Re: CHAPDISC: HBP20, Lord Voldemort’s Request

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 158166

zgirnius:
Ah, Chapter Discussion time again! *rubs hands together* Thanks, akh, 
for the nice summary (snipped) and questions!

>   akh's 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.)

zgirnius:
Ah, the joys of obliviousness. I had no idea the girl had any meaning 
at all.
    
>   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? 

zgirnius:
I tend to think this was just to remind us about Trelawney's link to 
the Prophecy, since she is going to let slip an important detail 
about it later on in the book.

>   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?

zgirnius:
It was definitely very Book 6 Dumbledore, yes. We've maybe seen hints 
he had this sort of scene in him in GoF, as well. I liked the scene a 
lot. I felt badly for Harry, but I don't think Dumbledore was out of 
line.

>   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? 

zgirnius:
Heh, funny how the mind works. I never even thought that  it being a 
Dark Arts shop was the source of disappointment, but the mundane 
work.  Probably Sluggie's influence. As Head Boy, and such a 
charismatic, nice one too, he should have gone on to some brilliant 
Ministry career


>   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?

zgirnius:
I think she lends more credence to my general impression that Winky 
is (was, before her freeing) a more typical house-elf than Dobby or 
Kreacher. She seems to have a good relationship with her mistress.

>   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?

zgirnius:
Personally, I am happy with the idea that young Lupin misunderstood, 
and Dumbledore had been Headmaster for years when he started. Lupin's 
folks just had no idea until Lupin got his Hogwarts letter, that any 
such thing would be happening, and had prepared Lupin for the 
knowledge that he would not be going to school like the other little 
wizards and witches. When he did get the letter, they attributed it 
to the new Headmaster (meaning, new to them, not brand spanking new).

>   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? 

zgirnius:
That's what I always assumed.