DH - unanswered (and irritating) questions

[Cira Arana]

No: HPFGUIDX 173418

Q: Why didn't Snape know about the Horcurxes? He's a Dark wizard.
 > Voldemort is boasting about his near immortality. Snape is a clever
 > man. Why didn't he know??

Susan McGee
That information/ knowledge is suppressed. DD had the books hidden in
 his study. My guess, however, is that he put a spell on them so that
 only Hermione would be able to get them. Then he tells Harry to tell
 Ron and Hermione about the horcruxes...

CiraArana
Yes, the knowledge was suppressed - at Hogwarts. But I would have expected that a boy who, when he came to Hogwarts, knew more hexes than the seventh-years wouldn't have restricted his reading to only the library at Hogwarts. And knowledge about the Horcruxes may be suppressed, but it isn't illegal (otherwise DD wouldn't have had to hide the books; they would probably have been destroyed). And who would stop Snape straying into a bookshop in Knockturn Alley to find out what Voldemort did to make himself immortal? That's what he does, isn't it: finding out other people's secrets.


Q: Where is Snape's portrait?? He was Headmaster of Hogwarts. We saw
 > how their portraits pop up after their death. And I'm sure Harry
 would have noticed Snape's portrait. So, where is it??

Susan
My theory is that it's there. Remember the first time after
 Dumbledore's death that Harry went into the Headmaster's office? DD
 was asleep in his portrait. I theorize that it takes a while for the
 portraits to awaken after death...

Cira
Yes, DD was asleep, but his portrait was there. And between Snape's death and Harry's final visit to the headmaster's office more than one hour has passed. I'm sure that's time enough for the portrait to pop up. And I'd like to think that Harry would even have noticed a portrait of a sleeping Snape.


Q: Snape approached Voldemort with the plea to not kill Lily? And
 > Voldemort agreed? He agreed to not kill a "Mudblood"?? (And he did
 > agree, didn't he, because he gave Lily the choice to step away.)
 > Looking at Voldemort's policy ... Are we supposed to accept that?

Susan
Snape would have been smart enough to tell Voldemort that
 he wanted to possess Lily to gain vengeance against James Potter (who
 he vocally hated) and against Sirius Black.

Cira
I hadn't thought of that. Makes sense. Thank you. ^-^


Q: And Voldemort didn't even once use the connection to try
 > something like he did with Sirius? He never used it to look in on
 > Harry and see where the boy was? You know, to better catch him, and
 > all that. I half-expected it for the first several hundred pages. It
 > never happened. And I can't understand why not.

Susan
I'm wondering if it had something to do with Voldemort's possessing
 Harry and finding it intolerable. Doesn't DD say something about it
 being like unbearable.. ....?

Cira
I can't quite believe that. After all, Voldemort had no problems whatsoever to walk into Harry's mind throughout OotP. It was only the actual possessing that he found unbearable. At least, that's how I understood it.


Susan
But more likely, Harry explains it....Snape WAS trying to teach him occlumency, but could only teach Harry to do it the way HE knew how to do it...for Harry, the emotions of love/grief etc. was the way to keep Voldemort out of
 himself....doesn' t Harry say he finally learned how to do it?

Cira
Yes, but he only learned that when he buried Dobby. And at that time, Voldemort was concentrating on something else and had no desire to find Harry. But what of the time before? Harry escaped Voldemort at the end of July, and escaped again after Bill and Fleur's wedding. And Voldemort makes no effort to see where the boy is? He wants him dead. I'd have thought he would at least try it. *shrugs*


 Q: The Trace. And now we are introduced to the Trace, which allows
 the Ministry to tell exactly who performed which spell?? No. Doesn't
 make sense. Or is it a new ministry policy and I simply missed that bit?

Susan
 Not sure. And why didn't the MOM put a trace on people who called
 Voldemort the "Dark Lord"? (When they were still relatively
 uninfiltrated. ....)

Cira
But the Trace has nothing to do with saying Voldemort's name. HRH only thought so because they didn't know the name had been Taboo'd (which, I suppose, works similarly to the Trace). But the Trace, as Moody explains in chapter 5, I think, is about monitoring under-aged witches and wizards.

Anyway, I found my mistake. I thought it would tell the Ministry exactly who performed magic, but it only monitors the general area. But then I wonder why Harry thought he'd be called to another hearing for performing magic in the DE attack. There were about 40 grown-up wizards and witches throwing hexes and curses around ... and surely the ministry can't think that was all done by one person alone. It would be impossible to tell who did what. Plus, in OotP I think Hermione says that in an event of danger even underaged wizards are allowed to perform magic ... Argh. Perhaps I should simply stop listening to Harry.


Q: If Expelliarmus changes the wand's allegiance 
 then nobody from
 > the DA is still using their own wand. No wizard or witch who has
 ever been taught that spell at Hogwarts would be using their own wand
 > (although considering the DADA teacher problem 
) But wouldn't Harry
 > have won Voldemort's wand in the graveyard scene in GoF?
 >

Susan
 I think this charm only works with the Elder Wand.

Cira
It can't only work on the Elder Wand, because Harry won Draco's wand, the hawthorn wand, with an Expelliarmus. And the wand worked for him. Ollivander said that was because Harry had won the wand by overpowering Draco. And to me that means everytime one wizard/witch overpowers another, the allegiance of the wand changes. Or perhaps it only changes in a real duel and not in practice. But then I'd like to have been told so. (And Harry would still have won Voldemort's wand on GoF.)


But thank you, Susan, for answering my questions. ^-^

CiraArana


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