CHAPDISC: hbp12, Silver and Opals

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 149589

> >>lyraofjordan:
> CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,       
> Chapter 12, Silver and Opals.
> <snip>
> The day of the first Hogsmeade weekend dawns, and we learn that 
> Harry, (like some members of this list) likes to while away his 
> Saturday mornings perusing his HBP book, looking for hidden clues. 
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Hee!  I loved this. 
 
> Discussion Questions: 
> 1)	In GoF, it says something to the effect of "four years in 
> the magical world had taught Harry it wasn't a good idea to stick 
> his hand into some unknown magical substance." But by 6th year, 
> Harry is willing to try incantations without a clue of what their 
> effect will be. Does this change of attitude tell us something    
> about Harry? Is he becoming reckless?

Betsy Hp:
Hmm.  Harry actually struck me as *less* reckless in this book.  
Though he was rather fast and loose with the Prince's spells.  Part 
of it might have been his comfort level with wand work versus 
potions. Part of it might have been the level of trust he had for 
the Prince.

> 2)	After using the Levicorpus spell, Harry is able to find the 
> counterspell handwritten in the HBP book. Later, when he uses 
> Sectumsempra on Draco, it turns out Snape also knows a            
> countercurse for that spell as well (though we don't know if he    
> invented it or just learned a spell that heals the cut).  Does the 
> fact that Snape apparently creates/learns counterspells to undo   
> his curses give us any insight into the man? 

Betsy Hp:
Other than increasing my desire to have ten million of his babies? 
<g>  I think it goes towards him not being a horrible person.  It 
also suggests a sense of responsibility as well as certain amount of 
methodicalness. 

> 3)	The Levicorpus spell is specifically noted as being 
> nonverbal. In DADA class, however, it seems that students are     
> using the same spells they learned verbally, but learning to cast 
> them as nonverbal spells. Do you think all spells can be cast      
> verbally and nonverbally, or are some used only as either verbal  
> or nonverbal? 

Betsy Hp:
I'm betting all spells can be cast nonverbally if one is strong 
enough.  It seems like there are some spells that can only be made 
nonverbally.

> Why?

Betsy Hp:
No clue. <g>

 
> 4)	Levicorpus is Harry's first successful nonverbal spell. Why 
> do you think he was able to do this one?

Betsy Hp:
Because the Prince showed him how. <g>  Again, I think there's a 
level of trust involved as well.  Harry really, really trusts the 
Prince.
 
> 5)	Some of the Prince's early jinxes included one to make 
> toenails grow fast, one to make the tongue stick to the roof of   
> the mouth, and Muffliato. Ron thinks they are the sort of spells   
> Fred and George might create; Hermione says they are the work of   
> someone who is not a nice person.  Do you think these are typical 
> schoolyard hexes, not much different from the bat bogey hex or     
> Ron's eat slugs curse, or do they hint at something darker? 

Betsy Hp:
I'd say they're typical schoolyard hexes.  They're not very nice, 
but they're not horribly mean, either.  They certainly don't strike 
me as particularly affiliated with the dark arts.  Especially the 
Muffliato, which isn't an attack spell at all.

Hermione's view on any of the Prince's stuff is suspect because she 
dislikes the book so much.  Sort of how she automatically dismissed 
any of Luna's ideas.

> 6)	Is there any particular symbolism or meaning to the opal 
> necklace (or to opals or necklaces), or is it simply a convenient 
> McGuffin?

Betsy Hp:
Already been well discussed, I think.  Overall though, I'd say it's 
a neat McGuffin.
 
> 7)	Most of JKR's characters, even those with walk-on parts, 
> have a complete name (Mark Evans, Piers Polkiss, and dozens of 
> students who have been sorted in the last few years and happily 
> taken their place in the Charms Society, Gobstones Club, or       
> whatever they do that keeps them from crossing paths with Harry    
> ever again).  
> But Katie Bell's friend Leanne gets six pages of center stage, yet 
> no last name. Did this bother anyone? Was JKR simply signaling    
> that Leanne wasn't really worth bothering with?

Betsy Hp:
I didn't even notice this!  I don't think it means anything 
important.  Leanne has served her purpose and I'm sure we won't see 
her again.  (Maybe in a few crowd scenes.)

> 8)	In OOTP Sirius says the barman at the Hogs Head threw 
> Mundungus out of his bar 20 years ago and has banned him since.    
> That seems to suggest some bad blood between the two. Yet Harry    
> sees the same two talking on the street in Hogsmeade. What are we 
> to think?

