CHAPDISC: HBP 27, The Lightning-Struck Tower

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163046

Carol:
Just one small correction to Beatrice's excellent summary. Wasn't it
Rosmerta, not Draco, who poisoned the mead? She would have done so
under Draco's orders and then sold it to Slughorn with no direct
involvement on Draco's part. Rosmerta, of course, would know of DD's
fondness for her mead, and we know that it was Draco's idea to smuggle
in the poisoned mead, but how did either of them know in advance that
Slughorn would be buying it as a Christmas present for DD? Sorry to
raise new questions here, but that part has always confused me!
> 
> QUESTIONS:
> 
> 1.	If Harry is able to apparate to Hogsmead from the nearest 
> boulder, why couldn't they have apparated closer to the cave and 
> saved themselves the climb and the tiring swim?

Carol:
That has puzzled me, too. I can only guess that they weren't exactly
sure where the cave mouth was or that it was risky to Apparate,
especially side-along Apparition, onto a cliff edge. Apparating to
Hogsmeade, a known target that Harry can picture clearly in his mind
(Destination, Determination, Deliberation). Also, of course, the
streets of Hogsmeade are considerably flatter and less precarious than
a cliffside or a boulder.

><snip question 2 for which I have no answer>

> 3.	Are you reassured by Dumbledore's wry humor about the potion 
> in the cave ("That was no health drink")?  How grave is his 
> condition?  Is there any possibility for recovery?

Carol:
The fact that DD can respond with wry humor (and British
understatement) reassures me that he's still Dumbledore--intelligent
and unafraid of death or danger. But the understatement is exactly
that, IMO. I think he knows that he's either dying or in grave danger.
 Clearly, Madam Pomfrey can't help him. *If* there's a chance of
recovery, it depends on Snape. Without Snape's help, which turns out
to be impossible under the circumstances, I think that DD had no
chance of survival. If the DEs (or Snape or Draco) didn't kill him,
the potion would have done so, especially since he was already
weakened by the ring Horcrux. (Even Amycus can tell that DD is dying.)


> 4.	Harry wants to bring DD to Madam Pomfrey (or vice versa), but 
> DD insists on seeing Snape.  Harry's reluctance is understandable, 
> but what do you make of DD insistence that he see Severus? 

Carol:
Ah! "Severus" is interesting, isn't it? It's one thing to address
Snape by his first name, as DD habitually does with almost everyone,
but to speak of him to Harry, not as "Professor Snape" (which he has
always used before in speaking of Snape to Harry) but as "Severus"?
Claerly, their relationship is closer, more like great-grandfather and
great-grandson, than it appears to outsiders like Harry and the
reader. It's not just trust, it's affection, and something
disturbingly like dependency (even if we don't question Snape's
loyalty). It's as if DD *knows* he can't manage this by himself.
Either he needs Snape to heal him as before (or to "stopper death"
again since the damage from the ring curse can't be completely undone)
or he desperately needs to communicate with him before he dies,
something related to a longterm plan involving Snape's return to the
DEs and Draco and the UV. (I don't mean a prearranged plan for Snape
to kill DD.) 

Even when DD knows that the DEs are in the castle and the UV is in
danger of being activated, he still wants to see Snape, whether to
save him if possible or to avert danger to Draco and to Snape himself
is an open question. But this scene clearly shows that he *does* trust
Snape completely and suggests, though it doesn't prove, that Snape
knows about the Horcruxes. There's another reason to want to see
Snape, the man who dealt with the curses on both the ring Horcrux and
the opal necklace. If there's a curse on the Locket!Horcrux, Snape
could find it and counter it. If, that is, it were the real Horcrux
and the Dark Mark hadn't interfered with that plan. (Carol imagines
Snape opening up the locket in front of DD and Harry and finding the
note from RAB. Oh, the might have beens!)
 
> 5.	What do you make of Rosemerta's sudden appearance?  Her 
> attire?  Is there any indication at this point of her (albeit 
> unwilling) duplicity? 

