CHAPDISC: HBP28, Flight of the Prince

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 163575

<snip of colebiancardi's fine summary of the chapter>

> DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
> 
> 1.	Why so much blood? The blood in the corridor by the tower, 
bloody
> footprints, blood on the flagstones. Who was wounded? Malfoy? Snape?
> The blond DE? The brother & sister act was behind Harry, so it could
> not have been them.  

zgirnius:
I will be inetrested in other opinions. The corridor blood could be 
Bill. He was wounded. The rest though...hmmm. I never noticed it. It 
seemed like appropriate imagery for the events, but there does seem 
to be a lack of sources for the blood.

> 2.	Harry's state of mind is understandably chaotic and confused 
Yet,
> Harry seems to be holding his own with the Death Eaters and he is 
able
> to jinx them successfully. However, against Snape, he was unable to
> get one jinx or curse off fully. Why is that? 

zgirnius:
Nonverbal spells are faster. Harry was speaking his spells; Snape was 
blocking nonverbally, and knew what was coming before Harry finished.

> 3.	Since Snape is able to deflect every one of Harry's spells, 
do you
> think that Snape is an extremely powerful wizard or do you think it 
is
> due to Harry's lack of experience in comparison with Snape? If the
> latter, explain why Harry didn't have this problem in the battle 
from
> Order of the Phoenix? If the former, who trained Snape to be so 
powerful?

zgirnius:
Snape is that powerful, in my opinion. It explains the attitude of 
the other Death Eaters, too. I think some of it is talent, and a lot 
of it is self-taught. Based on the HBP's book, and Sirius's comments 
in HBP, Dark Arts/DADA has been a serious interest of Snape's all his 
life. 

> 5.	Snape has the same expression of hatred on his face as he did 
right
> before he killed Dumbledore. This is right before he tells Harry 
that
> he is the Half-Blood Prince. A lot of discussion has been generated
> around this expression when we've talked about Dumbledore's death 
and
> the parallel of Harry's feelings in the cave. We've never talked 
about
> this particular chapter and this same expression on Snape's face. Do
> you think it really is the same expression? The same feelings behind
> it? Those who believe that Harry's feelings of hatred and revulsion
> are the same as Snape's look of hatred and revulsion (self-loathing,
> perhaps?), explain this same expression that it is this chapter. I
> hope question made sense!! 

zgirnius:
I do not believe that self-loathing and other loathing are 
distinguishable externally. Just because Snape looked the same in two 
moments, does not mean he felt the same. 

> 6.	Snape loses his sardonic cool when Harry calls him a coward 
and
> refers to Dumbledore's death. This is the only time during the 
battle
> that Snape actually hits Harry with a curse. Why did Snape show his
> weakness to Harry? What was it about that statement that pushed 
Snape
> over the edge?  Harry called Snape a coward earlier, yet Snape just
> jeered at him then. Was it really about being called a coward or 
that
> Harry accuses Snape of killing Dumbledore?  This is my favorite
> question, BTW.  I can't wait to read the responses.

zgirnius:
I think that being called a coward for killing Dumbledore was what 
did it. Since I believe the killing was completely unplanned (Snape 
either did it because he saw it was the only reasonable thing for him 
to do to further his goals, and it is what he understood Dumbledore 
to be asking him for) I think Snape may harbor a doubt about his own 
motives. If the killing was planned, then the explanation would be 
that it was a brave thing for him to do, since now he will be alone 
and friendless and a wanted man, and stuck with Voldemort and a big 
secret to hide from him.

> 7.	When a DE curses Harry, Snape states that "Potter belongs to 
the
> Dark Lord" and the curse is lifted.  However, that doesn't explain 
why
> Snape only deflects Harry's spells during the battle. Snape could 
have
> issued a "Petrificus Totalus" curse on Harry, which would not have
> harmed him. Why didn't Snape do such a spell?  And who lifted the
> curse from Harry?

zgirnius:
Either the DE cursing him stopped (Crucio ends when the wand is 
raised, we've seen this before) on Snape's order, or Snape actually 
blocked the curse. This is a point I imagine will never be clarified.

> 8.	Hagrid has always defended Snape's trustworthiness. Why is 
that? Is
> it just because of Dumbledore's steadfastness or something else? 
After
> all, Hagrid was around at Hogwart's when Snape was a student - does 
he
> know something more about Snape than the rest of the Order?

zgirnius:
I tend to think it is based in part on Hagrid's own experience of 
Snape. What that would be, is still speculative. I tend to believe it 
might be about Snape and Lily's relationship. Hagrid never does 
answer Harry's question in PS/SS about why Snape might hate him. We 
the readers may conclude that Hagrid simply did not want to bring up 
what Dumbledore and Quirrell later tell Harry, but I am not so sure.

> 9.	Do you think Harry got rid of important clues when he 
rearranged
> Dumbledore's glasses and wiped the blood away?

zgirnius:
I have no opinion. Certainly not in the sense that someone would have 
seen those clues and ionvestigated, if not for Harry's action. But 
will these details matter to Harry in Book 7? Depends on what the 
cause of death was...

> 10.	This is some background information for the question 10:
> So, the question is about R.A.B.- if RAB is not Regulus Black, who 
is
> it?  If you believe it is Regulus, do you think he is really dead or
> in hiding (RE: Dumbledore's conversation with Draco). If in hiding,
> why didn't Dumbledore already know that this locket was not the real
> Horcrux? Why would he put himself through the whole experience in 
the
> cave? Was it a setup? 

zgirnius:
I believe RAB was Regulus, now dead.
 
> 11.	Did you feel that Dumbledore's death at Snape's hands was 
subtle?
> Or too obvious and expected? Was this in keeping with Rowling's 
normal
> style of ending her books?

zgirnius:
I was blindsided both by the death, and Snape's role in it. It is not 
in keeping with her usual way of ending the books. An event of this 
magnitude would normally be fully explained for us. In a 'typical' 
ending, Snape would have given a lovely, sneering villain speech, 
either on the Tower, or if he was really in such a rush, to Harry 
once they were alone, explaining just how he had hoodwinked 
Dumbledore, and why. And then someone standing in for Dumbledore 
(Hermione, perhaps? Lupin?) would have talked the whole event over 
with Harry and would have helped us see how all the events of the 
books fit in with this. Instead, we are stuck arguing about ewhat 
exactly happened and why until Book 7 comes out. <bg>

> 12.	Finally, what do you think of this chapter thematically?  Do 
you
> feel this is the best chapter Rowling has written?

zgirnius:
Hmm. I hadn't asked myself this question before. Maybe. It's actually 
one of two chapters in HP I hate to reread...along with the Cave, 
wich is also brillinat IMO. Though, I think I would vote for "The 
Lightning Struck Tower" myself. The conversation between Draco and 
Dumbledore in that chapter is just amazing to me.

Thanks for some excellent questions and observations about this 
chapter!