CHAPDISC: HBP20, Lord Voldemorts Request

Mon Sep 11 01:00:47 UTC 2006

No: HPFGUIDX 158145

CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 20, Lord Voldemort’s Request

  Many thanks to SSSusan (Shorty Elf) for her judicious edits and excellent suggestions.

  Synopsis:

  As the chapter opens, Harry and Ron leave the infirmary, both recovered from their injuries.  Harry is particularly happy to hear that Ginny has argued with Dean Thomas.  As Harry quizzes Hermione about the row, they pass a small girl in the seventh floor corridor.  Startled and terrified, she drops her brass scales; Hermione comes to her rescue, repairing the scales and returning them to her. (1)

  Although Harry tries to be casual about his questions, Hermione grows suspicious when Harry asks if Ginny and Dean have split up.  He protests that his interest is in keeping harmony amongst his Quidditch team.  (2)

  Luna catches up with the trio on their way to breakfast and delivers an invitation from Dumbledore. She dumps an array of peculiar items she is carrying onto Ron in order to hand over the invitation.  Ron compliments her on her Quidditch commentary, which she receives with skepticism.  He then notices an onion-like object Luna has foisted onto him, and she explains that it is a Gurdyroot, used to ward off Gulping Plimpies.  She kindly allows Ron to keep it, and he chuckles appreciatively as she drifts off.  (3)

  As they head toward breakfast, Ron is stopped mid-sentence by the sight of Lavender looking “thunderous.”  Harry and Hermione allow Ron to confront Lavender by himself.  Ron arrives in the Great Hall half an hour later, looking annoyed; he sits with Lavender, but Harry does not see them talk.  Hermione tries to appear oblivious, but Harry notices a smirk or two during breakfast, and she appears particularly cheerful throughout the day, even helping Harry with his Herbology essay.

  That evening, Harry heads off for Dumbledore’s office.  He arrives at the end of Dumbledore’s meeting with Professor Trelawney, who presumes she is being thrown out unceremoniously because of Harry.  He learns that Trelawney was complaining about Firenze, asking that he be banished.  Her goal frustrated, she departs Dumbledore’s office, stumbling down the stairs. (4)

  Dumbledore begins by asking Harry if he has retrieved the accurate memory from Slughorn.  Harry admits that he asked Slughorn once, but was rebuffed.  Harry realizes that he has done very little, and Dumbledore does not make excuses for him, instead reminding him of the task’s importance.  Harry feels ashamed and uncomfortable and apologizes for his lack of effort, promising to do better. (5) 

  After they review what Harry knows of Voldemort’s story, Dumbledore explains that they are about to embark on more guesswork and speculation.  He says they will be viewing the final two memories, and he wants Harry’s opinion of Dumbledore’s conclusions.  Harry is humbled by the fact that Dumbledore values his opinion, and he feels even more ashamed of his feeble efforts to retrieve Slughorn’s memory. (6)

  Dumbledore updates Harry on Voldemort’s life after Hogwarts.  Despite his accomplishments and recommendations from faculty, Tom Riddle chose to work at Borgin and Burkes.  Dumbledore explains to a stunned Harry that the shop held certain attractions for Tom that will be made plain when they see the first memory.  (7)

  He also tells Harry that Tom asked to remain at Hogwarts as a DADA teacher.  Dumbledore speculates that Hogwarts was appealing to Tom for several reasons: it had been Tom’s only real home (at which Harry feels an uncomfortable affinity); it housed much ancient magic, which might be useful to Tom in his ambitions; and his influence over a large number of emerging witches and wizards would be considerable, as a teacher at Hogwarts.  Dippet refused to give Tom a position because of his youth.  Dumbledore had advised Dippet to refuse Tom the job, but he refrained from expressing his real reasons for doing so. (8)

  Dumbledore and Harry then enter Hokey the House Elf’s memory.  Harry sees her mistress, Hepzibah Smith, an immensely fat old lady, primping while awaiting Tom Riddle’s arrival.  He notes that Hokey also appears quite elderly.   The doorbell rings, and Hokey scurries off to answer it.  Harry looks around the room and notices that it is crammed with objects.

  Hokey ushers in Tom, who appears to be familiar with the room.  After flirting with him, Hepzibah orders Hokey to bring her “finest” treasure and another historic artifact she owns: the Hufflepuff cup and the Slytherin locket.  Tom shows greedy interest in the cup, and when Hepzibah takes it back, Harry notices that a shadow crosses his face.

  She then shows him the locket.  As she explains that she bought it from Burke, who had purchased it off a “ragged-looking woman,” Harry sees Voldemort’s eyes reveal a “red gleam” and he seems unwilling to let go of the locket.  Hepzibah is startled by his expression after she puts the locket back in its case.  (9)

  After they leave the memory, Dumbledore tells Harry that Hepzibah Smith died two days after the meeting and that Hokey was convicted of accidentally poisoning her mistress, having confessed to putting something in her cocoa.  Both Harry and Dumbledore notice the similarities between this scenario and the Riddles’ murder.  Harry is disgusted by the Ministry’s cavalier attitude toward Hokey’s confession, guessing that her status as a House Elf was instrumental in their decision. (10)  By the time Hepzibah’s family had discovered that her two most valuable treasures were missing, Voldemort had vanished and his former employers at Borgin and Burkes had no idea where he was.  This marked the beginning of a lengthy period of exile.

  Dumbledore then speculates that Hepzibah was Voldemort’s next murder after his Riddle family, but this time he was killing for gain.  Dumbledore notes how this mirrors his behavior at the orphanage.  Harry wonders at the mad act of throwing away everything just to acquire two objects.  Dumbledore suggests that Voldemort had several reasons, among them a strong connectedness to Hogwarts.