Carol:
I'm not sure about earlier hints (I'd have to go back and reread the
book since all I can remember is Blaise Zabini lolling against a
column in the Three Broomsticks), but I do think she was watching out
the window for DD's return and was under orders to make sure he saw
the Dark Mark, which had been set over the Astronomy Tower to lure him
there. And the colorful description of her slippers and dressing gown
that you quoted suggests that she was already dressed. She even had
her excuse for looking out the window ready (she saw him as she was
pulling the curtains). But her awareness of the Dark Mark (she's not
surprised to see it) and her statement that it wasn't there when she
put the cat out a few minutes ago don't go together. Still, I think
her surprise and concern at seeing DD's condition and her warning to
Harry not to go into the school alone are real. She knows not what she
does?

> 6.	When you first read that the Dark Mark was flying over  Hogwarts,
what was your initial reaction?  Did you think that someone 
> had been murdered?  If so, who?  Did you believe that the "major 
> death" had already occurred or were you prepared for something more?

Carol:
I wish I could remember! I'm sure I must have thought that someone had
been murdered (that's the usual reason for sending up a Dark Mark, as
Harry reminds us), but I think I was pretty sure that it was
Dumbledore (or Snape because of the sinister imagery surrounding the
UV) who was going to die. I certainly didn't anticipate a trap, with
Harry and DD flying right into it. (Where's a *mental* Time-Turner
that will enable us to recall initial reactions? Hindsight makes it
impossible to recapture them.)

> 7.	Did you see Dumbledore's strength on the flight back to the 
> castle as a sign that he might recover from his injuries? Or simply
a rally due to adrenaline? 

Carol:
Adrenaline or the strength of his will (which is what I still think).
He's clearly flying on empty, using resources even he didn't think he
had. I didn't anticipate recovery. I anticipated exhaustion or worse.
Clearly, he was in no shape to battle DEs or reenact his performance
in the MoM. I do remember wondering whether he was weakening
Hogwarts's defenses by removing the anti-flying protection
permanently, as if it mattered when DEs had clearly gotten into Hogwarts.

> 8.	On page 583, as they speed toward the Dark Mark, Harry 
> wonders if he would again be responsible for the death of a friend.  
> What death(s) does Harry feel responsible for?  Is he really 
> responsible?

Carol:
I'm sure that Harry would blame himself for having his friends
watching Draco (and Snape) and becoming involved with DEs (again),
Felix or no Felix, just as he would have blamed himself if any of them
had died going with him to the MoM. There's a shadow or undercurrent
of Sirius Black here, IMO; Harry may be implicitly acknowledging his
role in that death, fearing that he's again brought his friends into
danger that they wouldn't have been in if he'd let them stay safely in
their beds. He wouldn't really be responsible since it was their
choice to become involved, but he would *feel* responsible. And that's
all to the good.
  
> 9.	Upon reaching the deserted tower, Dumbledore orders Harry  again
to wake Severus and bring him to DD.  If there is a possibility 
> that DEs are in the castle, why send Harry into the castle on an 
> errand?  Why not accompany him?  Why does he order him to talk to no 
> one?  Why not alert some one like McGonagall or Hagrid, if Harry 
> should meet them along the way?

Carol:
DD is in no shape to accompany Harry, and Harry has his Invisibility
Cloak. Neither Hagrid nor McGonagall, however loyal they may be, can
do him any good. He specifically needs "Severus," either for his
Healing skills or because of the UV and their plans for his continued
role in fighting LV and/or protecting Draco. He trusts Snape
*completely*--Snape and only Snape, evidently. No one else will
understand, and if Harry stops to talk to anyone else, it may be too
late for whatever DD has in mind. And, of course, none of the others
is bound by the UV, and none of them knows what Draco is up to. On a
side note, McGonagall is already alerted. She's one of the Order
members/staff members on the watch for DEs getting into the castle. DD
has deliberately kept Snape off that duty, probably to make it look to
the DEs as if he's not a loyal Order member and to prevent his having
to fight DEs, which would make it impossible for him to go undercover.
Whatever job DD wants Snape to do, whether it's heal him or carry out
the UV if need be, only he can do it. And the confrontation with Draco
can no longer be postponed. Above all, DD doesn't want Draco to kill
or be killed, and again, only Snape can prevent that.

> 10.	Why does DD immobilize Harry?  How can he be sure that Harry 
> will be safe under his cloak?  Doesn't this ultimately leave Harry 
> defenseless?  Is this a mistake?  Is Harry ever in danger on the 
> tower?

