CHAPDISC: HBP4, Horace Slughorn

[kiricat4001]

No: HPFGUIDX 143342

Marianne:

> 3. Horace Slughorn tells Dumbledore that he did not have time to 
set 
> the Dark Mark over the House. "The Dark Mark," he muttered. "Knew 
> there was something 
 ah well. Wouldn't have had time anyway" 
> I realize that I am missing something obvious here, but it bugs me 
> nevertheless. Can anybody set the Dark Mark? Anybody who has no 
> connections with Death Eaters at all? I am guessing that since 
> Winky  was accused of doing so in GoF, the answer is probably yes, 
> but the suggestion  that a house elf had done it was met with such 
> disbelief that maybe not  anybody could do it? What do you think?
'
As Betsy said, it doesn't seem like it's such a big deal - just a 
green glittering thing in the sky. Sort of like a permanent 
firework. I'd suspect, with no canon to support me, that the spell 
or charm for this might be connected with having the Dark Mark on 
one's arm, if for no other reason than that this would be another 
symbolic trapping for use by the DEs. Not because it's difficult, 
but because it's another weapon in their arsenal to set themselves 
apart from others and to because it is something that everyone who 
sees it will associate with them.  I see it as somewhat analogous to 
people who scrawl swaztikas on synagogues.

Plus, even if it's a simple charm, who'd want to use it, even as a 
joke? Maybe Fred and George can come up with some anti-Dark Mark 
where all of a sudden the skull sprouts flowers in its eyes and the 
snake turns into a butterfly...
 
> 4. If Horace had been "out of touch with everybody for a year," 
how 
> does Dumbledore know that he is now hiding in charming village of 
> Budleigh Babberton?  

Because DD knows everything? Has spies in all sorts of places? Or 
maybe we just shouldn't worry about it.
 

> 
> 6. Slughorn claims that he spilled dragon blood on the walls, when 
> he was preparing his little charade. He also says that it may 
still 
> be reusable. How do you think it could be reusable after already 
> being spilled? Dragon blood keeps showing up in the series. Do you 
> think it may play important role in the ending? Do you think it 
> already played the important role in the beginning, but we may not 
> know about it yet?
> What do you think?

Well, the gang did find that bottle when cleaning 12 Grimmauld Place 
in OotP that Harry thought contained blood.  Maybe Harry was right, 
but the blood is dragon's blood and not human blood, which I think 
is what Harry thought.  Perhaps one of the 12 uses for dragon's 
blood is to grease old lockets to make them open.   


 
> 7. If Horace has been "out of touch with everybody for a year", 
how 
> does he know about Dumbledore's injury? Is there any significance 
> that he describes the reason for the injury basically the same way 
> Snape describes it to Bella in "Spinner's end"?
> 
> Horace's words are, "Reactions not what they were, I see." 
> 
> Snape, in the relevant part of conversation, says basically the 
same 
> thing: "He has since sustained a serious injury because his 
> reactions are slower than they once were." – p.31. (US.ed).

My first thought was that Horace simply seized on something to 
gently needle DD about.  I thought of it as an indication that 
though Horace's appearance and mannerisms suggest an indolent, self-
indulgent sort, that he's still quick on his feet and can connect 
the dots pretty well.  

 
> 8. Would you agree that Slughorn seems to be *too* unconcerned 
about 
> Dumbledore's injury? If you disagree, why?

No, as DD didn't show any upset I figured Slughorn accepted that at 
face value.  
 
> 
> 9. What was your very first impression of Horace Slughorn?  I 
mean, 
> particularly, if it's possible for you to recall before you read 
> anything about him on the HPFGU. 

I liked him, simply because he tranformed himself into an 
overstuffed chair. (Maybe if he really wanted to throw Harry and DD 
off, he should have turned himself into something more delicate, 
like a Chippendale chair.)  I did find the way he talked about 
collecting people and developing connections to be a little off-
putting, but, on the scale of nasty behavior we've seen perpetrated 
by HP characters, this one seems relatively harmless.

> 10. We know that Harry does not ask questions about his parents 
even 
> in those rare situations when he has the chance to do so. Here 
Harry 
> meets the man who taught his mother, who seems to like his mother 
> very much and Harry is still not asking him any questions about 
> Lily. What do you think about it?

I was not at all surprised, because that's the course JKR has set 
for Harry, however increasingly unbelievable I personally find it at 
this point in the series. But, in this particular situation, it felt 
more natural to me because Harry had just met Slughorn, there was an 
element of secrecy to the meeting, the atmosphere is still redolent 
with the idea of DEs lurking in corners, so I'm not totally 
surprised that Harry wouldn't leap into a discussion of his mother 
with Slughorn right at the start of their association.

Plus Slughorn's mention of Sirius as part of a pair he wished he'd 
been able to collect was jarring to Harry, so I think that would 
also play into his not wanting to discuss his mother.  He might have 
felt that Slughorn was going to turn Lily into a commodity, too.

Marianne