[HPforGrownups] SUMMARIES: The Worst Birthday and Dobby's Warning

[Melanie Brackney]

No: HPFGUIDX 22875


--- catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk wrote:
> Chapter One:  The Worst Birthday.
> 
> The chapter opens with a description of Harry and
> the Dursleys 
> sitting around the kitchen table in Privet Drive. 
> Harry is having an 
> argument with Mr Dursley about the fact that Hedwig
> is locked up, and 
> as a result is making too much noise for the
> Dursleys' liking.  Aunt 
> Petunia is cooing over Dudley and trying to feed him
> up, despite the 
> fact that he is grossly overweight.  Harry tells
> Dudley to use 
> the "magic word" which results in his being shouted
> at by Mr 
> Dursley.  It is explained that the Dursleys are over
> sensitive about 
> references to magic, because Harry is a wizard. 
> Facts about Harry 
> from PS are recapped.  It is also mentioned that all
> his belongings, 
> which are associated with the wizarding world, have
> been locked away.
> 
> It is Harry's 12th birthday.  For a moment he thinks
> that Mr Dursley 
> has remembered when he says that "today is a very
> important day," but 
> he is only talking about a deal he hopes to make
> with Mr Mason, who 
> is coming to dinner that night.  Mr Dursley runs
> through the schedule 
> for that night.  Harry is to keep to his room and
> pretend that he is 
> not there.
> 
> Harry goes into the garden, upset that he hasn't
> received any cards, 
> presents or any communication whatsoever from the
> friends he made at 
> Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione.  He is extremely lonely,
> and worried that 
> they have forgotten him.  He wants to risk sending
> them a message, 
> but is too worried about using magic, as it is
> forbidden for underage 
> wizards to do so out of school.  He hasn't told the
> Dursleys this, 
> however.  He is also still having nightmares about
> his encounter with 
> Voldemort, which had taken place at the end of the
> previous term.
> 
> Suddenly, Harry sees two large green eyes staring
> back at him from 
> inside the hedge.  Before he has a chance to
> investigate however, 
> Dudley comes out to taunt him about the fact it is
> his birthday and 
> that he hasn't had any cards.  For once, Dudley's
> comments hit a 
> little too close to home for Harry's comfort  they
> reinforce the way 
> he has been feeling.  Harry retaliates by pretending
> to do magic, 
> which results in punishment from Aunt Petunia 
> Harry spends the rest 
> of the day gardening.
> 
> At the end of the day, Harry goes up to his room
> after a very meagre 
> supper, to find someone sitting on his bed.
> 
> 
> Chapter Two:  Dobby's warning.
> 
> The creature sitting on his bed has "large, bat-like
> ears and bulging 
> green eyes" and is wearing an old pillowcase.  He
> introduces himself 
> as Dobby the house elf, and professes to be honoured
> to meet Harry.  
> He speaks in a high-pitched voice, which obviously
> carries.  This 
> worries Harry, because the Masons have arrived
> downstairs, and he 
> doesn't want to get into trouble.  Dobby bursts into
> tears because 
> Harry asks him to sit down, and is treating him like
> an equal.  A 
> conversation follows, in which Harry finds out that
> Dobby is unable 
> to criticise the family he serves, without punishing
> himself, and 
> that he will have to serve them until he dies.  He
> praises Harry for 
> his second defeat of Voldemort, but warns him that
> he must not go 
> back to Hogwarts.  He says that Harry is "too great,
> too good, to 
> lose."  There is a plot to make terrible things
> happen there, which 
> Dobby has known about for months.  He won't,
> however, give Harry any 
> details, and will only say "Not  not, He Who Must
> Not Be Named," 
> when Harry asks if it is something to do with
> Voldemort, although he 
> appears to be trying to hint at something.  When
> Harry tries to tell 
> Dobby that Hogwarts is safe because of Dumbledore,
> Dobby tells Harry 
> that isn't so, because there are powers that no
> decent wizard would 
> use.
> 
> Noise from Dobby beating himself around the head
> with Harry's desk 
> lamp brings Mr Dursley upstairs, who berates Harry,
> after making an 
> excuse about Dudley leaving his television on.    
> 
> The conversation between Harry and Dobby continues. 
> It transpires 
> that Dobby has been intercepting all Harry's mail,
> in an attempt to 
> make Harry not want to go back to school.  Dobby
> refuses to give 
> Harry the letters, and as Harry also refuses to
> promise not to go 
> back to school, Dobby says he has no choice, and
> opens the door and 
> runs downstairs.   Harry races after him, trying not
> to make any 
> noise, and finds that Dobby has made Aunt Petunia's
> violet cream 
> pudding float up near the ceiling.  As Harry still
> refuses to 
> promise, Dobby smashes the pudding on the floor, and
> with a loud 
> crack, disappears.
> 
> Uncle Vernon tries to gloss over the appearance in
> the kitchen of a 
> cream-covered Harry, by saying that he is disturbed,
> but then an owl 
> from the Ministry of Magic's Improper Use of Magic
> Office arrives, 
> giving Harry an official warning about the Hover
> Charm and 
> threatening expulsion if it happens again.  The
> effects of this 
> letter are twofold:  Firstly, it ruins Mr Dursley's
> chance of making 
> the deal, as Mrs Mason is terrified of birds, but
> more importantly, 
> it also informs Mr Dursley that Harry isn't allowed
> to use magic out 
> of school.  Mr Dursley uses this information to lock
> Harry up in his 
> room and to tell him that he is never to return to
> Hogwarts.  He is 
> tickled by the fact that if Harry tries to escape by
> using magic, he 
> will be expelled.
> 
> The next day, bars are fitted to Harry's window, and
> he is only let 
> out twice a day to use the bathroom.  Three days
> later, things 
> haven't improved.  Harry is being half-starved
> (dinner being a cold 
> tin of soup he has to share with Hedwig).  Harry
> spends his time 
> pondering his situation  wondering how he is going
> to get out, when 
> he has a dream about being an exhibit in a zoo, with
> Dobby telling 
> him that at least he is safe there.  He awakes to
> find Ron staring at 
> him through his bedroom window.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> Bad Doreen raised some of the questions I had for
> these chapters last 
> week, but I decided to leave them in anyway, just in
> case someone has 
> something fresh to add...
> 
> 1.	When will JKR stop putting in the annoying
> reminders about 
> events in past books?   The fifth book.  I read an
interview in which she says that hypothetically one
could read the first 4 books out of order and be okay,
but it would be impossible to read the 5th book. 
Without reading the previous 4. 
> 2.	When Mr Dursley says that today is an important
> day, do you 
> think that he is deliberately and sadistically
> raising Harry's hopes 
> that they have remembered his birthday - and care?

