Chapter Discussions: Chapter 4, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 83756

<Snip of chapter summary and some questions>


 1)  How effective is the atmosphere-building in this chapter? What 
is the 
> reader's initial reaction to Grimmauld place? Are there any 
features which lift 
> it beyond being a stock gothic horror setting? How effective is it 
when we 
> realise that this is Sirius' family home?

I think this chapter set the tone for the feeling I got of a clinging 
claustrophobia.  I don't mean simply the physical setting, even 
though every scene set in that house gave me a feeling of damp, 
closed-off, oppressive gloom.  I had the feeling of being closed in, 
of freedoms being removed, and that continued once the kids went back 
to school.  All of Umbridge's decrees putting limits on allowable 
behavior and the freedom to express one's opinions gave me the same 
sort of feeling.  

And discovering that this was Sirius' family home put a different 
spin on things.  

> 2)  How convincing are the characterisations of Harry, Ron and 
Hermione? Does 
> Harry's anger ring true? 

Harry's gotten a lot of grief from a lot of people for his anger in 
this book.  I think in this instance, it was perfectly 
understandable. He'd been kept in the dark, he had to fight off 
Dementors, and after that, he's still kept in the dark, he knows his 
friends are someplace where they might know what's going on, while 
he's kept in the dark, he is threatened with expulsion from 
school...So when he finally gets to where everyone else is, he has a 
golden opportunity to explode, with the additional satisfaction of 
exploding at the people who would have a clue as to why he feels this 
way.  Sure, not all of his comments are fair or balanced, but he was 
angry and needed to get all of this out of his system.  
 
 
> 5)  Is any light thrown on the workings of the Fidelius Charm, by 
which 
> Number Twelve seems to be protected?

A number of people have responded to this, and it seems like this use 
of the Charm is giving rise to even more questions.  My bet is that 
this is going to be one of those things that will never be completely 
explained.

> 6)  Hermione says, of the MoM's threat to expel Harry, 'You really 
shouldn't 
> be, not if    they abide by their own laws, there's no case against 
you.'

Perhaps Hermione is influenced by her Muggle background, where, as 
far as she knows, the government does follow its own laws and does 
give rights to its citizens that are not arbitrarily ignored (or, if 
the government screws up, someone is there to call them on it). 
Although she knows that wizards have been imprisoned without trials, 
and people like Lucius Malfoy seem to have an inordinate amount of 
influence, and the only daily newspaper prints lies, she still seems 
to have a certain faith, at this point, that the rules will be 
followed.

> 8)  We learn that there is a house elf in residence, yet the house 
has been 
> uncared for. Should Kreacher's family loyalty not ensure that he 
keeps the 
> house in order for whenever the rightful owner returns?

In Kreacher's case, did he assume that no one would ever return, 
since the rightful owner was imprisoned for life and everyone else in 
the immediate family was dead? And, thus figured there was no need to 
keep the place clean? Is a solitary elf expected to continued to work 
in the house until s/he keels over dead of old age in a situation 
like this?  Had there not been the portrait of Mrs. Black for 
Kreacher to worship, would he have, of his own volition, gone to 
another Black relatve, like Narcissa Malfoy, and offered his services?
 

> 12)  Why does JKR make the point that Snape never eats at the house?

I think mainly to keep a distance between him and the other members 
of the Order.  For the reader, it adds to the question of whether 
Snape is really one of the good guys, or if he's playing his own 
game. JKR also makes the point that Bill Weasley doesn't like Snape. 
Why bother to mention that at all, since Bill is barely there?

> 13)  Why do the members of the Order apparently leave en masse via 
the front 
> door, given the secrecy which surrounded Harry's arrival? Do we 
assume that 
> the house is protected by anti-apparition charms and the like? How 
will they 
> have left without attracting attention (we can assume that 
Dumbledore is back in 
> possession of his Put-outer)?

Harry's arrival was not all that secret.  A bunch of people on brooms 
flew out of the sky and landed in a small square.  In the middle of 
London.  Before Mad-Eye used the Put-Outer to put out the street 
lights.  Not exactly the most unobtrusive way of slipping into town. 
Anyone passing by or looking out of a window could have seen them.  
But, I think that this is something that's not going to have an 
effect on the plot, so it's a loose end or a niggling detail that JKR 
didn't bother addressing.

Marianne