  As Dumbledore prepares to pour the final memory into the Pensieve, he tells Harry that the memory they are about to view occurred ten years later, after Tom had disappeared.  They enter the Headmaster’s office where Harry sees a younger Dumbledore behind the desk and Fawkes slumbering on his perch.  (11)

  As Voldemort enters the room, Harry notices that the young, handsome Tom Riddle is gone, although he is not yet the snake-like Voldemort that emerged in the graveyard.   Dumbledore welcomes him and offers Tom a drink.  Voldemort points out that he is no longer using that name, but Dumbledore is not willing to call him Voldemort.   Voldemort asks Dumbledore why he has chosen to stay at Hogwarts, and he replies cordially that he finds the work there more important than Ministry work.  He points out that Tom once felt the same way, and Voldemort acknowledges that he still is interested in teaching.  

  Voldemort explains that he is coming back to claim the post Professor Dippet denied him.   He touts his experience since leaving Hogwarts, and Dumbledore tells him they have heard of his exploits.  Dumbledore says he hopes much of it is not true, but Voldemort ascribes the negative remarks to jealousy and envy of his greatness.  Dumbledore questions his definition of “greatness,” and Voldemort responds that he has pushed more boundaries than anyone ever had before.  Dumbledore reminds him that he is still woefully ignorant of other kinds of magic; Voldemort sneers at this, saying he has seen no evidence that Dumbledore’ belief in Love is right.  Dumbledore suggests he’s looking in the wrong places, and Voldemort uses that entrée to press his case for joining the Hogwarts faculty. (12)

  Dumbledore asks what will become of Voldemort’s Death Eaters if he takes the job.  This surprises Voldemort, and he is even more startled and displeased when Dumbledore lists several DEs by name and clearly knows they have accompanied him and are at that moment at the Hog’s Head.  Dumbledore confronts Voldemort about his motives for returning to Hogwarts, making it clear he has no intention of offering Voldemort a job, as he knows very well that a desire to teach is not the real reason Voldemort has returned to Hogwarts.  Voldemort, enraged, stands to leave, and Harry sees a flicker he is sure is Voldemort reaching for his wand and his pocket.  However, a moment later Voldemort has left the room, and Harry and Dumbledore leave the memory.

  Harry asks Dumbledore why he thinks Voldemort returned.  Dumbledore tells him he has some ideas, but he will not disclose them until Harry has retrieved Slughorn’s memory.  Harry asks if Voldemort was after the DADA job, and Dumbledore assures him he was.  He reveals that they have been unable to retain a DADA teacher for more than one year since then. (13)

  Questions:

  1) Later, we discover the “small girl” was Crabbe or Goyle, and he was serving as lookout for Draco.   Who suspected this was more than it seemed at the time?  (I didn’t at all suspect polyjuice, but I did think this wasn’t just a throwaway scene.)

  2) There’s a fair amount of shipping in the beginning of this chapter.  Do we learn anything about the relationships between Harry/Ginny, Hermione/Ron, Lavender/Ron that we don’t already know?  

  3) Once again, Luna comes up with what could be viewed as comic relief (CR).  However, we’re also given the information that there is an antidote in the Gurdyroot  – is this simply CR or will we discover Luna’s not as “loony” as we presume?  On a related note: What did you think of Ron’s reaction to Luna in this scene?  Did it surprise you?  Is your own reaction to Luna similar or different from Ron’s? 

  4) What does the scene with Trelawney do at this point?  It keeps her on the reader’s radar, but is there a larger purpose for seeing her at this point?  Do we need reinforcement that she is antagonistic to Firenze?  Is its purpose to remind us that she is in danger from the prophecy, of which she is oblivious? 

  5) In this scene, we see one of the few times that Dumbledore really calls Harry to task for his failings.  Does this scene fit the Dumbledore of Book 6?  Does it fit the Dumbledore of Books 1 – 5?  How did you feel about DD in this scene?

  6) Do you find Dumbledore being manipulative here, playing on Harry’s healthy sense of guilt?  Or is he genuinely seeking Harry’s opinion for some reason?

  7) Dumbledore talks about how disappointed certain staff members are that Tom went to work at Borgin and Burkes.  Is it because they see him as a “cashier,” rather than an influential rising star, or is it because he’s working for Borgin and Burkes, purveyors of Dark Arts paraphernalia? 

  8) Idle speculation: if Dippet had still been Headmaster, would he have given LV the DADA job when he returned to interview for it?

  9) Rowling describes a “red gleam” in Voldemort’s eyes when he sees and touches the locket.  What clues does this give us?  For instance, is he already well into his horcruxes?  Is he manifesting his connection as the heir to Salazar Slytherin? Ideas? 

  10) We get a glimpse of yet another House Elf, with Hokey.  How does her story flesh out both the character of the House Elf and their plight?

  11) This is the infamous “ten years later” scene that has caused much gnashing of teeth.  Is there any way to reconcile this timeline with earlier reports, or do we just have to chalk this one up to Rowling’s notorious maths?  Is the Fawkes’s presence at the interview with Riddle important?  Does it merely set the scene, or should we look for deeper meaning?

  12) This scene encapsulated for me the whole dynamic of Voldemort’s behavior in the past that led to his downfall during his first reign.  Are we to presume these are the seeds of his destruction?   How do you think Ollivander’s use of the word ‘great’ to describe Voldemort in PS fits in with this exchange between DD & Voldemort on the issue of ‘greatness’?”

  13) Are we to presume that the twitch Harry saw in the Pensieve memory is Voldemort casting the DADA teacher curse?  What else might he have been doing? 

  Respectfully submitted,

  akh, who thinks either KJ or Shorty Elf (or both) is a genius for adding the question numbers into the synopsis of the Chapter 19 discussion. 

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