CHAP DISC, HBP 25, The Seer Overheard

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 161715

*snipping Alla's interesting summary of Chapter 25*

Alla:
1. "'How can I have hung round with you for five years and not
think girls are clever?' said Harry, stung by this." What does this
remark tell you about Harry?

Ceridwen:
This one's harder than it looks!  Harry thinks it's obvious that he 
can't think girls aren't smart.  I think the question tells us more 
about Hermione.

2. The narrator tells us that the reason why Harry disliked
Snape's detentions was because they were taking away from his time
with Ginny. Would have Harry liked them otherwise?

Ceridwen:
Heee, very funny question!  No, Harry would not have liked his 
detentions any better, but he had a single overwhelming reason to 
resent them just then.  At another time, it would have been 
Quidditch, or solving a mystery, or just not having detention.  But 
now, he is involved with Ginny so he resents spending time away from 
her.

3. Why does Dumbledore want fewer visits from professor
Trelawney?

Ceridwen:
Because she nags and complains.

4. The card that Trelawney pulls and reads to Harry correctly
predicts what will happen soon. Did that cause you to change your
opinion of Trelawney's prediction powers, card reading and other
Seer abilities for the better? If not, why not?

Ceridwen:
I had been slowly beginning to wonder if maybe Trelawney wasn't set 
up to look like a fraud, only to be revealed as a true seer in the 
end.  This, and the playing card reading earlier in the book, 
convinced me that she does have a talent, as far as such a capricious 
talent will allow anyone to control it.  I think she actually stifles 
the ability with her airy talk and blatantly false predictions.  I 
wouldn't be surprised if Harry *did* have twelve kids and became 
Minister of Magic someday, just because Trelawney blurted that one 
out.

5. We have discussed many times Trelawney's version of the
prophecy, Dumbledore's version of the prophecy, whether they are
compatible or not, etc., so I am not going there, but there is a
small detail which I am not sure I remember an answer to
(speculative answer of course). How did Trelawney know that Snape
was looking for a job at the time? Alla imagines Snape and
Trelawney's evening tea conversations.

Ceridwen:
Oh, so many possibilities, including those evening tea 
conversations!  For one, Trelawney actively pretends to be a seer who 
knows everything.  So she may just be guessing here and fooling 
herself that she 'sees into his intentions'.  She was there for a 
job, why else would Snape be there?

For another, maybe they did talk.  They might have met downstairs at 
the Hog's Head and started talking about why they were there and 
alone (if they were not with other friends).  We know that Snape was 
told to get a job at Hogwarts, he may have already been given this 
assignment by LV.  Or, he may have simply echoed what Trelawney said 
so she wouldn't question his being there without meeting friends.

Or, she may have thought back to that incident once he did get a job 
at Hogwarts, and assume that he had been trying all that time.  Or, 
Dumbledore might have guessed to her once Snape had been thrown out 
that this was why Snape was there.  Or, as you said, they may have 
had evening teas, up in her tower, with the incense drifting through 
the room, with her making bogus predictions to impress him and him 
thinking that either that censer goes out the window, or he does.

6. "Snape and Peter Pettigrew together had sent Voldemort
hunting after Lily and James and their son ..." Do you agree or
disagree with this quote? Why?

Ceridwen:
I agree on one level, and disagree on another.  I don't think Snape 
and Pettigrew actively put their heads together and decided they 
would send LV after the Potters.  They worked independently.  From 
what we know (GoF), DEs don't know everyone else who is a DE so what 
are the chances that these two, a spy already in the Order and so 
under wraps, and a potential spy at Hogwarts, would know each other's 
identities?

On another level, their seperate informations dovetailed together so 
the Potters were killed.  Both sets of information were necessary, so 
in that way, yes, they did 'work together' - their information put 
together sent LV after the Potters.

7. "Dumbledore did not speak for a moment; he looked as though
he was trying to make up his mind about something. At last he
said, 'I am sure. I trust Severus Snape completely.'" What was
Dumbledore trying to make up his mind about?

Ceridwen:
I think he was weighing whether it would be prudent to tell Harry the 
full reason why he trusts Snape.  He decided against it.

8. "'He hated my dad like he hated Sirius! Haven't you noticed,
Professor, how the people Snape hates tend to end up dead?'" We also
know so far that people whom Harry loves tend to end up dead and
some of the names on the list of people whom Snape hates and Harry
loves tend to be the same. If you were to predict the next person to
die by that criteria, whom would you pick?

Ceridwen:
Lupin.  I don't think Snape has issues with Lupin like he did with 
Sirius and James, but Lupin fits in that Snape isn't thrilled with 
him, and Harry loves him.

9. "Breathing hard as though he were fighting, Harry turned
away from Dumbledore, who still had not moved a muscle, and paced up
and down the study, rubbing his knuckles in his hand and exercising
every last bit of restraint to prevent himself knocking things over.
He wanted to rage and storm at Dumbledore, but he also wanted to go
with him to try and destroy the Horcrux; he wanted to tell him that
he was a foolish old man for trusting Snape, but he was terrified
that Dumbledore would not take him along unless he mastered his
anger ..."

Harry is trying to restrain himself from knocking things over. Is it
because he has undergone some character development and is trying to
control his temper, or is he simply afraid that Dumbledore will not
let him come? Any other ideas?

Ceridwen:
Harry has undergone a year of growing.  I believe this shows that he 
is learning to use his head to think things through instead of acting 
first and regretting it later.  Having a clear reward helps the 
process, but I think he does show more maturity just for thinking it 
through.

10. "'You're leaving the school tonight and I'll bet you haven't
even considered that Snape and Malfoy might decide to -' To what?'
asked Dumbledore, his eyebrows raised. 'What is it that you suspect
them of doing, precisely?'" Why is Dumbledore asking Harry this
question?

Ceridwen:
Dumbledore was surprised later on that Draco could get the DEs into 
Hogwarts.  Draco was avoiding Snape's questions at Slughorn's 
Christmas party, and indicated that he had been avoiding him all 
year.  Snape doesn't know what Draco is planning to do.  Maybe 
someone closer to Draco's age would have some idea, or have noticed 
some clue that an adult would not have noticed or even been privy 
to.  Harry indicates that he knows where Draco has been, and now, he 
was on the scene when Draco seems to have succeeded.  I think 
Dumbledore honestly wants information.

11. `Thanks,' said Ron. 'Er - why do I need socks?' Here we
meet socks again. In fact, we have attempted to figure out possible
socks symbolism in the books for quite some time now. So, is there
any possible symbolic reason why Harry gives Felix felicis to Ron
wrapped in sock?

Ceridwen:
Socks.  Okay, they warm your feet and protect your shoes.  Threadbare 
socks or socks with holes in them or darned places show that you're 
poor.  Some people keep their money in socks because they distrust 
banks: truer in the last century right after the stock market crash 
than now.  A 'sock party' is when someone has done something 
disagreeable to the group, so everyone else in the group puts a bar 
of soap in a sock for each person and hit the miscreant.  People flee 
emergencies in their stocking feet.  Stockings (long socks) are hung 
up at Christmas and filled with presents.  Some socks are trendy, 
with toes knitted in and/or strange stripings.  Sock sizes do not 
match shoe sizes.

Out of those, I would say that Harry is keeping a prized possession 
hidden in a convenient place.  It is not too small or too large, and 
it's protected from prying eyes.