Carol:
Dumbledore's move to immobilize and silence Harry is very sensible.
The conversation on the tower is as much for Harry's benefit as for
Draco's, but, more important, Harry is impetuous and would rush out to
fight Draco, endangering both their lives. DD knows that the DEs are
coming, and the only way to keep Harry out of harm's way is to keep
him from moving or speaking. As long as Dumbledore--or Snape--makes
sure that there's no fight, with spells flying everywhere, Harry is
safe. Only when DD dies and Harry is released from the spell is he in
danger, but by that time Snape has gotten DD's body off the tower and
snatched up Draco, giving the DEs no reason not to obey his orders and
follow him. By the time Harry is released from the spell, the last DE
is leaving and Harry, though no longer invisible, can safely petrify
him from the back. (BTW, if Harry's IC is still on the tower, that's
another reason to go back to Hogwarts.)

> 11.	What do you make of the exchange between Draco and DD?  Is DD 
> stalling?  Why would he praise Draco's plan to get DE's into the 
> castle?  Is DD right about Draco not being a killer?  Might he
become one?

Carol:
The interrogation has a dual purpose, to persuade Draco that he's not
a killer and to reveal information that may be useful to Harry later,
for example, Rosmerta's being under the Imperius Curse. (Surely, DD
knows that he won't survive the night and won't be able to pass on the
information himself.) He wants to make sure that, whatever happens,
Draco doesn't try to kill him. Praising Draco's plan for getting DEs
into the castle is excellent psychology. Draco is proud of his
accomplishment, coming up with a plan that neither Snape nor DD
figured out and doing what all the grownups thought was impossible,
getting DEs into the castle. I imagine that DD used similar tactics on
Kreacher, extracting information that the person (or house-elf)
otherwise wouldn't want to reveal by praising the person's ingenuity.
I don't think that Draco will become a killer, but he's going to
remain confused about his loyalties and options for awhile. And since
he's an accessory to murder, he's going to find his movements rather
restricted as well. But I don't think he's going to want to serve
Voldemort, who threatened to kill him and his parents, now. He's going
to have to rethink his priorities. And, somehow, DDM!Snape will have
to get through to him.
  
> 12.	The vanishing cabinets have been around for awhile, at least 
> since CoS.  Is it possible that someone else is aware of their 
> connection?  Why does DD conclude so quickly that there must be a 
> pair?

Carol:
I don't think that anyone else is aware of the connection, which must
have been set up long ago. Caractacus Burke is dead and Borgin seems
to have known about it only because of Draco's, erm, project. Neither
Snape nor DD knew about it, and they're the sharpest people at
Hogwarts. Nor did Voldemort, even though he used to work at Borgin and
Burke's, or he'd have invaded Hogwarts long before, DD or no DD. DD
concluded that there must be a pair because the one in the RoR could
not have been used to bring them if there weren't another somewhere
else that provided a passageway (rather like the passageway between
Hogwarts and Durmstrang, which I'm guessing will play a role in Book 7.)

> 13.	Draco and DD disagree about who Snape is working for
Well, I 
> am going to ask again: Where do Snape's loyalties lie?  Okay, okay 
> you don't have to answer that – just see the last 10,000 posts.

Carol:
Anyone who doesn't know my views on this topic hasn't been on the list
very long! <eg> DDM! DDM! DDM!

> 14.	 This has also been covered at length, but just for 
> consistency's sake, who else might be in hiding?  Might LV also have 
> someone in hiding?

Carol:
I'm not sure what you mean about Lv having someone in hiding, but
certainly one Bellatrix Lestrange is hiding from the law after the MoM
fiasco, probably, IMO, beneath the Malfoys' drawing room. (Why else
mention that room in CoS?) And a rat with the alias of Wormtail is or
was hiding at Spinner's End now that the MoM know that Sirius Black
was innocent of Wormtail's crimes. Snape and Draco will certainly have
to keep a low profile if they don't want to get caught. 

As for good guys who may be presumed dead, my candidate is Emmeline
Vance. I'd love to find that Snape gave her the Draught of Living
Death to fake her death. Ollivander and Florian Fortescue are still
unaccounted for, as is one of the original Order members, Caradoc
Dearborn, but I can't see faking his death all these years. As for
RAB, I know some people think he's alive, but I take JKR at her word
that he's dead.
  
