[HPforGrownups] CHAPDISC: HBP10, The House of Gaunt

[P J]

No: HPFGUIDX 148582



>1. Harry goes to great lengths to hide from Trelawney. In spite of
>this, he overhears a fortune-telling. Trelawney's card reading has
>been the subject of examination by those who know the Tarot. Why did
>Rowling put the card reading in this chapter? Is it necessary
>foreshadowing? Who is the "dark young man, possibly troubled, one who
>dislikes the questioner"?

PJ:
IMO, Harry is the dark young man.  When I read this section my first 
impression was that JKR was trying to show us that Trelawney was a much 
better seer than thought and that her real problem was in second guessing 
herself rather than her talent itself... Her reading gave an overview of 
future events but since she discounted it she was unable to warn anyone.

The questioner is always whoever the cards are laid out for - the person 
with the question.   I think she did the reading for herself but decided it 
had to be wrong because she couldn't believe that anyone could possibly 
dislike her.  :)

>2. Merope does not really speak in this chapter, or anywhere else in
>the book. Her few words are related by other characters. Yet,
>according to Dumbledore, she does speak for herself through her
>subsequent actions, although he speculates those actions are
>underhanded. Not allowing a voice to a character is a striking
>narrative device. Does Merope have a voice? What is its character?

PJ:
She obviously has a voice since, as others have pointed out, she spoke when 
she sold the locket as well as when she named her son.   She's probably been 
told that she had nothing worth saying for so long that she only speaks when 
she can't avoid it.  For that reason I picture her voice as being not much 
louder than a whisper and very tentative.


>3. The Gaunts are said to have married their cousins, a line which
>dwindled to the present Gaunts. Marrying cousins is claimed to be a
>bad thing because recessive genes can become dominant in resulting
>children. Here is an article with another view on cousin marriage,
>which is apparently common in some cultures:
>http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2002-04-04-cousins.htm.
>Dumbledore comments that the Gaunts were "noted for a vein of
>instability and violence that flourished through the generations due
>to their habit of marrying their own cousins." They had also been
>high-living profligates. If we accept that specific personality traits
>can be inherited in the Wizarding world, what did Voldemort
>specifically inherit from the Gaunts?

PJ:

I don't think there's any doubt that young Tom inherited the family insanity 
as well as their ability to speak parseltongue and their air of superiority. 
  If not "in the blood" where else would a child raised in an orphanage 
develop the strong feelings of entitlement he had when Dumbledore found him?

>5. Inviting guesswork, as Dumbledore does: what is the story with the
>ring? It is an "ugly" ring that someone (Borgin & Burkes?) offered
>Gaunt a lot of money for at one time. The ring meant enough to the
>Gaunts that it and Slytherin's locket survived the family's
>squandering of its fortune. Is the Peverell connection important?

PJ:

I'm not 100% sure of this but isn't the Peverell castle the one used in the 
movies for the exterior shots of Hogwarts?  Perhaps they have nothing to do 
with the actual storyline but were put in by JKR as a wink to her readers?  
:)

>Why is it necessary to keep the ring's story untold until book 7?

My feeling is that Dumbledore doesn't want Harry to be afraid to go after 
those horcruxes and that the story of how he destroyed the ring (as well as 
his hand) would do more harm than good in that respect.

6. <snip>Why was it important to use the Pensieve in this instance
instead of just telling Harry the information?

PJ:

Dumbledore could tell Harry about the Gaunt family but without seeing them 
the story is only half told.   That saying "one picture is better than a 
thousand words" is accurate - especially in this case.

>Dumbledore admits to
>being really clever, but capable of making correspondingly huge
>mistakes. What if Dumbledore is wrong about his "guesswork"? Who is
>Dumbledore answerable to if he is wrong?

There's no one to answer to if he's wrong.  No one except LV knows for sure 
what all the horcruxes are so Dumbledore has to put all the information that 
he's worked so hard to gather together in order to make the best guess 
possible until more information becomes available.

>7. Dumbledore confirms that it is very important that Harry know about
>Voldemort's past, that it has "everything to do with the prophecy."
>What do the Gaunts, as part of Voldemort's past, have to do with the
>prophecy? Here is the prophecy, for reference: "The one with the power
>to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice
>defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will
>mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not
>... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live
>while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the
>Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies... ."

PJ:

On this I'm totally boggled.  I'd love to hear what everyone else has to say 
about this because I honestly don't have a clue.  Other than the transfer of 
parseltongue I see nothing in the Gaunts that has anything to do with Harry 
or the prophesy.

>9. The Wizengamot is responsible for enforcing Wizarding law at the
>time Morfin broke the law by performing magic in front of Muggles. But
>as Gaunt pointed out, there was no real consequence to breaking the
>law. The Ministry corrected the harm done to Muggle Tom and erased his
>memory of the hex. <snip> What does the Gaunts'
>interaction with Wizarding law, especially as regards Muggles, say
>about that law?

PJ:

When I read these books I see mostly Pure-blood Wizards in positions of 
power.  I also see a strong disregard for Muggles in general in the WW.  So 
while the laws were written, I don't believe they're enforced or, if they 
are enforced, it's reluctantly.  Especially against a Pure-blood Wizarding 
family like the Gaunts or even the Malfoys.

>10. This had probably been discussed to death, but: Why can't Ron read
>the Prince's instructions? Hermione won't try to read them because she
>is opposed to "cheating" with the HBP book  is this the real reason?
>Why does she insist the handwriting is a girl's?

PJ:

Because I believe it IS a girl's writing.  Hermione is JKR's voice in the 
stories so if she says the corrections and comments in the book were written 
by a girl, then it's a girl's writing.  The 3 of them have seen Snape's 
writing for years at this point, both on the board as well as comments on 
their parchments.  If it actually was Snape's writing in the margins woudn't 
one of them have recognized it as such?

I know the book was inscribed with the title Half Blood Prince and that 
Snape claimed that title as he was running from Hogwarts BUT we've also been 
told it wasn't a new book when Snape wrote that.  It was already used by *at 
least* one other person and we have no idea at this point who owned it 
before him.  It's not at all impossible for Snape to have been given that 
book by someone who got a new one (his own could've been ruined in a 
cauldren explosion) and didn't need it anymore or for him to have kept a 
book "lost" by someone he envied in potions class.  My money is on it being 
Lily's school book because Slughorn has never raved about Snape being a 
great potions maker but goes into total rapture over Lily's abilities in 
class... And maybe Harry can read it while Ron can't because he "has Lilys 
eyes".  I think JKR is planning a bang with this in book 7. <shrug>

Oh, and if I'm not mistaken, the curses were printed rather than written in 
the same hand as the rest of the margin writing (very easy to read - not 
like the rest of it).  Snape could have printed those in the book while he 
had it.  I lent my book out so I can't check this for certain but that was 
my impression after reading the book.


Great questions!  Thankyou for taking so much time and effort to put that 
together for us.  :)

PJ