Never thought about it, but now that you mention it,
it makes sense.  He enjoys making Harry feel worse
about himself than he already does.
> 
> 3.	Why can't Petunia see that Dudley has a serious
> weight 
> problem?
She does, but she's one of those stupid mothers who
just wants to see her son happy.  She can't give into
him.  
> 
> 4.	Why are Mr Dursley and Dudley wearing dinner
> jackets?  Did 
> the Dursleys stipulate Black Tie when they invited
> the Masons?  What 
> does this say about them?
> Didn't Harry say somewhere that Vernon enjoys having
people think he is wealthy and proper.  He's a
show-off fake!  He dressed up for the Weasley's not
because of respect but out of a desire to show that he
was indeed better than them.
> 5.	Has anyone ever eaten a pudding made of cream and
> sugared 
> violets?  Is it as sickly and as revolting as it
> sounds?
Um no, don't intend too either.
> 
> 6.	Why is Dudley being so co-operative about the
> dinner party?  
> Is he being bribed with promises of extra treats if
> the Dursleys 
> become richer?
I think he's wanting to make a good impression on them
too.  But he probably is being bribed, yes.
> 
> 7.	Harry notes that he won't be taken on holiday
> with the 
> Dursleys.  What do they usually do with him when
> they go away?
> Send him to Mrs. Figgs I suppose.  Though part of me
wonders if at one time they did indeed take them with
him.  Judging by things Harry has said it seems that
they got more bitter with him as he got older.
> 8.	Why does Harry assume that his friends have
> forgotten him, 
> rather than thinking something may have happened? 
> Is he very 
> insecure?
Um, for crying out loud he lived in a closet for his
entire life!  Yes, I believe he is insecure.  He's
also only 12 years old, adolescents is a very tough
time for any child.  I think it seemed to him that his
friends had forgotten him.  Though I agree it seems
far fetched.
> 
> 9.	Dobby says that Harry is too important to be put
> at risk.  
> Why is this?  Is it just because of what Harry
> stands for among the 
> oppressed, or does it refer to something which is
> going to happen in 
> the future?  Could this be an early reference to
> Professor 
> Trelawney's first prediction?
Possibly....however, I Think it's just that he's a
hero.  Most wizards and witches and magical people
alike adore and respect him.
> 
> 10.	What happened to Harry's letters?  Did Dobby
> take them with 
> him?  Did Lucius Malfoy intercept them?
It was Dobby
> 
> 11.	Why did Dobby drop the pudding?  So it would
> have the effect 
> it did have, or to try and get Harry immediately
> expelled?
>  He was trying to get Harry expelled I think. 
Although, I'm afraid to say I don't think they would
ever expell Harry.  If anything, he and Ron showing up
in a flying ford anglia would be more than enough
reason to expell them but that didn't happen.
> 
12.	If Harry had been expelled, at the end of the
> year, would 
> Dobby have cleared his name?

Um I don't know good question.  I'm not sure if
Dobby's word would be enough to clear him.
> 
> 
> 13.	If the MoM knew that magic had been performed in
> the house, 
> why didn't they also know that it wasn't Harry who
> had done it?

They just knew that magic was preformed.  IT's like an
alarm of sorts. I suppose they just assumed it had
been Harry.
> 
> 14.	The MoM say that they have "received
> information" that magic 
> has been performed in the house.  Is it possible
> that Dobby 
> anonymously tipped them off?
> What?  No, I doubt that
> 15.	How did the owl arrive so quickly?  Is it
> possible that owls 
> can apparate, or did the wizard who sent it apparate
> close by before 
> releasing the owl?
I think owls apparate or do something.  Owls are
amazing creatures LOL.
> 
> Catherine
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 


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