> 15.	How are Draco and Dumbledore using the term "mercy?" Why is 
> it Dumbledore's mercy that matters now?

Carol:
Can you ask a harder question, please? <joking!> Draco is using the
term in a pretty standard way--he thinks that DD is at his mercy, just
as Harry is later at Snape's mercy, except that Snape could easily
have killed or Crucio'd Harry had he so chosen. Draco has a weak, sick
(dying?), unarmed old man at wandpoint, and like a teenager with a
gun, he can kill him at any time if he can only find the nerve (not so
easy with no DE backup, especially when the old man is a superb
psychological manipulator. By the time the DEs arrive, of course, he
has lost his nerve altogether.) 

But Draco is wrong: DD is not at his mercy. He isn't really in a
position to show Dumbledore compassion or forbearance (as Snape is
with Harry) because he isn't capable at this point in his life of
killing him. DD's life *isn't* really in Draco's hands, and Dumbledore
knows it. You can't show mercy if you can't withhold it. All Draco
shows, increasingly throughout the scene, is irresolution. He starts
out by disarming him, thinking that all he has to do is wait for the
DEs so he can kill him, and then he finds out that he can't even do
that, even if it means being at Voldemort's nonexistent mercy.

Clearly, Dumbledore has a more complex understanding of mercy. He
knows, first, that he's not at Draco's mercy. But he *can* show
mercy--compassion and understanding if not exactly forbearance (he's
in no position to harm Draco even if he wanted to)--to a boy who
thinks DD is his enemy. He offers him refuge and protection (exactly
how he expects to arrange that given the DEs who will show up any
moment is unclear, but maybe he has some sort of prearrangement with
Snape). Dumbledore's mercy, however we define it, *is* what matters
now. It's what convinces Draco that he's not a killer. And just
possibly DD's mercy to Draco involves asking Snape to keep his UV,
sacrificing DD's life (which is forfeit anyway) and Snape's freedom,
reputation, job, ad infinitum to keep Draco unharmed in body and soul.
That's a huge burden to place on Snape, but Dumbledore has already
shown him mercy by trusting and forgiving him. It's Draco's turn now.


> 16.	Dumbledore indicates his surprise that Draco would 
> allow/agree to let Fenrir Greybeck enter the castle.  Why is it that 
> Draco might want to prevent Fenrir from coming?  This is the second 
> time we have been reminded of Draco's connection to Greybeck.  Why?  
> What is the connection?

Carol:
I think the connection is simply that they're both Death Eaters, and
Greyback has been part of the plan from the beginning. Draco is in no
position to prevent Greyback from coming--true, he didn't *invite*
him, but it was naive not to expect him to show up, and he certainly
saw him when he climbed out of the vanishing cabinet. But possibly
Draco's daydreams of his "glorious" accomplishment didn't include
Greyback as one of the DEs he invited into Hogwarts. Endangering his
own friends along with everyone else was no part of his plan.

> 17.	The DEs are insistent that Draco finish the job himself, or 
> at least the unnamed DE is.  Why is this important?  Does it really 
> matters who finishes the job?  Will there be consequences for Draco 
> or Snape since Draco did not ultimately murder DD?

Carol:
I think that the DEs are under orders to make Draco do it, but there's
 no question in my mind that if he had hesitated long enough (and
Snape hadn't shown up to take matters out of their hands), they'd have
resorted to torturing or even killing him and finished off DD
themselves. Certainly, that's what Greyback wants, and Amycus tells
Draco to kill DD or stand back and let one of them do it. It's only
Brutal-face who insists on letting Draco do it. The others aren't big
on following orders. They want murder and mayhem, as we see when
another DE, the big blond, sets Hagrid's house on fire and one of the
DEs (Blondie or Amycus, since it must be a man or Harry wouldn't think
it was Snape) starts to Crucio Harry. BTW, I'm sure the the
Brutal-face DE is Yaxley; otherwise, Snape's mentioning that name in
"Spinner's End" is pointless. By the same token, Amycus and Alecto
must be the Carrows, mentioned at the same time).

