CHAPDISC: HBP7, The Slug Club

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 145875

Meri now:     
    
>   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?

Meri - Is it just me or did anyone else get the feeling (at this 
point, anyway) that JKR was just retreading all the Harry/Draco 
stuff of the past only to, at the end of the book, at long last 
prove Harry right and reveal Draco as a conspirator and bad guy? 
Harry's been trying to bust Draco for *something* ever since first 
year and I guess he was bound to get it right once. But he's 
cried "Wolf!" so many times against Draco that there's no one left 
to believe him; even Ron and Hermione, who were first on the "Draco 
as Heir of Slytherin" bandwagon all those years ago don't believe. 
And Dumbledore never lets Harry in to the inner workings of whatever 
plan he had with Snape, so who can he get help from?  
    
>   2. The Aurors in the scene are men we have never seen before.  
Is this done to highlight the changes at the Ministry of Magic, or 
is there some more sinister reason?                  

Meri - The MoM is bringing out the big guns: the wizarding 
equivalent of Secret Service, FBI Special Agents, CIA assassins, 
State Troopers, Special Ops, Navy SEALs and Marines. I wouldn't be 
surprised if Harry is still being tailed by both members of the 
Order and the MoM security forces now. 

>   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?

Meri - Harry's grown up a little. He knows coolness is far less 
important than loyalty and real friendship and dedication, which 
both Luna and Neville have shown to Harry in the past (all through 
the MoM battle, Luna's comforting words at the end of OotP, etc.) 
and something Cho never showed him. Neville's low self-esteem just 
kills me and hearing Harry try to boost him up, hearing Harry (both 
here and later on in the book) appreciating Luna's quirkiness, gives 
me hope that he's become a little more sensitive and has retained 
his compassion, something I've always thought to be one of his 
strong points. A great scene, one of the best Hogwarts Express 
scenes written. 

snip 

>   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? 

Meri - I still don't have a firm grasp of Slughorn. I'm wondering if 
he's the famous "good Slytherin" that JKR has promised us for all 
these years. He's not evil, nor is he a morally reprehensible 
person, though I think I might spend most of my time around him 
rolling my eyes. He is loyal to DD and yet his favor can be bought 
by a box of crystalized pinneapple or an invite to a choice party. 
He is intellegent but not clear-minded enough to sense young Tom 
Riddle's ambitions. He doesn't seem outrageously prejudiced against 
Muggleborns, and yet whenever he talks of them he identifies them as 
such. He is the first replacement teacher we've seen survive the 
year relatively intact, and he is a good teacher, but to use 
children for networking purposes seems a little low. He seems a 
little like a good back-room type person to know: he knows everyone 
and knows who knows everyone else, and he might be a good ally for 
Harry to have, but he's got his share of Slytherin faults as well. 
So I really don't know. 

snip
>   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?)

Meri - I think we still have to keep in mind that Harry's still a 
kid. He's allowed to make rash decisions and foolish mistakes and 
this is a prime example. He will have to reign in these tendencies 
during the coming book, learn to keep his head in the thick of 
situations (something that he can learn from Hermione) and learn to 
strategize and plan. Perhaps he should brew up a pot of Felix 
Felicis and keep it in a vial in his pocket; he might need it to get 
through this ;-)

Meri - thanking the author for an excellent discussion...and still 
wondering what in the world crystalized pinneapple is...