Discussion Summary: GoF/Chapter 30 - "The Pensieve"

[sashibuya at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 12088

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Neil Ward" <neilward at d...> wrote:
> Okay, here is this week's GoF discussion summary: Chapter 30 – "The
>  Pensieve".
> 
> A character summary of Severus Snape will follow later today.. as 
if you
> needed an excuse to discuss Snape...
> 

Nah, the ever-fascinating Severus? Heaven forbid we ever run out of 
things to say about him. 

<snip>
> QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
> 
> (1) Dumbledore seems to age whenever he uses the Pensieve, is this a
> trade-off for using it?

Mmmm. It seems to me like it's just an effect of the depressing 
memories that makes him age before Harry's eyes. 

> (2) "Curiosity is not a sin
but we should exercise caution with our
> curiosity," says message-of-the-day-Dumbledore.  Would Harry find 
something
> he didn't want to know if he dug too deeply?

I'm guessing this is related to how Dumbledore wouldn't Tell All to 
Harry at the end of SS/PS. There must be some really shocking secret 
in store, at least as my radar registers. 


> (3) Will Harry befriend Neville and will Neville seek revenge for 
the attack
> on his parents?

They already are on good terms, so why not? Using my crystal ball, I 
see Neville becoming an even more important character. I think he'd 
prefer to cure them somehow before seeking revenge, but that it would 
be an interesting plot twist for him to confront his parents' 
attackers. 

<snip>
> (5) Could Dumbledore's reference to "our side" imply some sort of 
organised
> group or is it a reference to non-V supporters in general?

I would suspect the latter, as supporting Voldemort was eminently not 
a respectable position at the time, and everyone was assumed to be 
against him. 

<snip>
> (7) Who were the other people on trial with Crouch Jnr?  The 
Lestranges?
> Who else?

>From Voldemort's comments, it seems very likely. 

More questions:  
Do you think we'll see the Pensieve again? We conventionally see from 
Harry's viewpoint, and normally only extended narration by another 
character would let us see into the past. 
Was Crouch Jr. lying at the trial, during his outburst?
Did Rita Skeeter report all of the trials? Is all that Harry has seen 
generally known? 

Charmian