CHAPDISC: HBP7, The Slug Club

[lealess]

No: HPFGUIDX 145785

--- AnitaKH wrote:

> 1. This is the beginning of what will be a year-
> long obsession with Draco for Harry. In hindsight, what does this
> reveal about Harry's powers of discernment?

lealess: They are still limited.  Draco is close in age to him and is
his obvious mirror-rival, which is part of the reason I believe Harry
focuses on him.  Yet Draco turns away from being a house leader, a
prefect and a seeker.  He shows signs of being in physical, if not
emotional, distress.  Harry's been there (headaches, rages).  In some
way, he *knows* Draco, because Draco is supposed to be his mirror
opposite, the one he's defined himself against, and something's changed.

There are glimpses of Harry developing discernment through empathy,
yet this seems selective and short-lived (in this book, Merope Gaunt
and Tom Riddle).  He doesn't know how to manipulate Slughorn, his
"assignment"; he's totally off the mark with Tonks; he is
uncomfortable with the Ron/Hermione thing, not wanting to look too
deeply into it; he doesn't even seem to know McLaggen, of his own
house; he believes the Half-Blood Prince really is a prince of a guy.
He blindly follows Dumbledore and throws that in Scrimgeour's face. 
His discernment needs improvement.

His empathy needs improvement, too.  He feels regret after
Sectumsempra, but that's over when Snape asks him for his potions
book, and completely over when he kisses Ginny.

> 3. Compare this train scene with the early
> train scene in OOP. How do his feelings toward Neville and Luna
> compare in the two scenes? What does this scene do for our
> understanding of the Harry in HBP?

> 4. In this chapter, Harry spends time with people of two very
> different rungs on the social ladder: the Slug Club -v- Neville
> and Luna (whose lack of popularity is touched upon several times
> in this chapter... <SNIP>.
> Discuss Harry's very different opinions of the two social circles.

lealess: Earlier, Harry was thinking about impressing Cho, and didn't
know Luna and Neville.  Now, Harry does not seem concerned with social
connections at all.  He has been an underdog most of his life and can
appreciate the view from the bottom.  He probably just feels lucky to
have friends, but he doesn't need tons of them.  Luna and Neville
demand nothing of him.  They have proved their loyalty, as well.  Just
as he is Dumbledore's man, he is true to those who are true to him. 
He doesn't trust easily, especially in view of his upbringing and
celebrity.  He is not such a reverse snob that he totally rejects the
Slug Club, however; it just is not important to him.  And presumably
he doesn't have to impress Ginny, though he probably won't buddy up to
Zacharias Smith any time soon.

> What about Draco's perception of where he is on the
> social ladder? (the attempt to impress that seemingly was trigger
> by being snubbed by Slughorn, his relationship with Pansy who seems
> determined to form some kind of attachment to him, etc.)

lealess: Draco is his parents' son, with an inherited social position
and the expectations and obligations that go with it.  He has never
had to look beyond that and would probably be severely reproached if
he did.  He may have been insecure and felt he had to keep up the
show, it was expected of him; hence, the toadies and the protest about
Slughorn.  Except for the shock of Harry's snubbing his offer of
friendship and Hermione's besting him in class, he probably had no
reason to question his privilege and parents' worldview until it was
all made irrelevant by his predicament in the HBP.

> 5. Neville mentions that his wand may have been
> the last Ollivander sold before he vanished. Do you think this is
> one of those throwaway lines that will be significant later? How?

> 6. What is the composition of Neville's wand,
> and will it be important?

lealess: I assumed it was important the moment I read it, but other
than making Neville a more competent wizard, I have no idea what
role the wand will play... maybe his wand has a phoenix feather, too,
and he and Harry will cast a double whammy on Voldemort... or it's a
match to Snape's so if Snape did indeed cast an AK on the Headmaster
and turns his wand on Neville, Dumbledore will come out of the wand to
advise Neville?  (This makes me wonder where the portrait spirit
resides -- it's just a memory, right? What's in the wand, then? It's
supposed to be a representation of the last spell cast, but in the GOF
graveyard, these representations had consciousness and will, if only
briefly.)

> 7. Luna comes up with yet another – er – quirky
> creature. What are the chances that Luna's wacky creatures will be
> proven real? And if so, which ones?

lealess: I suspect Luna exists for comic delight as well as
unvarnished truth, and generally we can tell which is which, if she
(or the readers of The Quibbler) cannot.

> 8. As we learn about each student's connections
> during Slughorn's luncheon party, whose story, if any, do you
> suppose will prove to be important in book 7?

lealess: I can confidently say Harry.  Then maybe Neville and Ginny. 
McLaggen might get in someone's way at a critical moment, Zabini might
strike a pose, Belby...er.  They've probably already served their
purpose in the story.

> 9. The luncheon scene with Slughorn highlights
> the personality traits that we glimpsed in "Horace Slughorn." Did
> this scene cement your opinion of Slughorn, did it change your first
> impression from the earlier chapter, or did your opinion undergo a
> transformation later, say, after seeing the full horcrux memory?

lealess: I am keeping an open mind on Slughorn.  He has failings, and
he's obviously not meant to be appealing, but he seems more weak than
evil.  So far, I feel sorry for him.  I think he's lonely and
frightened, and the connections and candies are only meant to cover up
his awareness of those things.

> 10. We see that Pansy and Draco seem to be a couple, based on
> this scene. Will this have any significance in the future? (oh,
> like, say, Pansy's is Draco's hideout or something
)

lealess: Maybe she is a Narcissa-in-waiting: her love is true and will
contribute to Draco's redemption.  No, wait, they're Slytherins...

> 11. I find the end of this chapter difficult to
> read, wishing at an emotional level that Harry would use more
> caution. Harry's impulsiveness has gotten him into scrapes before,
> and he once again takes a chance and loses. How do you think this
> tendency will play out? (Curiosity killed the cat or caution makes
> cowards of us all?)

lealess: Harry is reckless, and it is his heart that leads him to be
this way (sorry to sound like Snape here, but he's right).  He leaps
into action before thinking, relying on intuition over reason.  In
this case, he ended up injured and alone.  Did he learn a lesson?  In
the bathroom, he again spied on and eventually "rough justiced" Draco
-- yes, in self-defense, but without knowing what spell he was using,
pulling an unknown out of a hat.  Did he learn a lesson?  Look at his
teacher: in the cave, similar tally-ho actions by Dumbledore led to
the disaster on the Astronomy Tower.

Hopefully Harry will listen to Ron, a strategist, and Hermione, a
researcher, before hurling himself into his next adventure.  They are
brave enough to follow him, but not quite so reckless.  Otherwise, he
is heading for a Ministry- or Tower-sized disaster, I fear.

Great questions!

lealess