I think that Voldemort will be pleasantly surprised, even elated, that
"the only one he ever feared" is dead, and if Snape is right that "he
means for me to do it in the end," he's not going to punish Snape. And
Snape, still bound by his word of honor if not by the second provision
of the UV, will want to protect Draco. All he has to do is to point
out that Draco repaired the Vanishing Cabinet against all odds and let
the DEs into Hogwarts, without which DD would not be dead. Probably,
LV expected heavier losses than one dead DE and two petrified (and
presumably arrested). And Snape has "proven" his loyalty. It's a field
day for LV, and if he really wants to Crucio somebody, it will
probably be Blondie for accidentally killing Gibbon (little ape?).

Carol:
> 18.	Again a common question: Why does DD plead with Snape?  What is
he pleading for?  Why does his tone frighten Harry more than "anything
he had experienced all evening?" 

Carol:
I'll keep this mercifully short, without arguments or canon support,
all of which can be found in other posts. I think that DD is pleading
with Snape to keep his vow because only by killing DD himself can he
save Draco and the invisible Harry, get the DEs out of Hogwarts, and
go under deep cover. He has to plead because Snape, understandly,
would rather die futilely but nobly than murder his mentor and trade
pointless glory for purposeful infamy. As for Harry being frightened
by DD's pleading tone, he's never heard DD in a position like this,
helpless and (seemingly) at the mercy of a traitor. He senses that DD
is going to die by Snape's hand and knows that he, Harry, will be
powerless to prevent it. He's right that DD is pleading; he just
doesn't understand that it's not a plea for mercy for DD himself.

> 19.	 And again, sigh: What is the hatred and revulsion on Snape's 
> face?  What revolts him?

Carol:
You know what I'm going to say, right? Self-hatred and revulsion at
the deed required of him, and maybe some fury at DD for placing him in
this position, akin to Harry's fury at Snape for "causing" Sirius
Black's death. Snape will get over the anger at DD, IMO, but the
self-hatred will be impossible to block except through Occlumency,
which compartmentalizes his emotions and keeps the agony at bay.

> 20.	Why is this Avada Kedavra spell different from the others we 
> have seen? (Note: Cedric simply crumples to the ground). Or is it?  
> Why does DD's body fly up in the air and then fall slowly back
toward the earth?  

Carol:
I have mixed feelings about this question because it's not just the
body floating over the battlements that makes this AK different from
the one that kills Cedric. There's no blinding flash, no sound, no
expression of surprise on DD's face, no open eyes. Maybe DD knew what
was coming and had time to close his eyes, but his features are also
composed, which would be hard to do in the split second it took to hit
him with the AK once Snape finally raised his wand. And if Snape's AK
is powerful enough in itself to send DD over the battlements even
though he spoke the words rather than screaming them into the night
like Wormtail, where is the flash that was so bright Harry could see
it through his closed eyelids and the whishing or whirring sound (I've
forgotten the exact description)?

I can think of only two possibilities: Either it's some other spell
masked as an AK (we know that Snape can do nonverbal spells, and other
spells, such as Impedimenta, could send DD over the battlement and
create a jet of green light) or another nonverbal spell (such as
Wingardium Leviosa) combined with an AK, so Snape can fulfill his vow
by killing DD but also get his body off the tower so that Greyback
won't get it and the DEs will have no reason to stay. If it's the
first possibility, then DD must have died from some other cause than
the fake AK, possibly from the potion or "unstoppered death" and Snape
merely allowed that to happen. Since he took Draco's task on himself
and DD died, the UV wouldn't care how he did it. The DEs, not being
very bright, would have heard the words "Avada Kedavra," seen the
green light, and watched the dead (or seemingly dead) DD float over
the battlements. They wouldn't question the absence of a flash or a
sound because it all happened too fast and they wouldn't have seen
DD's face.

The advantage to Snape of the second option is that there's no AK on
his wand (assuming that he can't use Prior Incantato, or whatever the
singular is, to remove it himself) and there's no split soul because
he hasn't killed DD, only allowed him to die. But the story is
probably better with the first option, an irregular AK and a
deliberate removal of DD's body, if only because it makes Snape a more
tragic and tormented figure, actually having committed the crime that
everyone but the DEs hates him for and suffering the consequences of
his own free will for the greater good in obedience to DD's last wishes.

Thanks for the great questions. It's hard to work on a much-discussed
chapter, I know!

Carol, who would never, ever string four prepositional phrases
together (blushes and crosses her fingers behind her back)