CHAP DISC: HBP 22, After the Burial

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 159402


> Discussion Questions:
> 
> 1.  Why does a girl deliver Harry's note from Hagrid, rather than 
an 
> owl?  Why isn't that girl named? 

Potioncat:
I think there are several times that notes or messages are delivered 
by students. Nothing much is said about it, but it gives the sense 
that some students might be serving as pages---not sure if that would 
be a volunteer position, or a form of detension. Colin delivers a 
message in GoF. 
> 
> 2.  The Montgomery boy was attacked because his mother refused to 
> help the Death Eaters.  The books make it seem like the Death 
Eaters 
> are constantly threatening random and numerous wizards who refuse 
to 
> help them.  Are there enough Death Eaters for this to be 
realistic?  
> How many Death Eaters do we think there are?  What did they want 
> from the Montgomery witch?  Will we hear more about her? 

Potioncat:
Throughout the books there are scenes that indicate a great number---
it's caused all sorts of discussions about how many students 
there "really" are. I think JKR sees the WW as fairly large. 

It's hard to tell if random families are threatened or if particular 
ones are. Or if any family a DE might have a grudge against would be 
threatened. I don't think we'll hear more about Mrs. Montgomery. 
> 
> 3.  Harry was surprised to hear that werewolves sometimes kill 
their 
> victim.  Were you?  In PoA, didn't Snape seem to imply that Lupin 
> could have killed him during the Prank?  Why doesn't Harry remember 
> that?  

Potioncat:
Everything I used to know about werewolves I learned from Lon Chaney, 
Jr. No I wasn't surprised. No, Snape did not imply Lupin could have 
killed him. Snape down right insists that was the plan.
> 
> 4.  Do you think there's any possibility that Harry took something 
> other than Felix Felicis?

Potioncat:
No, that was done earlier in the book.
> 

> 
> 6.  How much of the effect of Felix Felicis do you think is placebo?

Potioncat:
We've seen how well a placebo works. In fact, it may have worked 
better. Someone wrote a post once about all the things that actually 
went wrong while different students were using FF. But, since this is 
a book about magic, I'd say FF is supposed to be effective.
> 
   
> 
> 8.  Harry thinks how upset Hermione would be by Slughorn making a 
> house-elf taste wine that could be poisoned.  Are we EVER going to 
> see something come of Hermione's obsession with house-elves?

Potioncat:
Yes, many years from now she'll show up as a Famous Wizarding Card as 
the founder of S.P.E.W. just like the founder of S.S.S. did a few 
months ago.


> 9.  What do you think would have happened if Harry had drank the 
> wine at Hagrid's?  Would it just have interfered with retrieving 
the 
> memory, or could there be some type of bad interaction between the 
> two drinks? 

Potioncat:
Oh! Good question. As it stands, he was showing responsible drinking. 
> 
> 10.  Slughorn acquires unicorn hair and Acromantula venom at 
> Hagrid's hut.  Are we going to see those items again, and how?

Potioncat:
Very likely. LV drank unicorn blood. The spiders fled from the 
Basilisk. There could be a connection.

 
> 11.  Felix tells Harry that Slughorn won't remember their 
> conversation in the morning.  Do you think that's true?  Even if it 
> is, a Legilimens like Voldemort could probably see the truth.  Is 
> Slughorn in great danger now that he has given Harry the memory?

Potioncat:
So, you think LV and Slughorn will find themselves at the same party? 
Slughorn seems very afraid of either DEs or being associated with 
DEs. If he doesn't ever remember giving the memory to Harry, it might 
not show up under Legilimency.
 
 
Potioncat would like to encourage all the new members to take a look 
back at earlier chapter discussions. You can find the actual post 
number for each chapter---I think by clicking on this link:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/database

Thanks to Allie for this summary and discussion questions. Great job!
>