting Moody has shown him the downside. I can't wait to see how he
will be in book 5, whether the whole Moody thing will shut him up again,
or if he is resilient enough to overcome it and still trust.

--Amanda


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