[HPforGrownups] PoA Chapters 18-20 Summary

[devika261 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 21837



Wow, I've been lurking for quite a while, haven't I?  Aren't you all glad to 
see me again <g>?  Anyway, great summary!  These (along with the end of ch. 
14) are my favorite parts of PoA.

> Questions:
> 
> 1. Do you think it was all right that Lupin didn't tell Dumbledore about 
> Sirius?
> 

I'm not sure whether or not it was right, but I understand why he didn't tell 
> Dumbledore.  Lupin was afraid of losing Dumbledore's trust, and he thought 
> that admitting that he had once broken so many school rules would lose him 
> that trust.  Personally, I think that Dumbledore would have understood, but 
> it's obvious that Lupin most wants people to trust him, and he felt that he 
> couldn't risk it.  I also think that there was some element of loyalty to 
> Sirius, or at least a reluctance to believe that Sirius could really have 
> betrayed everyone.  Perhaps Lupin knew deep down that Sirius was not a 
> traitor.  After all, Lupin was reluctant to reveal anything about Sirius, 
> but he was very willing to believe his side of the story.  And then he had 
> 



> 2. Did you have any suspicions about Scabbers not being a rat? After all, we
> already knew that he had been in the Weasley family for quite some time.
> 
I had no clue until Lupin said that Scabbers was an Animagus by the name of 
Peter Pettigrew.  Then I believed it right away.

> 3. What did you think when Harry, Ron and Hermione disarmed Snape? Do you 
> think
> they did the right thing or should they have waited for something actually 
> to
> 

Hehe.  Now, I am a card-carrying member (OK, a lurker--and we don't 
technically have cards) of Snapefans, but I do think that our trio did the 
right thing.  Snape was completely beyond reason, and nothing, IMO, would 
have stopped him in his desire for revenge.  Also, I was beginning to find 
all of the shouting extremely frustrating.  I just wanted to know what was 
going on.  I imagine that Harry and co. were feeling the same way.

> 
> 4. When did you start to believe Sirius? When you heard that Scabbers was
> actually an Animagus or did it take you as long as it took Harry?
> 

I began to believe Sirius when Lupin hugged him.  I never doubted dear Remus 
for a minute :)

> 5. When Sirius told them about the night when James and Lily died, he had 
> tears
> in his eyes. Did this scene have some kind of effect on you and deflected a 
> bit
> 

I absolutely melted.  I've been in love ever since <g>.  

> 
> 6. Why do you think has Sirius waited so long before he escaped from 
> Azkaban?
> After all, he could have gotten away years ago, since it couldn't have 
> taken him
> 

I think Sirius thought he deserved worse than a life sentence in Azkaban, and 
he couldn't have been entirely rational about it, given the circumstances.  
His major motivation for escaping was not revenge (he could have escaped and 
tracked Peter down anytime), but concern for Harry and a sense of duty and 
loyalty to James.  As soon as Sirius realized that Peter was at Hogwarts with 
Harry, he began to plan his escape.

> 
> 7. When Sirius accused Pettigrew of having sold James and Lily to 
> Voldemort, he
> 

I think it was the combination of anger, grief, pain, satisfaction at 
achieving what he had escaped to do, and perhaps a small part of regret, not 
that he was about to kill Peter per se, but just that he had to be in that 
situation at all.  I'm sure Sirius was reliving all of his memories of the 
past 12 years, and perhaps more.  That's an intense combination of emotions 
at the best of times, and after 12 years in a place like Azkaban, I'd be 
shaking too.

> 
> 8. We know Lupin as a very kind and calm person. Why do you think was he 
> almost
> 

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill 
you, we would.  Good-bye, Peter."
That line sends shivers down my spine every time I read it.  For some reason, 
it brings to mind some kind of secret society with its own oaths of 
allegiance and sense of justice (the Order of the Phoenix, perhaps?  
hmmm....).  Even if that's not true, though, it still represents to me the 
extreme loyalty that the Marauders (with the exception of Wormtail, I 
suppose) felt for each other.  I would imagine that Lupin, being used to 
prejudice and distrust, feels this loyalty all the more greatly and is just 
as angry, or perhaps even more so than the more emotional Sirius, at being 
betrayed.


> 9. Now that you know what happened at the end of Book 4, do you think that 
> Harry
> would have been better off if he would have let Lupin and Black kill 
> Pettigrew?

No.  There must be something good that will come of all of this (I hope).  I 
think that Voldemort would have come back eventually anyway, and I like what 
it says about Harry that he wouldn't allow Lupin and Sirius to kill Peter.


> 10. Did you feel any kind of sympathy for Pettigrew?

I don't feel sorry for him as a person, but I feel sorry that there were 
circumstances that allowed him to do what he did.  I can't even begin to 
comprehend how he could have betrayed some of the best friends he ever had.  
I wonder what happened to make Peter decide to join the Death Eaters.  I 
mean, I doubt that he just woke up one morning and said, "I think I'm going 
to be a spy for Voldemort and betray all of my friends."  I don't think he 
was evil to begin with, and I'm really curious to know what caused him to 
make the transition between friend and enemy.


> 11. When Sirius offers Harry to live with him, Harry immediately says yes. 
> Now,
> we know that there aren't many adults Harry trusts. Why do you think does he
> trust Sirius to the point of going to live with him, even though he has 
> known
> him only for about an hour or so?

Sirius is Harry's godfather and the only link Harry has to his parents.  
Harry has just seen a demonstration of Sirius's loyalty to James and Lily, 
and also to Harry himself.  This is certainly a welcome change to his 
treatment by the Dursleys.


> 12. Did you think that Harry really saw his father, or the ghost of his 
> father
> across the lake, or did you think someone else must have cast the Patronus?

The first time I read it, I really didn't know what to think.  I was hoping 
that it was the ghost of James Potter, but if it couldn't be James, I'm glad 
it was Harry.


> 13. Do you think it was an accident that this Dementor tried to administer 
> the
> Kiss to Harry, or do you think the Dementors aren't as loyal to Fudge as he
> would like them to be?

I think the Dementors do their own thing, regardless of Fudge (or Voldemort, 
for that matter).  Of course they're not loyal.  However, I do think it is a 
bit odd that they went for Harry first, when Sirius was right there.  Perhaps 
Sirius was already an emotional wreck, and Harry seemed more appetizing to 
them.


Just my thoughts,
Devika :)



"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, 
and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."
--Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's [Philosopher's] Stone


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