CHAPDISC: DH10, Kreacher's Tale

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 180060

<snip excellent and thorough summary>
 
Questions:
> 
> 1. Sirius' room is described as dusty and there is a spider's web
and mice inhabiting it.  The decorations are also from his teen years
as well.  Do you think that Sirius actually stayed in his old room in
"The Order of the Phoenix" or that he stayed in another bedroom? 

Carol responds:
I've never thought about it, but since it's dusty and inhabited by
mice and spiders, maybe he didn't sleep there unless he had company
(summer and Christmas holidays in OoP). Maybe he thought cleaning it
was beneath him and Kreacher was under orders not to go in there.
Then, again, he's been dead for more than a year when Harry enters the
room in DH, so that's probably enough time for mice, spiders, and dust
to take over the room. (As for how that letter got there. . . .)
 
> 2. If he had slept in his old room, do you think that added to his
"living in the past," with all the reminders from his "happy" years?

Carol:
Probably, but where else could he "live," except vicariously through
HRH? He didn't have many duties for the Order, he couldn't leave the
house, and his more recent memories (Godric's Hollow, Peter's
treachery, Azkaban, living as a dog in a cave) probably didn't bear
thinking about.
> 
> 3.	Why is Lily's letter addressed to "Padfoot" instead of Sirius? 
Is this just a term of affection or was Sirius underground at the time
of the letter?  If a term of affection, why doesn't she call James
"Prongs" in the letter?   She calls Peter "Wormy", so it seems she
does know about the nicknames.

Carol:
Well, James is her husband, so (IMO) she's unlikely to call him by a
childhood nickname given him by his male buddies (she might have her
own nickname for him in intimate moments, comparable to "Mollywobbles"
but more, erm, manly), but since *he* calls his friends by their
nicknames, she probably follows suit, with "Wormy" perhaps indicating
a special affection for (or condescension toward?) poor (seemingly)
untalented little Peter Pettigrew. I think her use of the nicknames
shows that they've included her in their circle, of which she wasn't
yet a member in SWM or Snape's Hogwarts memories in "The Prince's
Tale." (Heck, her Patronus copies James's. It's as if she doesn't even
have her own identity.)
> 
> 4. Kreacher mentions that Sirius' leaving home broke his mother's
heart.  Does this new bit of information seem  to contradict Sirius'
story about his relationship with his family? 

Carol:
Well, Sirius wouldn't have seen his mother after he left, so he
probably didn't realize that she loved him. (He would have known,
however, that his parents were disappointed in his not being sorted
into Slytherin. Probably, the rift began when he first returned home
during, say, Christmas of his first year at Hogwarts, and grew worse
as he became a rebellious teenager, showing his "individuality"
(Gryffindorness) by putting up posters, banners, and photos of which
his parents didn't approve (like a postmodern Muggle kid who gets a
tattoo or a pierced tongue and listens to music his parents hate). He
would see only their opposition and not their love. But I believe that
Sirius's leaving home and not returning really did break his heart (it
would break any mother's), and that, followed by Regulus's death
(which Kreacher would have been forbidden to describe or explain) and
by the death of her husband caused her to lose her grip on sanity.
Sirius didn't know or care. He just thought she was crazy and evil.
(BTW, she wouldn't have been *old* when she died, even by Muggle
standards, if the Black Family Tree is accurate. She'd only have been
in her mid- to late fifties, IIRC.)
> 
> 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?

Carol:
I think that Voldemort just wanted any supporter who could cast a
spell or was sufficiently motivated. He certainly didn't care that
Regulus and Draco were technically children. Nor would the DEs have
cared, if Bellatrix is any indication. (Dying in the Dark Lord's
service is a great honor, in her view.) The Order, in contrast, tried
to protect the kids from danger as much as possible, and that included
knowledge of their own plans. Even Dumbledore told Harry only as much
as he thought Harry needed to know and never directly told Ron or
Hermione anything. (I agree with the Order's stance. In fact, I think
seventeen is too young to come of age. Whatever happened to twenty-one
as the age of majority, she asks rhetorically?)
> 
6. After Kreacher returns from the cave and tells his tale to Regulus,
where do you think Regulus went?  Regulus' return to Kreacher shows a
Regulus with a disturbed state of mind, strange, according to
Kreacher.  Do you think Regulus talked to anyone or just did book
research?

