Chapter 25 Summary

[Joywitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 8882

Chapter 25:  The Egg and the Eye

<italics>
In which Harry Discovers the Clue in the Egg, and is Saved from Snape 
and Filch by Mad-Eye Moody.
</italics>

This chapter once again chronicles Harry's nighttime wanderings.  
(Doesn't that boy ever get any sleep?).  In the first half of the 
chapter (The Egg), Harry takes Cedric's advice and heads off to the 
prefect's bathroom to try to unravel the clue in the egg.  As 
precautions against getting caught by Filch, Harry wears his 
invisibility cloak and also takes along the Marauder's Map.

The prefect's bathroom turns out to be quite a place.  Full of marble 
fixtures, lit by chandeliers, and a bathtub the size of a swimming 
pool with a hundred golden taps with jeweled handles, each with a 
different sort of bubble bath.  While Harry enjoys the luxurious 
surroundings, he can not figure out how they can help him decipher 
the clue.  Fortunately, unexpected help, in the form of Moaning 
Myrtle, arrives.  It turns out that our old whiny pal Myrtle is in 
the habit of haunting the prefects bathroom, claiming that she keeps 
her eyes shut when anyone is getting in or out of the tub.  Sure you 
do, Myrtle.

Anyway, Myrtle feeds Harry the clue to the egg, bit by agonizing 
bit.  The song that the egg sings is only intelligible underwater, 
and the song seems to indicate that for the Second Triwizard Task 
Harry will have an hour to recover something he will "sorely miss," 
which will be found underwater with the merpeople who live in the 
lake.  Not a pretty prospect, as Harry doesn't swim well, and also 
because the lake seems to be the repository of Hogwarts' sewage.  
Yech! 

The only thing Harry can't figure out is how he is supposed to 
breathe underwater, and asking Myrtle advice on this matter sends her 
off into a fit of hysterics. Apparently, any talk of breathing hurts 
her feelings.  Myrtle starts blathering a long story about haunting a 
student who made fun of her which is only interesting because it 
reveals that the Ministry of Magic somehow has the power to make 
ghosts stop following people around and force them to haunt only a 
particular location (in or around the place where they died?).

After his cozy little bath, Harry exits the prefect's bathroom and 
enters the second half of the chapter (The Eye).  Rather than go 
straight back to bed like a good little boy, he manages to cause a 
heap o' trouble.  He looks at the Marauder's Map, and notices that 
someone is moving around in Snape's office, and that someone 
is...Bartemius Crouch!  But Mr. Crouch is supposed to be ill or 
missing or something, certainly not snooping around Snape's.  Of 
course, we all know (because we've read this book HOW many times?) 
that the map is referring to Moody disguised as Bartemius Crouch, 
Jr., who (fortunately for the sake of the plot) has the same name as 
his father.

Harry sets off to investigate, but isn't paying attention on the 
staircase and manages to fall into the trick step.  He drops both the 
egg and the map and all hell breaks loose.  The egg, of course, opens 
and starts screaming.  Harry's leg is stuck and the Marauder's Map is 
just out of his reach.  He wraps up tightly in the Invisibility 
Cloak, just in the nick of time as Filch and Mrs. Norris appear.  
Filch thinks that Peeves has stolen one of the champion's eggs and 
starts walking up the stairs where Harry is invisibly stuck in a 
step, but then Snape shows up.  It seems that Snape has noticed that 
his office has been opened and searched and wants Filch to help him 
find the intruder, but Filch wants to chase after Peeves.

Filch and Snape are arguing about this when Moody shows up to join 
the party.  Harry is unpleasantly surprised to discover that Moody's 
Mad Eye seems to be able to see through his invisibility cloak.  
Moody and Snape have a snippy little accusatory back-and-forth about 
who is hiding what, in which Moody implies that Snape is both a Death 
Eater and out to do no good to Harry Potter (of course we know that 
it is Moody who is guilty of both).  In the course of this 
discussion, Snape mysteriously rubs a spot on his left forearm.  Hmmm.

Snape recognizes the map and the egg, and figures that Harry is 
hanging around in his invisibility cloak.  However, Moody grabs the 
parchment, bullies Snape into leaving and Filch into giving him the 
egg.  Moody pulls Harry out of the sticky step, and quizzes him about 
the map.  Moody is "surprised" to learn that Harry knows that it was 
Crouch searching Snape's office.  Moody is undoubtedly dismayed to 
see his real name on the map, and borrows the map.  He keeps up his 
Auror act beautifully, however, even suggesting that Harry would make 
a good Auror.  Not much of a compliment, considering the source.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Do both male and female prefects use this prefect's bathroom?  At 
the same time?  (I'll bet a lot of teenagers would enjoy that.)

2.  Do the Hogwarts toilets really empty directly into the lake?  
Isn't that a little, um, unhealthy, especially for the merpeople and 
the giant squid?  Or do wizards have a sewage treatment spell built 
into the pipes?  (Neutralizum Poopus?)

3.  The second half of this chapter reads completely differently when 
you know that Moody is really Crouch, Jr. and that Snape was once a 
Death Eater and has a mark on his arm.  Everyone (except maybe Filch) 
is maneuvering to save his own butt.  I just had no clue anything 
weird was going on here the first time I read it, did you?

4.  (This has been discussed before.) When Harry is stuck in the 
stairway, why doesn't he say "Accio Map" to get the Marauder's Map 
out of the way?

5.  There are an awful lot of close shaves in this chapter.  (You 
would think it was an Indiana Jones movie.)  The invisibility cloak 
saves Harry from Filch; Snape saves Harry from Filch again; 
Moody/Crouch saves Harry from Snape; Moody/Crouch takes the map to 
save himself.  Have I missed anything?

Well, I am going back into catchup mode, as my little trip to the 
Caribbean Sorcery Convention put me about a 1000 messages behind.  I 
can't help wishing you all had made a New Year's Resolution to be 
less wordy.

--Joywitch