CHAPDISC: hbp12, Silver and Opals

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 149692

<snip Lyra's excellent summary>
 
> 1)	<snip> 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?

Carol responds:
Recklessness was Sirius Black's fatal flaw, and James Potter also
seems to have had his share of it. ("The danger would have made it fun
for him," or something like that.) Harry has always been willing to
tak chances, but usually there was some justification for doing so.
Now he's playing with spells invented by an unknown student, obviously
a genius in Potions and spells of all types but otherwise mysterious,
 for the fun, or the thrill, of discovering what will happen when he
follows the Prince's directions. It's an obsession, a compulsion, much
like the lure of reading HP books and responding to posts, but
potentially more dangerous. The Prince never fails him--the potions
and spells always work--and he's lured in deeper and deeper, much as
he was lured by the dream of the door in OoP but without any direct
link to Voldemort. I think Harry's behavior here is very natural. He's
inspired, not to emulate the unknown boy (he lacks the Prince's
inventiveness and depth of knowledge), but to follow in his footsteps,
to learn what he has to teach. For the first time, learning has become
an adventure. Granted, he should have learned from Levicorpus that you
really shouldn't wave your wand around and think unknown nvbl spells
with the intent of finding out what they are, but since Ron laughs it
off, Harry has no incentive to question his action. And besides, he's
seen his father cast the same spell on young Snape, and he wants to
think that his father invented it. (Whatever sympathy for Severus and
disappointment in James he initially felt seems to have disappeared;
not a good sign, IMO, but perfectly understandable since he thinks
that Snape is helping Draco carry out Voldemort's dark plot.)

I may be wrong, but what I see when I read the pages on the Potions
book and the experimental spells in particular is not Harry's
recklessness so much as his affinity with young Severus Snape, and the
irony that Harry *is* learning from Snape--he just doesn't know it.

> 
> 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? 

Carol responds:
It's early in the book to draw conclusions about Snape and
countercurses since the first-time reader doesn't know yet that the
HBP is Snape, but certainly Severus inventing his own counterhex for
Levicorpus does suggest a thoroughness about him, a sense that you
don't cast a spell you can't undo; you have to do the job right. Just
as a poison must have an antidote, a curse must have a countercurse
(unless it's an AK, or a Crucio or Imperio that lasts as long as the
caster wills it). Teen!Snape is already an intellectual, an inventor
and scientist, and he's not going to leave the job half-done, not to
mention that inventing a countercurse is presumably as much of a
challenge as inventing the curse in the first place. This particular
instance gives us grounds for suspecting that the countercurse for
SectumSempra was also his own invention. Either that or he did some
impressive research to come up with a healing incantation that could
cure an otherwise potentially lethal spell. (I have more to say about
that chant and the image it creates of Snape as Healer, but I'll save
it for the later chapter discussion.) Another thought regarding Harry
and SectumSempra--it's unlikely that the long incantation was squeezed
into the Prince's marginal notes. Harry should have noticed the
absence of a countercurse (along with the notation "for enemies") and
been forewarned.
> 
> 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? 
> Why?

Carol:
The only clue we have that some spells are intended to be nonverbal is
the notation "nvbl." Maybe Levicorpus is one of only a handful of
spells that are intended to be cast silently. Maybe it's one of a
kind.(?) It's interesting that Harry had no trouble learning it, and
that it apparently became something of a fad in SS/MWPP's day. The
secret must have been spread by SS to a few chosen friends, who in
turn passed it to their friends. Or maybe some of the weaker
Slytherins cast it by speaking it and the Gryffindors picked it up
from them. Lupin, at least, had no idea that Snape had invented it.
Either that, or he was concealing the information from Harry, and I
didn't get that impression. As for Harry having trouble learning
nonverbal spells, at least in DADA, that could be a mental block
against Snape or simply the idea that he's already mastered those
spells and doesn't need to learn to cast them silently. Snape, of
course, has other ideas.
> 
> 4)	Levicorpus is Harry's first successful nonverbal spell. Why 
> do you think he was able to do this one?

Carol:
See above. Either it's meant to be cast silently, as opposed to spells
that are meant to be cast orally, or the obstacle of Harry's mental
block against Snape's methods and ideas was removed. He trusted the
Prince; he was excited and curious. He already knows what Expelliarmus
and Protego do. There's no adventure to learning them.
> 
> 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? 

Carol:
I agree with Ron. Assuming that the spell that causes the tongue to
stick to the roof of the mouth is short-lived (as it must be if they
used it on Filch twice), it and the toenail jinx are no different
from, say, Densuageo, which Draco intended to use on Harry (it was
deflected onto Hermione), and which was easily cured by Madam Pomfrey.
(We don't see Crabbe suffering from Mandarin-style toenails all year.)
And Muffliato isn't dark; it's just a useful little charm for anyone
who doesn't want to be overheard. It's interesting that Severus would
have invented it. He must have had at least one friend to talk to in
class or the library or he'd have had no need to invent it. (I wonder
how James, Sirius, and Remus would have reacted to these clever little
jinxes, hexes, and charms if Severus had been sorted into Gryffindor.
I have a feeling that they'd have been as impressed as Harry is.) IMO,
these spells aren't as bad as Hermione's SNEAK jinx because they're
cast openly and they're either short-lived or easily cured. 

