[HPforGrownups] Chapter 36 Summary

[Barbara Foster Williams]

No: HPFGUIDX 15214



Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer wrote:
> 
> Chapter 36 Summary
> 
> The Parting of the Ways

This was an *excellent* summary, Penny!  reading all of the chapter
summaries is making me want to reread the book myself, I must admit...

> QUESTIONS:
> 
> 2. Now: that pesky "gleam of triumph" in Dumbledore's eyes.  We've
> discussed it & hashed it to death before, but does anyone have any new
> thoughts about this?

Well, I don't know that this is a new thought, but I really do think
Dumbledore sees that because Voldemort used Harry's blood, there is a
"chink in his armour", so to speak.  Dumbledore probably sees something
he could potentially use against V.

> 
> 3. Any thoughts about what causes one of the wands in a pair of
> dueling
> "brother" wands to gain dominance and force the other one to start
> regurgitating spells through the Priori Incantatem effect?

I have *been* wondering about this...I hadn't come up with anything, but
the thoughts other people have expressed are very interesting!  I hope
JKR will explore this a bit more in one of the other books, but I'm not
sure she will.

> 
> 4. Do your perceptions of Sirius Black change after reading this
> chapter?  Some have commented that his explosive temper and desire for
> vengeance in PoA put them off his character a bit.  Did GoF (and this
> chapter in particular) do anything to change your feelings about or
> perceptions of Sirius?
> 

I have liked Sirius since the end of PoA, when we find out that he's
really a "good guy", but this chapter just cemented that feeling for me.

> 5. We've discussed Cornelius Fudge a fair bit in the past.  Any new
> thoughts?  Is he a head-in-the-sand Neville Chamberlain type or is his
> refusal to act based on more sinister intentions?

I think he's in denial.  I don't think he's in league with V., or has
any malicious intentions, I just think he wants it all to go away and
thinks that if he ignores it, it will.

> 
> 6. Do we assume Dumbledore could have intended anything else other
> than
> for Hagrid and Madame Maxime to serve as envoys to the giants?

That was certainly what I made of it.

> 
> 7. JKR confirmed in one of the chats that Arabella Figg, part of the
> "old gang" in Dumbledore's camp, is the same "Mrs. Figg" with the cats
> who lives around the corner from the Dursleys on Privet Drive and had
> baby-sat Harry for years in the past.  What has been her likely role
> in
> living in such close proximity to Harry all those years?

Someone made an interesting point about her being Harry's
secret-keeper...that's possible, and I think also she's a "safe" person
to have around so that the wizarding world can keep an eye on Harry.

> 
> 8. What do we think about what Dumbledore has asked Snape to do?

I haven't ever been exactly clear on what he intends Snape to do.  I
assume he wants Snape to return and infiltrate the Death Eaters, but I'm
not sure how he's supposed to manage that, since V. already knows
(presumed from his listing of the DEs that aren't in attendance) Snape
is no longer faithful to him.

> 
> 9. Was anyone else irritated at Hermione for interrupting the
> emotional
> moment between Harry and Molly Weasley when they first read this
> chapter?  We, of course, later understand what she was doing, but what
> was your reaction when you first read this chapter?
> 

I thought it was a totally incongruous thing to stick in there, and then
when I read the part later about Hermione capturing Rita, I went
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" :)

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|                       Barbara Foster Williams                      |
|                       bafoster at mindspring.com                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|I wanted a perfect ending..... Now I've learned, the hard way, that |
|some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear         |
|beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to     |
|change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without        |
|knowing what's going to happen next.               -Gilda Radner    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------