CHAPDISC: DH5, Fallen Warrior

[katrinawitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 178005

Good questions, Mike!  This is my first time chiming in on the 
chapter discussions...

> Chapter 5, Fallen Warrior
 
> 1. What did you think of Harry's greeting of Andromeda when she 
came in?

I don't think it was out of the ordinary... Harry has so many 
reasons to despise Bellatrix, and I think that seeing her sister for 
the first time unexpectedly would startle him into action.


> 2. The big question: This is the only time we meet Andromeda Black 
> Tonks. Was it enough along, with the other background we know of 
her, to label her a "good Slytherin"?

Who's to say Andromeda was a Slytherin?  Even though she was a Black 
by birth, it seems she was one of the "nice" Blacks (who, like 
Sirius, didn't follow the family's pure-blood entitlement 
reasoning).  Maybe she was sorted into another house because she was 
different from most of the family.  We just don't know.  At any 
rate, "Dora" Tonks is sweet, so it stands to reason that her parents 
are good, as well.


> 3. In your eyes, was this enough grieving for Hedwig?

I understand that it was a war situation, and life goes on, but 
Hedwig's death wasn't discussed among the Trio at all (at least on-
page).  This was slightly disappointing to me.  I know the reasoning 
behind Hedwig's death in the books (e.g. Harry's last link to his 
childhood), but I thought she deserved a tiny bit more.

 
> 5.  What do you think of the security checks, especially Lupin's 
> check for the real Harry? Did it raise any red flags when Lupin 
> failed to check Tonks and Ron?

It makes sense that the Order would need to do some sort of Security 
check, but Lupin seemed a bit out of character in this book, quite 
suddenly, that all of his scenes had a bit of falseness in them for 
me.

 
> 6.  Do you buy Lupin's pronouncement that Expelliarmus has become 
> Harry's signature spell? Or is that just foreshadowing? What about 
> Sectumsempra as Snape's signature spell? 

It totally makes sense, and I didn't even think of it until it was 
mentioned in this chapter.  Even in war, it's kind of sweet and 
funny that Harry still doesn't really want to take the chance of 
harming people that may or may not be innocent.

Do we know if Snape invented Sectumsempra?  He definitely knows how 
cure that spell's damage.  However, we've only seen him use it once, 
in this chapter.


> 7.  How did you like this waiting and wondering what's happened to 
> everyone? Did you feel the suspense of the situation or were you 
> annoyed it was taking so long? When George showed up all bloody, 
did that make you more fearful for the missing remainder of the 
group?

This was one of my absolute favorite chapters in all of the books!  
I think the suspense was just right, and I was on the edge of my 
seat, even reading ahead a bit.  I knew that someone had to at least 
be injured (if not die), and when it turned out to be George, I 
figured that the Twins would be safe for the remainder of the book 
(they are among my favorite characters, so the ending was sad, 
although I had a Twin pegged for death leading up to this book).

 
> 8.  What did you think of the way Lupin greeted Tonks? Did you 
find something odd about their whole interaction?

Again, Lupin seemed so out of character to me for this whole book.  
He was always so kindly before, even under stressful situations.  I 
realize the reasoning behind this, but it still range false to me.

 
> 9.  Mad-Eye, the Fallen Warrior. Did you see this coming? Did you 
> think it would be Mad-Eye? What did this portend for the Order 
when their toughest, most skilled member gets killed in their first 
action without Dumbledore? (Little did they know that, in a twisted 
way, it did include Dumbledore)

I didn't see it coming, but it makes sense that it would be Mad-Eye, 
since he was the most skilled Auror, and that the DE's would target 
him more.  I can see that the Order had to go on without him, but 
they seemed more scattered and fragmented afterwards, without a true 
leader.


> 11.  Though Bill seems to exonerate Mundungus from being the 
> betrayer, the group still seems to blame him for Moody's death. 
Does this sound reasonable?

Stinkin' Dung!  Why did they even bring him along?  Even though he 
may not have been a traitor, he obviously didn't want to be there, 
and knowing his personality, it seems totally in character for him 
to take off and leave the others to Voldemort's mercy.


> 12.  In OotP, Molly accuses Sirius of thinking of Harry as the 
second coming of James. What about Lupin and his bringing up how 
Harry is being like James, again? (Remember in HBP, the "furry 
little problem" quip). Is Lupin guilty of seeing too much of James 
in Harry, or is it just natural to see something of the father in 
the son?

It's natural to see something of James in Harry, but I think Remus' 
doubts about his marriage to Tonks and his impending fatherhood 
brought out this trait in him moreso than before.  I think those 
responsibilities weighed heavily on him here.

 
> 13.  What did you think of Harry's pronouncement that he needed to 
> leave? Was this just another irrational Harry saving-people thing? 
> What was the purpose of having Harry come up with these musings?

Harry at times seems to feel responsible for practically the whole 
war!  He truly doesn't want anyone else he cares for get hurt, and 
thinks that the best way to prevent this is to immediately leave.  
His motives are always true, and he's always looking out for 
everyone else over himself (e.g. the "saving people thing", which I 
don't think is truly irrational).  This comes to play at the end of 
the book in the King's Cross chapter, when he has a choice to either 
stay dead and at peace, or return and fight Riddle.


> 15.  The VoldeVision is Back! Is Hermione's fear rational? For 
that matter, was Dumbledore's advice/plan in OotP rational, or was 
he making excuses for his well established penchant for secrecy? 
That is, should Harry ever have been trying to shut out theses 
visions, or had just been told that they are usually real visions 
but that they *could* be fake visions projected by LV for Harry's 
consumption?

Although I love Hermione, her nagging really gets to me at times.  I 
often don't know how Harry stands it!  We now know that Voldemort 
fears using the connection between him and Harry, due to Harry's 
good emotions, but does Harry know this?  I can't remember.  If so, 
I would have expected him to tell Hermione this.  At any rate, the 
visions proved very helpful to the Trio in the end.


> 16.  Whimsy Question: What was the Thestral *grazing* on?

Do Thestrals eat grass?  We know from OOP that they eat meat!  Maybe 
they're omnivores?  Given all the gnomes in the Weasley garden, 
maybe the grass is really lush (gnome poop is a very desirable 
fertilizer!)

 
Katrina