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

Carol:
I wouldn't call it a McGuffin, exactly, but certainly a plot device.
(I wish we'd been told whether Snape removed the curse from the
necklace or merely determined what it was so that he could stabilize
Katie Bell. Given what we see in this book of his powers, I'm guessing
that he did remove the curse and that we won't see the necklace
again.) But McGonagall's order to Filch to take it to Professor Snape
immediately certainly shows faith in his abilities. BTW, thanks to
Steve for the interesting link on the superstitions connected with
opals. Interesting that JKR would use that obscure bit of folklore (or
obscure to me, at least!).
 
> 
> 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?

Carol:
I didn't notice it at the time, but I think it just reflects the
limitations of Harry's POV. He only knows that the girl's name is
Leanne because Hermione does. I think it's good that JKR is belatedly
giving us a few more names of fellow Gryffindors (I'm guessing that
Hermione knows her name because she's in their house but not their
year) to add a touch of realism, but I don't think we'll see Leanne again.

> 
> 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?

Carol:
Well, i think they're both spies for the Order. This isn't Mundungus's
first appearance in the Hog's Head. He was there in OoP, disguised as
a witch, when the kids held their first DA meeting. Not that I'm
altogether sure that Mundungus is a good guy. He's a sleazebag and he
was AWOL when Harry was attacked by the Dementors. Possibly Dung
trying to sell stolen goods to Aberforth is a cover for what they're
really concerned about, Order business or security or whatever. I
think that Aberforth, at least, will be important in Book 7, possibly
in connection with the locket Horcrux.

> 
> 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?

Carol:
Well, the contents of Dung's suitcase are described as looking like
they came from a junkshop. Harry would have been wholly uninterested
if he hadn't recognized the silver goblets, and I don't think the fact
that 12 GP is his property has ever fully sunk in. Maybe Sirius
Black's death hasn't, either, or he wouldn't have been so indignant
(in fact, violent, almost strangling Mundungus) on his behalf. But
Harry is in a strange position regarding worldly possessions. In the
MW he's had to go without; in the WW, he has a small fortune and can
buy whatever he wants (within reason). I don't think the value of the
cups ever entered his mind, whereas it was Dung's first consideration
("This real silver, Sirius, mate?"). All that mattered was where they
came from and whom they had belonged to.
> 
> 10) If Malfoy was in detention, how did the necklace end up at the 
> Three Broomsticks?

Carol:
Good question! Draco couldn't have taken it on the train and dropped
it off at Hogsmeade instead of taking the carriages to Hogwarts. I
think that he bought it by owl order once he started to worry about
not being able to fix the Vanishing Cabinet but had Borgin send it,
wrapped in plain brown paper, to Madam Rosmerta, to be picked up by
its owner later. He may have had the idea for the Imperius curse
working through a coin and the bottle of poisoned mead at about the
same time. All he'd need to do would be to use the cursed coin to buy
some butterbeer on the first Hogsmeade weekend, and once she was under
his control, he could carry out the rest of his plan. (As for the Hand
of Glory, which wasn't mentioned in this chapter, it stayed at B&B's
with the second cabinet until he was ready for it.) BTW, someone made
the suggestion that "Zabini" in this chapter was polyjuiced Draco, but
that would have to mean that Blaise was cooperating with Draco and
taking his detention for him. I didn't get the idea that they were
close, or that Blaise is a budding DE despite his snooty personality.
But I do wonder what he was doing there. (If it had been Theo Nott,
I'd have been more worried. I'm starting to fear that he'll be
following Draco down the DE path.)
> 
> 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? 

Carol:
Well, she's right to be concerned about what Harry is doing, just as
she's right to be concerned that he's taking credit for someone else's
work in Potions. The trouble is, she's being a bit hypocritical in
both instances. She's always been Harry's (and Ron's) walking
encyclopedia, and the Prince is not only better in Potions than she is
but smarter than the textbook! It was okay for *her* to do their
homework for them, but she was (in her view) helping them; the Prince
is an unknown commodity with no awareness of them and no concern for
their welfare. But because she has the personal motive of jealousy,
Harry can't (or won't) listen to her warnings about the possible
consequences of unknown spells (and potion alterations)--especially
since they've produced such promising results so far. And for Hermione
to bring in the Ministry after their experiences with Umbridge smacks
of desperation as well as hypocrisy. So I'd say that her main argument
is valid, but her reasons are not. (On a sidenote, her view of the
Prince changes when she learns that he was Severus Snape, even thoough
the adult Snape has recently killed Dumbledore. "'Evil' is a strong
word, Harry." Not sure of the significance of her altered view, but it
jumped out at me when I read it the first time.)
> 
> 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?

Carol:
I think he remembers that she tried to stop him from entering the
third-floor corridor in SS/PS, and she didn't believe his accusation
of Draco Malfoy regarding the opal necklace. But I don't think it will
matter much in Book 7; she'll almost certainly be headmistress of
Hogwarts and he'll be spending most of his time elsewhere--unless the
ending of HBP has given us a completely distorted view of what's to come.
> 
> 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?

Carol:
I think Filch jumps at any opportunity to use a magical instrument and
have control over the students. I suppose he's trying to confiscate
anything that got by his sensors the first time, even if it's on its
way out of the school. Logic was never his strong suit. But I'm not at
all sure it's wise to have him checking for dnagerous objects when he
can't tell potions from perfume and could easily rip the paper off a
cursed object and be killed or incapacitated by it. I don't know if DD
had anything to do with assigning him the job. McGonagall is assistant
headmistress. Maybe she's in charge of seemingly mundane matters, or
maybe DD has other protections on the school. Tonks keeps showing up
in unexpected places. I think she's keeping watch on the gates, and
sometimes in the school itself, in an Invisibility Cloak. As for
Draco, he's in detention, at least this time around.

Carol, thanking Lyra for the interesting questions