Carol:
Who could he have talked to? If DH had turned out differently, I might
have thought that he talked to Severus, but it seems that Snape knew
nothing about the Horcruxes (improbable as that seems to me given
Snape abilities as a logician). Maybe he went to Borgin and Burke's,
but there's no indication that they knew Voldemort had a Horcrux (much
less more than one). Maybe he bought some books there or read books on
Dark Magic in his parents' library. (That *he* would figure out that
LV had a Horcrux is just another of the book's many improbabilities,
IMO, much as I admire his bravery and Kreacher's loyalty.)
> 
> 7. Did you initially believe that Regulus forced Kreacher to drink
the potion, as Harry thought, or did you think as Hermione did – that
Regulus did give up his own life?

Carol:
I knew that RAB was dead and had tried to destroy the Horcrux, so, no,
I didn't believe for one second that Harry was right. I knew he was
misjudging Regulus. (Pre-DH, I thought that *Bellatrix* had forced
Kreacher to drink the potion.)
> 
> a. Despite what Harry knew about the note that Regulus left in the
locket, did he think badly of Regulus because he was a Slytherin?  Do
you feel that Harry is showing his old biases here?

Carol:
Yes and yes. There was no other reason to think badly of Regulus,
except that Harry knew he'd been an "idiot" and joined the DEs. The
blood prejudice thing probably played a role, but, for Harry,
Slytherin, blood prejudice, and Death Eater are virtually synonymous.
> 
> 8.	How did you feel when Regulus' death was revealed?  I found this
to be the most tragic death of all of the deaths in the series.  Do
you feel that Regulus redeemed himself?

Carol:
I cried and cried. Absolutely, he redeemed himself through love,
courage, and opposition to Voldemort. (Maybe, like Snape, he was
sorted too early <eg>.)
> 
> 9. Do you think Regulus should have done more to let others know
what Voldemort was up to?

Carol:
Regulus was, at most, seventeen years old. He had no one to go to.
Severus was still loyal to Voldemort at this point, as far as Regulus
 knew.  Who could he trust to tell? He probably felt that the only way
to steal and destroy the Horcrux was to die himself. And, of course,
he had no idea how hard it would be to destroy a Horcrux. Unlike other
wizards, he seems to have overestimated rather than underestimated the
powers of his house-elf.
> 
> 10.	How do you feel about Kreacher at the end of this tale?  Did you
feel empathy for him?  Is Kreacher's attitude now explainable and
understandable?

Carol:
My view of Kreacher changed completely. The scene was a complete and
successful reversal for me, much more believable than Dudley's change
of heart and, in contrast to the expected revelations about Snape,
completely unexpected. I did see him as to some extent a victim, but I
never expected to understand, empathize, and feel affection for him. 
> 
> 11.	Does Hermione's explanation - Voldemort's contempt for
house-elves was his downfall in Kreacher's escape from the cave - make
sense?  Do you think her parallel of Voldemort's and Sirius' attitude
towards house-elves was warranted, or a bit extreme?

Carol:
I certainly don't think that Voldemort was punished for his attitude
toward house-elves though Sirius's treatment of Kreacher is partly
responsible for the events that led to his death (only for Kreacher
sneaking off to talk to Narcissa and betraying the Order by revealing
Harry's affection for Sirius and taking part in the conspiracy to get
*Harry* to the MoM. That Sirius chose to go there is not Kreacher's
responsibility.) I do think it's ironic that the Slytherin brother was
the one who cared about, valued, and understood the family house-elf.
But Hermione, despite setting Harry straight on the psychology of
house-elves, is, as usual, a bit extreme in her views regarding them.
> 
> 12.	Harry's attitude finally changes towards Kreacher, with his tale
and Hermione's explanation.  Is this a turning point for Harry in
regards for empathy and understanding or do you feel that Harry has
already made strides in this area with other characters?  Do you have
examples, if the latter?

Carol responds:
Setting aside Dobby, I think that Harry's understanding of and empathy
for people outside his immediate circle begins with his delayed
appreciation of Neville and Luna, continues with his ability to feel
pity for Draco (and perhaps with his realization that even though he
hates Draco, he doesn't want him dead: shades of Quirrell's
description of Snape's attitude toward Harry in SS/PS). So Harry's
empathy for Kreacher, and his understanding that the Slytherin Regulus
could be selflessly brave and heroic, is a step toward the
all-important forgiveness and understanding of Snape, without which he
could not, IMO, have accepted Snape's message and sacrificed himself
(as he thought) with no thought of vengeance against Snape or Voldemort.

Carol, thanking colebiancardi for a fine summary and interesting questions