CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 35, Beyond the Veil

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 121065


Very nice work, Meri!

> 1) Did you think, before reading the book, that is, that
> Sirius would be the one to die?

SSSusan:
Absolutely NOT.  I was floored by it.  Fell for the Arthur thing at 
first, for instance.  

While I don't want Sirius to come back, because I don't think it 
would send the "proper" message about the finality & randomness of 
death, I do hope for some significance we've not seen yet.  
Otherwise, it's hard not to feel frustrated with JKR, for yanking 
Harry around so.  I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself here when 
I say the "proper" message about death is that it can be random & 
very unfair and then complaining that Sirius' death seemed too random 
& unfair.  But damn it, *Harry's* had enough death & unfairness, and 
it did make me mad that Sirius bought the farm before they had a 
chance to really enjoy getting to know each other as free men [Sirius 
proven innocent; Harry with his burden behind him].  So I hope 
there's more to come in terms of meaning.

> Christian allegories aside, what exactly is behind the veil?

SSSusan:
Never-neverland, of course. :-)


> 2) Where was Mr. Goyle? Was he simply too incompetent to take on a 
> mission of this importance? 

SSSusan:
I vote for incompetence, arising out of excessive "thickness."  
Actually, I liked the idea that he was left in charge of Malfoy Manor.


> 3) For that matter, where the heck was Peter Pettigrew? Did
> Voldemort worry that Peter's life-debt to Harry would be a hindrance
> to him on this mission?

SSSusan:
I saw the response that Voldy doesn't want PP known to the DEs as 
being alive, and that seems a possibility.  So is this notion you've 
put forth here, Meri -– that Voldy doesn't trust Wormtail enough, 
because of that life debt, to put him in a position where he could 
assist Potter too much.


> 5) Azkaban clearly drove Bellatrix over the edge, but she is also
> quite clearly a powerful witch. What kind of spell do you think she
> used to take out Sirius? 

SSSusan:
Whatever it was, I hope it's not one of the unanswered questions at 
the end of the septology.  The look of surprise on Sirius' face has 
always struck me as because of the type of spell she used, not 
because he knew she'd killed him.  (That is, I agree that the spell 
didn't kill him but simply forced him back through the Veil.)   So 
I'd like to know what it was that was such a surprise to Sirius.


> The spells they used during the battle were mostly nonlethal and 
> Harry and the others seemed a good match for them. Does this bode 
> well for the training Harry gave them in the DA?

SSSusan:
Oh geez, I hope in future battles the DEs will use more convincingly 
nasty spells.  At this point I'm holding on to the belief that they 
used non-lethal spells because they were told to protect the prophecy 
at all cost.  Otherwise, the whole scene is pathetically 
unbelievable – DEs, whom the WW tremble to consider, capable only of 
what we saw in the DoM??
  

> 7) How do you think his experience of the Cruciatus Curse will 
> affect Neville? 

SSSusan:
Hickengruendler had the perfect response to this question in 
#121047.  The fact that Neville endured *this* curse, of all curses, 
and survived it, I do agree signifies that he's done being paralyzed 
by his fears.


> 9) When Ron got attacked by the brains I thought his number was up.
> Whose brain was it that tried to strangle him?

SSSusan:
I wish I knew!  But what concerns me most about this whole brain 
situation is that DD said to Harry that it "appeared" his friend had 
suffered no lasting damage.  Rut-roh.  Appeared?  We all know what it 
means when JKR uses "appeared" and "seemed," don't we?

Siriusly Snapey Susan