PoA Chapters 21-22 Summary (even better format)

[joym999 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 22171

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., naama_gat at h... wrote a truly excellent 
summary of chapters 21 and 22.  Thanks, Naama!
> 
> I've decided to put questions and comments within the text (in 
> square brackets) and not as a list at the end. 

I like this format; it is more logical and I hope future summarizers 
(if that is a word) follow it.
> 

[C: This gives us the story from Snape's point of view.] 

Telling the same story from different points of view is quite a 
recurring theme in the closing chapters of PoA.

> [Q: Had Black really meant to 
> kill him then? It was a very dangerous prank, but was it 
> cruelty on Black's part or thoughtlessness?]
> 
I tend to think it was thoughtlessness, although I can understand 
wanting to kill Snape. (What I can't understand is the people who 
have the hots for him, but that's beside the point.)  Sirius has been 
shown to be very impulsive and has a short fuse and a furious temper; 
people like that often act without really thinking of the 
consequences, expecially when they are young.

> (422-424) Dumbledore tells Harry and Hermione that he 
> cannot help Black. Harry faces the fact that Dumbledore is 
> not omnipotent with a sinking heart. Dumbledore then gives 
> them instructions, or rather clues as to what they must do: 
> [Q: 
> Why tell it in clues? Great for the story and suspense 
> building, but was it really reasonable when so much is at 
> stake? What if they hadn't understood?]

This is an excellent point.  Why not just say ''Hey kids, here's what 
we've gotta do: go back in time 3 hours, rescue Buckbeak, fly up to 
where Sirius is imprisioned and then rescue him.''  The same question 
could apply to SS/PS.  Dumbledore could have just told Harry how to 
get past all the puzzles and given him official permission to wander 
the corridors at night, but instead to choose to give him clues in 
the form of the Mirror of Erised and the invisibility cloak.  

I think the difference is that by giving him clues rather than 
commands, Dumbledore is allowing Harry (with help from R and H) to 
act on his own and fulfill his destiny.  I think it is strongly 
hinted that there is some reason to believe that only Harry can 
defeat Voldy (a prophecy by Trelawney -- her first prediction?), in 
which case Harry has to be the one to take the initiative, rather 
than just follow Dumbledore's orders.

Also, Dumbledore may not be totally clear about exactly what it is H 
and H should do/have done.  He sees some hints -- Buckbeak has 
mysteriously disappeared, noises and grass squishing under invisible 
feet, Harry is mysteriously rescued from the Dementor, and who knows 
what else -- that something odd is going on.  He knows Hermione has a 
time-turner.  He talks to Sirius.  He thinks -- maybe H and H have 
gone/should go back in time and rescue Buckbeak and Sirius.  By 
giving them clues rather than instructions, Dumbledore may be trying 
to avoid interfering with the past.  Rather, he is only telling them 
what he thinks may have already happened.
> 
> [Q: What's wrong with a 
> broomstick? Why did they need Buckbeak?] 
> 
If Sirius gets a broomstick, then everyone knows someone must have 
helped him.  (Presumably, they are not dumb enough to leave him 
unprotected in Flitwick's office -- there must be an ''anti-charm 
Charm'' around the office so that Sirius can not just say ''Accio 
nearest broomstick'')  This way, it is a little more ambiguous.  
Maybe Buckbeak somehow freed himself and went to Sirius' aid.  Maybe 
who-knows-what crawled out of the Forbidden Forest and chewed thru 
the rope tying Buckbeak to the fence and whispered instructions in  
Bucky's ear.

Also, Dumbledore may have felt that saving Buckbeak's life was as 
important as saving Sirius.  Certainly, Hagrid would have felt that 
way.

> (443-4) Hermione comes rushing along. Harry explains to her 
> what had just happened and she is extremely impressed: "you 
> conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those Dementors! 
> That's very, very advanced magic...". (443) Harry explains 
> that this time he could do it because he knew he had already 
> done it. [Q: Why, though? This point has always rather 
> confused me. A "single, very happy memory" is not the same 
> as self-confidence, is it?] 

No, they are not the same, but in my experience the sudden 
realization that you are capable of accomplishing something 
tremendous is a pretty happy feeling.  Just think about it -- all of 
a sudden he knows he can do it, has done, will do it -- he has the 
ability to save himself, his friends, possibly eventually even the 
entire world, from evil.  I would be pretty happy if this happened to 
me.


> Chapter 22
> (H and H) hear Snape and 
> Fudge. Snape is eager for Sirius to receive the Kiss.  
> [Q: Why?? How can he hate him so much as to want him to 
> receive the Kiss? Is it reasonable for a boy's grudge to be 
> taken to such an extreme?] 

I think any shrink would probably tell you that it is our childhood 
experiences that influence our lives the longest.  There are several 
indications in the books that hatred of James Potter is the No. 1 
driving force in Snape's hateful little life.

> Harry then remembers 
> Professor Trelawney's prediction and tells it to Dumbledore, 
> who seems "mildly impressed." He tells Harry that this 
> "brings her total of real predictions up to two." [Q: What was 
> the first?!

This, of course, is the million dollar question.  We all have our 
theories, but I am sure it is absolutely CRUCIAL to the overall plot 
of the 7 books.

> [C: is there a book that doesn't end with 
> Malfoy being foiled?]

Nope.  Satisfying, isn't it?  If someone is keeping score (someone 
out there must be) it must be something like Malfoy 4, Potter 12.

I kind of like the way there is a big war -- with Dumbledore and 
Voldy as opposing generals, and the little war -- with Potter and 
Malfoy as opposing generals.  It makes me think about that famous 
remark (paraphrased) about how England's battles are won and lost on 
the playing fields of Eton.

--Joywitch