CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Chapter Thirty seven - The lost prophecy . REPOST

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 124113



> 
> 2. Harry blames himself for Sirius's death. Do you?

The MoM plot was not intended to kill Sirius. Anything could have 
happened then - any and all could have been killed or injured, or 
everybody could have survived. Sirius' death was not intended. 
However, certainly Harry acted wrongly in not studying Occlumency 
properly. More generally, Harry was wrong in that he didn't take 
other people's advice (DD, Hermione, Sirius, Lupin...) seriously. 
(More generally still, Harry's attitude in OotP exemplifies the 
old "pride comes before fall" adage, which ties in with the Christian 
thematics of the series, but that's a subject that needs much more 
space to develop than here.)

> 
> 3. Dumbledore is sure that Harry IS the person the prophecy talks 
> about. Are you? 

Good question. Voldemort certainly marked Harry, and we do know that 
Harry received at least one power from Voldemort. Meta speaking, it 
would be a big letdown if the real hero of the Harry Potter books 
turns out to be Neville Longbottom. So yes, I would cautiously agree 
with DD here.

> 5.  Dumbledore blames himself for Sirius death. Do you?

No, I don't. DD, with all his wisdom, is human. He cannot be held 
responsible for every action taken by every single person around him. 
> 
> 6. Voldemort did not choose the pureblood wizard like 
> Neville "which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard 
> worth being or knowing."
> Does this quote make a difference in your view on whether Voldemort 
> himself is sufficiently interested in promoting "purebloodism" or 
> just in grabbing power, no matter who helps him achieve it?

I don't see it as hypocritical. The similarities to Hitler are too 
striking for me to think them coincidental. Like Hitler (whose father 
was half Jewish), Voldemort's hatred of Muggles/Mudbloods is 
fanatical *because* of his hatred towards his father (deeper still, 
towards himself). 

> 
> 9. Dumbledore tells us that Sibyll is the great granddaughter of 
> Cassandra Trelawney. As we know from mythology, nobody believed 
> Cassandra's predictions which turned out to be true. Do you think 
> that JKR is hinting that Sibyll is a more gifted seer that 
> Dumbledore thinks? Do you think that there is more to Sibyll than 
> meets the eye?

I think that JKR was careful to make Sibyl as ridiculous as possible. 
She is, in effect, saying that divination in all its forms and 
methods has no truth in it. There may be rare moments of true 
prophecy, but they just happen, and have nothing to do with the 
various techniques (tea leaf reading, palmistry, astrology, etc.) and 
the mumbo jumbo that accompany them.

> 
> 10.  Who is the infamous eavesdropper?

Snape, Aberforth or Mundungus Fletcher.

> 
> 11. Dumbledore tells Harry, "In the end, it mattered not that you 
> could not close your mind.  It was your heart that saved you."
> Does this mean that occlumency lessons were unnecessary in the 
> first place? 

I don't think so. DD may have feared Voldemort taking over Harry, and 
in that sense "it mattered not that you could not close your mind". 
However, although Harry expelled Voldemort's possession, Voldemort 
had managed to plant the false vision in him and almost got Harry and 
all of his friends killed.



Naama