CHAPDISC: DH10, Kreacher's Tale

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 180057

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "colebiancardi" <muellem at ...> 
wrote:
>
> 
> 1.	Sirius' room is described as dusty and there is a spider's 
web and
> mice inhabiting it.  

Actually, the whole house is described as "cob-webbed" - how did 12 
Grimmauld revert so quickly from its Molly-sponsored cleansing to 
its "haunted house" look? The OOP remained in residence until 
Dumbledore's death less than three months earlier.

> 
> 5.	Regulus joined the DEs when he was 16, which means that 
Voldemort
> really had no age limit for his recruits.  How does this contrast 
with
> the Order of the Phoenix?  Ignoring that the DE's are evil and the
> Order is good, do you think that the DEs support the notion of
> fighting for what you believe in, regardless of age?  In other 
words,
> do you agree with the Order's stance of not allowing underage 
wizards
> to join or do you agree with the Death Eater's stance instead?

Good catch on your part, I hadn't noticed - I just think it 
underscores that Voldemort saw his followers merely as tools to be 
used, regardless of considerations (such as age) that might have made 
their service morally questionable.

> 11.	Does Hermione's explanation - Voldemort's contempt for house-
elves
> was his downfall in Kreacher's escape from the cave - make sense?  

At first, it struck me a more of a "phoenix tears" moment - Voldemort 
has a convenient lapse of memory/or never became aware of things that 
are common knowledge, merely to serve the plot.  But, showing some 
respect for the Dark Lord's intelligence, we could say that he knew 
of the elves' ability to Apparate, but figured that between the 
disorienting effects of the potion, the lethality of the Inferi and 
the loyalty of Regulus Black to the DE cause, Kreacher would not have 
the opportunity to Apparate out of the cave.

   - CMC