CHAPDISC: HBP26, The Cave

[Beatrice23]

No: HPFGUIDX 162475

Great questions!
> 
> DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
> 
> 1)	Dumbledore is described a `hampered' by his injured hand 
> during the climb down, and is described as swimming like a much 
> younger man, shortly thereafter. Thoughts?

Could this be Hary's perspective - remember that he can barely swim 
himself (GoF).  I think that swimming also requires different 
movements that rock climbing.
> 
> 2)	In the antechamber as he seeks the hidden entrance, 
> Dumbledore murmurs in a strange tongue Harry does not understand. 
Any ideas on this language and how Dumbledore came to know it? 

Not a clue! Maybe just a way to stress how knowledgable DD is 
compared to most?
> 
> 3)	Dumbledore insists on using his own blood to open the hidden 
> archway, though Harry offers his own instead, because "your blood 
is  worth more than mine." What does he mean by this?

I was intrigued by this as well.  I felt that it probably has 
something to do with the gleam we saw in GoF and Harry's blood 
protection.  But oddly it leads me to another question: why is Harry 
allowed to make the blood sacrifice on the way out of the cave?
> 
> 4)	Dumbledore heals the cut he has made by passing his wand once 
> over it, and Harry is reminded of Snape's sung/chanted spell with 
> which he healed Draco. Is this the nonverbal version, or something 
> else? Why does Rowling choose to mention this similarity explicitly 
> by having Harry note it?

I think that it is indeed connected to Snape and represents two 
things 1. a body of knowledge that Snape and Dumbledore are 
acquainted with that Harry does not know.  2.  could also signify the 
connection between Dumbledore and Snape that the author is trying to 
reinforce.  
> 
> 5)	"Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth
" 
> Dumbledore says of Voldemort, as he explains the boat would only 
hold one adult wizard. Is there any special significance to these 
words?

Perhaps simply a clue about Voldemort, he has underestimated Harry 
for a long time and it will probably lead to his downfall.
> 
> 6)	Is Dumbledore too quick to conclude the potion must be drunk? 
> Why or why not?

Hmmm interesting.  I hadn't really thought of it this way.  Perhaps, 
after all, couldn't they have spent more time researching / thinking 
about ways around the protection and come back?  But there is 
definitely a sense of urgency to Dumbledore throughout this entire 
novel.  I think he knows/ senses that his time is short and that is 
the impetus here.
> 
> 7)	Is the potion a poison? Why or why not?

I don't think that it is poison or at least one that is very slow to 
act. My feeling was that it might act like a boggart or a dementor.  
DD seems to be racked with feelings of guilt at this moment as if he 
is being forced to relive all of his choices / actions that 
negatively impacted others.  
> 
> 8)	What do Dumbledore's experiences drinking the potion tell us 
> about him? What is the meaning of his words and actions?

That he has regrets.  That he feels responsible for the sufferings / 
deaths of others, probably not surprising as he has lived for such a 
long period, been such a champion of goodness, and is a warrior / 
general.
> 
> 9)	Dumbledore warns Harry not to touch the water both as he gets 
> into the boat and as he disembarks. Why do you think he does this? 

he probably doesn't want to disturb the inferi.
> 
> 10)	What do you think about the fact that Harry *did* use the 
> water?Do you believe the lake water had any effect on Dumbledore?

Harry did what he had to do, or at least felt he had to do at the 
time.  I think it revived him enough for them to get out of there.
> 
> 11)	What did you think of Harry's attempts to fight the Inferi?

Worrisome.  How can he defeat Voldemort if he makes such mistakes?
> 
> 12)	Dumbledore tells Harry, once they are walking along the 
> lakeshore, "The protection was
after all
well designed," and 
asserts 
> one person could not have defeated it alone. What do you think he 
> meant? How do you suppose the mysterious RAB managed to defeat the 
> protection?

I think that he was acknowledging that he and Harry needed each other 
to pass these barriers, that Harry may need the help of others in the 
future to break through LV's other defenses, and it may have been a 
clue about RAB. Kreacher has certainly been the subject of much 
finger pointing when it comes to how RAB defeated LV's cave.     

> 
> 13)	 Dumbledore's final words in the chapter are clearly a 
> passing of the torch, in retrospect, and mirror his words to Harry 
> in "Horace Slughorn," when he tells Harry he need not worry about 
> being attacked because "You are with me." Does Dumbledore know or 
> suspect what he will find back at Hogwarts? And, is Harry prepared 
to  take up the fight?

He may know, we will probably find out in book 7.  I hope Harry is 
ready.  I fear that he isn't.  He seems to have "lost" in the last 
two novels so I am worried about his fate in the next chapter.
> 
> 14)	Does the chapter title "The Cave" have any special 
> significance? Is its setting in a cave important? (Important events 
> at the ends of PS/SS, CoS, and PoA involve subterranean settings, 
as well).

I suppose that a psychoanaylist would indicate that it is symbolic of 
a return to the womb, perhaps indicating the damage done to 
Voldemort's psyche by his mother's refusal to "live" for him. Well, 
all joking aside, I don't have any real thoughts on this...


Again thanks for the great questions! 



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