Betsy Hp:
I suspect that these two keep a keen eye on the WW's underground.  
The fact that they're publically disputing means that they can 
tackle leads from different ends.  And they can pool information 
that no one would expect to get pooled.  It could also provide 
Mundungus with a super secret line to Dumbledore.

> 9) Harry is upset at Mundungus for stealing "Sirius's stuff" (or 
> more specifically, I think, for violating Sirius's memory) and 
> totally forgets it's now his stuff. Does this surprise you? Is 
> Harry's almost total lack of interest in material goods (aside     
> from international-standard broomsticks) an important element of   
> his personality? Will it be important in the future?

Betsy Hp:
I loved this, because it was a perfect way to show Harry's 
continuing grief over Sirius' death, and completely in character.  
That Harry cares nothing for the stuff is absolutely in character 
too.  It's easier for him to not care about money, since he has so 
much.  But he's never come across as overly attached to things.

It is an important part of his personality, but in an overall sort 
of way.  In other words, it's part of what makes Harry, Harry, but I 
doubt it will be specifically mentioned in the next book.  I don't 
see Voldemort offering him a solid-gold broom or anything like that.
 
> 10) If Malfoy was in detention, how did the necklace end up at the 
> Three Broomsticks?

Betsy Hp:
And when did Rosmerta get imperiused?  Did Draco sneak out of the 
castle and into Hogsmeade or did someone else imperio Rosmerta?  If 
Rosmerta was under imperio before the Hogsmead weekend, Draco could 
have had the necklace mailed to her.  If not, he and Blaise may have 
changed places using polyjuice and then Draco zapped Rosmerta.  
Which means someone else was holding the necklace.

Which means, if I've thought this through correctly, that there was 
someone in Hogsmead assisting Draco.  Or at least, someone able to 
travel about more freely than he was. 

> 11) Hermione warns about using "unknown, handwritten spells" that 
> aren't "Ministry approved." But just a few chapters ago, she was 
> admiring the products at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which are most 
> likely not all Ministry approved.  And after her experiences with 
> Umbridge and Fudge, it seems Hermione would have suspicions about 
> the value of Ministry approval. Is this just a lame excuse she     
> comes up with, or is there some validity to her concern about      
> using spells that don't bear the MOM stamp of approval? 

Betsy Hp:
Totally lame excuse on Hermione's part.  For one, she's fully aware 
of what Ministry approved means having taken on Umbridge just the 
year before.  For another, I'm quite sure the Ministry would *not* 
have approved of twelve year olds brewing Polyjuice potions.

If she were really worried, Hermione would have looked over the 
spells herself.  She just really, really hates the book and how its 
replaced her (in her opinion) in Harry's life.

> 12) Harry only reluctantly tells McGonagall about his suspicions 
> concerning Malfoy. Why is he less open with her than with 
> Dumbledore? Will this be an issue as we move into book 7?

Betsy Hp:
I think it will be.  Harry actually has a very small circle of 
people he fully trusts.  Um, a circle of two, I guess.  He's always 
been this way and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.  Nor 
do I think it means that he thinks McGonagall is evil or 
untrustworthy.  He just doubts she'll get the full implications of 
what he's saying or doing, that she'll see him as a little kid.

> 13) Heightened security measures have Filch using the Secrecy     
> Sensor on students as they leave the school. Why is Filch checking 
> people as they *leave* the school? Is it wise to have a squib     
> doing tasks that could put him in contact with magical objects he 
> might not recognize or be able to counter or disable? And why is  
> Filch, who seemed solidly on Umbridge's side the previous school   
> year, still apparently in good graces at Hogwarts? Is this another 
> example of Dumbledore trusting people to do the job he's given     
> them, and is this a wise move on the Headmaster's part?

Betsy Hp:
I think Dumbledore trusts Filch to be Filch.  Umbridge sort of 
unleashed the worst side of Filch in tapping into his deep seated 
distrust of the students.  I think Dumbledore recognized this and 
reined Filch back in.  You know Filch checked and double checked any 
student going in or out of the castle (the checking while leaving 
was meant to be a bit of a joke on his paranoia, I think) which is a 
good thing.  But Dumbledore doesn't allow Filch to be in charge of 
punishment, because that's where he'd go too far.

As far as Filch being a squib...  I'm not sure that he'd have been 
expected to deal with any dark objects.  Snape would be in charge of 
that.  So probably Filch would alert him as soon as an alarm went 
off.

Anyway, really good summary and questions Lyraofjordan!

Betsy Hp