CHAPDISC: hbp12, Silver and Opals

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 149612

lyraofjordan wrote:

> 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?

Meri here: I think this shows him becoming braver; not necissarily 
more reckless. From the nervous little kid at the beginning of SS 
who worried he'd be worst in the year he has developed enough 
confidence in his magical abilities to try new things. He also still 
has that "certain disregard for the rules" that allows him to think 
outside the box and lets him be a little more adventurous than, say, 
Hermione might be in trying something different or unknown. 

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

Meri: Because no one was breathing down his neck trying to force him 
to do it. It is amazing, IMHO, how successful people can be at 
things when they self-motivate. Plus learning from Snape has always 
been difficult for Harry (one of the reasons the Snape=HPB dynamic 
is so interesting on a reread). 
 
> 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? 

Meri: They're your basic schoolyard pranks, the WW versions of 
pepper gum and disappearing ink. Hermione, who disapproves of just 
about anything outside the rules, would obviously find them 
distasteful while Ron, who has been the subject of not a few of Fred 
and George's pranks as a child, would probably not see the harm in 
them.  
 
> 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?

Meri: I thought this was a great moment for Harry; he's really going 
to need to take an inventory of old No. 12 to make sure everything 
is there (including a certain gold locket...cough...cough...horcrux) 
that might come in handy later. Harry isn't really concerned with 
his own material possessions (as should be evidence by the general 
state of his things; how many times have we heard of Harry throwing 
things pell-mell into his trunk or about the mess in his room) 
except for those that have some real meaning to him: his 
broomsticks, for example, his Invisibility Cloak, his Maurader's 
Map. That he gets defensive about Sirius' things probably means that 
he is more concerned about what those things represent (ie: dead 
Sirius) than what they actually are. 
 
> 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?

Meri: Harry has problems trusting people, we know that. But in OotP 
when DD has left the school one of the first people Harry thinks of 
for going to help from is McGonagall, so I don't think he'll have a 
problem with getting help from her. What will be the problem is, 
will McGonagall be at Hogwarts at all? Will Harry be there for that 
matter? And if they aren't there together will they be able to 
communicate? 
 
> 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? 

Meri: I don't know, I just hope he's checking them on the way in, 
too! 

Meri - snaps for a good summary!