CHAPDISC: HBP1, The Other Minister

[kiricat4001]

No: HPFGUIDX 141855

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "KathyK" <zanelupin at y...> 
wrote:
>
> CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 
Chapter 
> 2. The PM felt like an `ignorant schoolboy.' Is this truly how 
they 
> were treating him and if so, how does the condescension of the two 
> wizards relate to their ostensible leadership of opposition to the 
> Muggle-hating DEs?  Is this condescension symptomatic of their 
rise 
> to power or a deeper problem within the wizarding community apart 
> from LV & co.?

Marianne: Oh, yes, I think it is certainly condescension. I can 
understand the WW's desire to keep their world separate, but Fudge's 
manner borders on insulting. In the description of the first meeting 
between Fudge and the PM Fudge rattles on about how difficult his 
job is to keep the wizard world invisible to non-wizards, and then 
bascially tells the PM not to worry his little head about it, and 
completes the pattern by giving him a "fatherly" pat on the 
shoulder.  

I wonder if the portrait in the PM's office works both ways.  Can 
the PM use it to summon the Minister of Magic? I wouldn't be 
surprised if the answer is "no" just because I'd think wizards would 
be worried that their Muggle counterparts would be constantly trying 
to make contact to have the wizards take care of things magically.   

Maybe the PM might have thought a little more deeply about that 
hurricane.  Hurricanes don't spring up overnight.  If that's what 
happened here, it seems quite questionable, meteorologically 
speaking. 

  
> 4.  Fudge shows up and tells the PM a bunch of things that he is 
> powerless to do anything about.  Sirius Black's escape is the only 
> time Fudge requested any help from the PM.  There seems to be 
little 
> any non-wizard could do about it, and the action provoked 
criticism 
> of Fudge in PoA (Ch 3, The Knight Bus).  What is the point of 
> telling the Muggle Prime Minister anything about what is going on 
in 
> the WW?  Law? (What is the relationship between the WW government 
> and the Muggle government?)  Courtesy? Glaring Incompetence?

Marianne:
What is the point indeed?  My interpretation is that the only reason 
Fudge told the PM about Black's escape is that he was convinced 
Sirius would slaughter anyone who got in his way, Muggle or Wizard, 
on his mission to find and murder Harry.  Fudge was not only 
requesting help in trying to locate Sirius, he might also have been 
preparing the PM for a sudden swathe of murders that would get the 
public's attention.

As for other things, I really don't know.  Is it a courtesy to tell 
the PM that 3 dragons are being imported?  What's he supposed to do 
with that knowledge?

> 5.  Fudge says the dementors are breeding, which is causing the 
> gloomy weather throughout England.  We know prior to this the 
> dementors were guarding Azkaban and working with the Ministry, yet 
> there was no chilly mist covering the land until now.  Why weren't 
> they breeding before?  Ministry controls?  An agreement?  


Marianne:
I have no answer why they weren't breeding before, or why they were 
content to stay on Azkaban rather than running riot through London, 
feeding on the emotions of millions of people.  Who is/was assigned 
to be the liaison with Dementors?  How do they communicate to 
humans? Do new Dementors just appear fully formed or is there some 
sort of gestation period?  Maybe JKR will provide us with "The 
Complete Biology of Dementors."

> 6.  Is "Serious" Black now officially innocent? 

Marianne:
I suppose so, although it seems that this information has not been 
widely spread throughout the land.  Sirius' presence at the battle 
in the Dept of Mysteries was not mentioned in the news at the end of 
OoP, so someone hushed that up.  Seems quite Fudgian, doesn't it?  I 
can see Fudge not wanting to add to his troubles. What with Vmort's 
return and DD and Harry being vindicated in the public's eyes, why 
add to what people see as his incompetence by admitting that an 
innocent man had been imprisoned for 12 years?  It wouldn't matter 
that Fudge was not the one to send Sirius to Azkaban.  He's the one 
in charge now, and this was just one more thing that was wrong on 
his watch. 

So, I think Fudge set the record straight, but did it very quietly.  
We've never heard any more about the supposed inquiry that Fudge 
mentioned, either.  OTOH, these particular loose Black ends probably 
have no bearing on the remaining arc of the story, so they're just 
being checked off JKR's list of questions that still need to be 
answered. 

  
> 8.  Who might have cast the poorly performed Imperius Curse?  What 
> makes the curse poorly performed?  Was it just sloppy magic, or 
> function similarly to the other Unforgivables in that you really 
> have to mean it for it to be successful?

Marianne:  

I didn't pick up on this on the first two reads. It does make one 
wonder if this person didn't have their heart in it, or if perhaps, 
they're somewhat new to this Unforgivable stuff and need more 
practice to get up to snuff. And what made Herbert Chorley, Junior 
Minister, important enough to be targeted?

Question: We know that the MoM has assigned Shacklebolt to guard the 
PM, much to the PM's surprise.  Who, on the Muggle side of things, 
fixed that? Or did the MoM have to resort to using magic to change 
records and modify memories so that Shacklebolt's sudden appearance 
didn't cause any comment?

Marianne