CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Chapter Thirty-Eight - The Second War Begins

[Dan Feeney]

No: HPFGUIDX 124570


This chapter opens up with all 6 DA veterans of the Battle of the DoM 
in the hospital wing. Hermione, occasionally wincing in pain from 
Dolohov's silent curse, reads aloud a front page article about the 
return of Voldemort from the Sunday Prophet. In the article, 
Cornelius Fudge admits that "Lord - Thingy" has returned to the 
country and is once more active. There has been a mass revolt of 
Azkaban Dementors, who are apparently under the control of Thingy. 
Dumbledore has been reinstated as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and the Boy
Who Lived is referred to as "a lone voice of truth." There are a 
number of other articles in the paper about Voldemort (still usually 
referred to as You-Know- Who) in the past, the Ministry, Albus 
Dumbledore, and a reprint of The Quibbler article, which Luna's 
father sold to the Prophet for a sum that will allow them to go
to Sweden to seek a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

Ron is recovering from the attack in the Brain Room (Madame 
Pomfrey: "thoughts could leave deeper scarring than almost anything 
else") with the help of Dr Ubbly's Oblivious Unction. Neville's nose 
and Ginny's ankle have been fixed. Hermione, however, has to take 10 
different potions.

We learn that Fred and George's joke shop must be doing well (they 
sent a pile of chocolate frogs), and that Flitwick left a tiny patch 
of their swamp under the window and roped it off ("it was a really 
good bit of magic").

Umbridge is in the bed across from Hermione. Dumbledore apparently 
rescued her from the centaurs "without so much as a scratch." Ron 
makes a clip-clopping noise and startles her. From this the 
conversation turns to Firenze (who is staying on, apparently, with 
Trewlawney as well) and Divination. Hermione challenges Ron
regarding "real prophecies", and when the subject turns to the broken 
orb, Harry, not ready to tell anyone about the prophecy as related to 
him in Dumbledore's pensieve, decides it's time to visit Hagrid.

On his way to the cabin, Potter runs into Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. 
While Draco threatens, angry at the imprisonment of his father, Harry 
taunts them. When wands are drawn, Snape accosts Potter and wants to 
deduct 10 points from Gryffindor, but there are no points left to 
deduct, until McGonagall arrives from St. Mungo's, and awards 50 
points to the 6 veterans of the Battle of the DoM, "for alerting the 
world to the return of You-Know-Who."

Harry leaves the school, again noticing the students out enjoying the 
end of their exams, and as some call out hello to him, he can't 
decide whether or not he wants to be around people.

Hagrid, picking runner beans, spots Harry and almost immediately 
mentions Sirius ("Bin hidin' out in the mountains,' said Hagrid. `Up 
in a cave, like Sirius did when he...") Hagrid wants to find a lady 
friend for Grawp, and Harry can't get up the energy to argue the 
point. When Hagrid tries to console Harry, Harry tells him he's got 
to go see Ron and Hermione.

Harry sits by the lake, reflecting on his status as a marked man, his 
grief over Sirius' death, and his separation from the rest of the 
students. ("An invisible barrier separated him from the rest of the 
world.")

Ron and Hermione leave the infirmary, completely cured. Harry still 
avoids any talk about Sirius. Professor Umbridge is detected trying 
to sneak out of the school, and Peeves chases her out with a walking 
stick (McGonagall's) and a bag of chalk.

Avoiding the Leaving Feast, worried Dumbledore would mention him, 
Harry finds the square mirror Sirius gave him at twelve Grimmauld 
Place in his trunk. He says Sirius' name into the mirror twice, but 
sees only himself reflected back. The mirror breaks when he tosses it 
back into the trunk.

The idea strikes him to talk to a familiar ghost, Sir Nicholas de 
Mimsy-Porpington, who is on his way to the feast, and has apparently 
been expecting Harry to accost him. "He won't come back," says 
Nick. "He will have... gone on." Nick tells Harry ghosts are neither 
here nor there, have only a feeble imitation of life, walking palely 
where their living selves once trod. Nick says learned wizards study 
the matter in the Department of Mysteries.

In the corridor by the Gryffindor rooms Harry comes across Luna 
Lovegood posting pleas on the wall for the return of her possessions 
that people have hidden. He feels pity for her and offers to help her 
find them. "They'll come back, they always do in the end," she says. 
Harry finds he can talk to Luna about Sirius, and we learn that 
Luna's mother died when she was nine. Luna believes people will see 
their loved ones again even if they have died, and reminds Harry of 
the voices behind the veil in the room with the archway. This
encounter seems to lessen the terrible weight in Harry's stomach 
slightly.

On the Hogwarts Express Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle are mutli-cursed by 
DA members when they ambush Harry.

Neville's Mimbulus Mimbletonia is much bigger. Harry plays wizard 
chess and Hermione reads bits of the Prophet. There are articles 
about how to repel dementors, sightings of Voldemort and so 
forth. "It hasn't really started yet. But it won't be long now..." 
says Hermione. They spot Cho and Harry confesses he feels
nothing - that was another universe ("the one with Sirius in it"). 
Cho is dating Michael Corner, Ginny's former boyfriend. Ginny has 
chosen Dean Thomas as her new boyfriend, and Ron, who had "cast a 
furtive glance" at Harry when telling Ginny she should choose better 
boyfriends, reacts demonstratively.

At the station, along with Hermione's parents, a group of Order 
members are awaiting their arrival, and Fred and George are there 
too, wearing dragonskin jackets. Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, 
Lupin and Moody greet the Dursleys when they come to pick up Harry, 
and tell them they'll "have us to answer to" if they learn Harry is 
mistreated in any way. Ron and Hermione promise to see Harry soon, 
and Harry, who "could not find words to tell them what it meant to 
him, to see them all ranged there, on his side..." leads the
Dursleys out of the station.

Discussion Questions for OotP Chapter 38 - The Second War Begins

1 - This denouement has some extravagance - the idea of a partner for 
Grawp, the departure of Umbridge, the attack on the Hogwarts express, 
the encounter with the Dursleys at the station. Did any of these 
events bother you, or pose questions for you, make you think of 
related incidents or have ethical concerns?

2 - There are a couple versions of "afterlife" presented here - 
Nick's and Luna's. What is the difference - or rather, if one version 
is consternating and the other comforting, what is Rowling getting at?

3 - In this chapter, the inner isolation of Harry is emphasized, even 
with the DA helping Harry, the public acknowledgement of Voldemort's 
return, and peer recognition at school. Is this development integral 
to Harry as hero, as the one who must defeat Voldemort?

Other Notes for Discussion

1 - Luna doesn't appear on the Hogwarts Express.
2 - Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes seems to be doing well.
3 - Ron offers chocolate frogs to Neville, Ginny and Harry, not 
Hermione or Luna.
4 - The dementors are now under Voldemort's control.
5 - How will divination class be structured, with Firenze and 
Trewlawney both instructing?
6 - Is there a downside to the Prophet being 180 degrees from it's 
previous position regarding Harry's mental state and the presence of 
Lord Voldemort?

Dan

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