CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 34, "The Department of Mysteries"

[Juli]

No: HPFGUIDX 120266


Abbi Dorn <amdorn at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 1) Thestrals obviously understand human language
> since they were able to 
> understand Harry's instructions.  Why is that?  Can
> most magical 
> animal/beasts/beings understand the human language?
 
Maybe they are like dogs, you can call him and he'll
come, you can say 'sit' and he'll sit. Of course
thestrals seem a little beyond that, they understand
a bit more.

> 2)  Why didn't Harry and Neville help Ron, Hermione,
> and Ginny onto the thestrals?

He must have forgotten that they couldn't see them.

> 3)  Why was Luna acting as if she had ridden a
> thestral before?  Is it from 
> her natural demeanor or could she have previous
> experience riding a thestral?

Who knows? Luna is kinda weird. Maybe she has ridden
them before, or she just knows how to ride a regular
horse so a fleshless horse wouldn't make a big
difference.

> 4)  When riding the Thestrals to the Ministry of
> Magic, could the riders be 
> seen?  Can only people who see thestrals normally be
> able to see the riders during flight?

My guess is yes, but it's nighttime and they all wear
dark robes so maybe they won't be seen. Imagine a poor
muggle looking up and seeing a boy riding an invisible
flying horse.

> 5)  What happened to the thestrals after the group
> goes into the phone 
> booth?  Do they have to be retrieved?

They must have gone back to Hogwarts.

> 6)  Why doesn't the Ministry of Magic have an alarm
> go off when people enter 
> after business hours?  What about security
> surrounding the Ministry?  What 
> about their badges?  Shouldnt some alarm go off
> when the badges were made to say "Rescue Mission"?

The phone booth is just a machine whose job is to get
names and purpose of the visit, that's all. My guess
is Lucius & Co. must have cleared the way for Harry.
They must have killed or stupefied Eric the security
guard and any other employee on their way. This makes
me wonder, didn't an Order Member guard the prophesy
day and night? Why wasn't anyone there this special
night?

> 10)  What is the Ministry doing with Brains?  Is it
> purely for research on 
> how the brain works or are the brains from famous
> witches and wizards?  Like 
> the rumor that people have kept Einstein's brain in
> a jar because of his genius.

Brains are a huge mystery to everyone, including
wizards so just like med schools keep brains, the
wizard world may also study them.
 
> 11)  What is the mystery behind the veil?  Where did
> the veil come from?  If 
> the veil really is that dangerous, why not have the
> room locked?  Who are 
> the voices?  Do different people hear different
> voices when they are close to the veil?

That is the Million Dollar question

> 12)  Why is Hermione not affected by the veil like
> Harry and the others?  
> She is almost hysterical when trying to pry Harry
> away from the veil.  What 
> does she know or understand differently?

Just like the thestrals, she's never seen death so
she doesn't hear it.

JULI