CHAPDISC: DH1, The Dark Lord Ascending

[Petra]

No: HPFGUIDX 175928

Ceridwen summarized DH chapter 1, in part:
> Voldemort mentions the marriage of Black relation Nymphadora Tonks to 
> the werewolf, Remus Lupin, describing it as "the happy event."  Other 
> Death Eaters jeer.  Bellatrix and the Malfoys are humiliated, even 
> though Bellatrix has said sincerely that it was an honor and the 
> greatest pleasure to host Voldemort.  Bellatrix disowns Tonks, saying 
> she and Narcissa have not seen their sister since she married the 
> Mudblood, and that Tonks's marriage has nothing to do with either of 
> them.  Voldemort asks Draco if he will babysit the cubs.  
<snip>
> Voldemort says that family trees become diseased over 
> time, and they must be pruned to keep them healthy.  Bellatrix takes 
> his message to heart.  Voldemort likens the pruning of the family 
> tree to the larger pruning of the world.
 
Question 14 - 
> Why does Voldemort praise Bellatrix, then humiliate her?
 
Question 20 - 
> Voldemort has no issues with "pruning" the family tree of 
> undesirables, even though they may be pure-blood or half-bloods.  
 
Petra:
Not sure what Q20 is really asking so I'll leave it to better minds, but 
in considering that first sentence and Q14, I think we may have the 
motive as to why Bellatrix wants Tonks quite as much as she wants 
Harry (DH, US HB pg. 76).
 
In humiliating Bellatrix about the marriage of Tonks and Lupin, 
Voldemort fans Bella's desire to get *back* into Voldemort's good 
graces.  By pruning her family tree of Tonks and others of her ilk,
Bella continues the power struggle amongst the Death Eaters to be 
their leader's "right-hand" person.  Or at least, to *not* be humiliated
as the omega.
 
Lupin may be despised as the werewolf but the fact is he doesn't run 
with a pack that is this vicious!
 
It seems to me that this develops the group dynamics of the Death
Eaters and serves to emphasize the precarious nature of Snape's 
current position as Voldemort's trusted first lieutenant.  We see this 
struggle elsewhere in this chapter with Yaxley, "who seemed 
determined to receive some portion of approval." (DH, US HB pg. 6)
 
Interesting that Bella misattributes the cause of her humiliation to 
Tonks.  After all, it is Voldemort's choice to bring the topic up.  
To me, a lot of the Dark wizards demonstrate this form of poor
logic.  Very convenient for Voldemort, who exploits this to his great
advantage.
 
Petra
a
n  :)
 
 
 


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