[HPforGrownups] CHAPDISC: DH2, In Memoriam

[Laura Lynn Walsh]

No: HPFGUIDX 176655


On 2007, Sep 03, , at 17:21, AnitaKH wrote:

> 2. Harry ruminates on Hogwarts' inattention to teaching healing
> charms.  Is this a flaw in the curriculum?  Do you suspect that it
> might be taught at NEWT level?  Is this a post-Hogwarts curriculum as
> Auror training is?

Yes, I think it is a flaw in the curriculum.  While advanced
healing may be left to NEWT level, basic healing should
be covered.  I mean, virtually everyone cuts themselves at
one time or another.  They should also teach those "householdy"
types of spells, like fixing robes with lace, mending, cleaning,
etc.  They need a first aid and practical arts curriculum.

> 3. On a related note, why does Harry think Hermione will know healing
> charms?  Is he right?

Hermione thinks ahead about things.  She has probably
thought about simple healing spells because of several
of the accidents that have happened to people in the
stories.  She probably looked them up and learned the
ones that were readily learnable.

> 4. When Harry discovers the mirror shard, it brings back the old
> memories and feelings, but he suppresses them quickly.  How does this
> demonstrate the progress has Harry made in controlling his feelings?
> Has he made much progress?

Personally, I don't think suppressing feeling constitutes
controlling them.  Although there is a time and place for
examining feelings, I think Harry prefers to think that they
will just go away if he doesn't think about them.

> 5. Apart from the books, JKR is quite specific about what Harry
> packs.  Why do you think she wanted to name each item?  Several
> reappear, but not all.

I think the fact that she names things specifically means
that we should look out for how they might be used - foreshadowing.
I think that including things that aren't used sets up a few red
herrings, so that we don't automatically assume everything he
takes is important.  He isn't prescient.

> 6. Already as a child, Dumbledore seems to be inclined to withhold
> information, as we find in Doge's tribute. He is referred to as "more
> reserved" when Doge returns from his travels.   Do we attribute this
> to personality or to "family secrets?"  In other words, is he trained
> to be secretive or would he have been anyway?  (All speculation
> welcome!)

Dumbledore was definitely trained to be secretive.  From the
time Ariana was attacked and his father was imprisoned, he
was told to be evasive about her injuries.  Similarly to Harry's
training with "Don't ask questions!", Dumbledore's training with
"Be evasive." is a major factor in how they subsequently approach
others.

> 7. We see Dumbledore writing as a Hogwarts student to luminaries such
> as Flamel, Bathilda Bagshot and Waffling.  We know Bathilda has a
> role later in Rita Skeeter's expose; any speculation on how much of
> early Dumbledore's correspondence she shared?

I fully believe RS when she says that a few drops of Verita
Serum helped.  Given that Bathilda was already nearly dead,
she was pretty powerless to resist anything RS asked.

> 8. Doge just happens to be gone when Dumbledore and Grindelwald
> become friends.  How much did/didn't Doge know about their friendship?

It was such a short-lived friendship, I wouldn't be surprised
if Doge knew very little.  It is probably another thing Dumbledore
learned to keep to himself.

> 9. Doge mentions the Grindelwald/Dumbledore duel, but clearly is
> reporting from second-hand (at best) sources.  Are we looking at a
> duel that grew in legend?  Is Rita Skeeter right?

Probably.

> 10. Following his perusal of Doge's tribute, Harry realizes he was
> very bad at asking questions.  Is this a JKR sop to readers'
> frustration with his lack of curiosity, or do you think she had
> always planned for Harry to have this realization?

I think it was a necessary part of the story development.  If he
had been more curious and asked more questions, he could
have, like Hermione, done a bit of research and found out much
more.  But then Dumbledore's fallibility wouldn't have hit him so
hard and his final decision to trust his plan would not have been
such a major step.

> 11. Harry suspects that Dumbledore didn't answer frankly the one
> personal question he asked.  What's the likelihood Dumbledore would
> have answered any of Harry's personal questions frankly?

I don't think Dumbledore would have answered most of Harry's
questions, even if he did ask them.  For instance, when Dumbledore
had the withered hand, Harry did ask about it, but each time DD
put off telling him, saying that there were other things they needed
to talk about more.

> 12. Rita Skeeter clearly lies in her interview, calling her
> relationship with Harry Potter "close."  Did this mislead you on the
> first read, or did you suspect some of what she found was true?

For some reason, I did think that there was a shard of truth
in what she said.  Lies are more powerful if they have a basis
in truth.  Their very plausibility make people more willing to
believe them.

> 13. The uses of dragon's blood is mentioned more than once in this
> chapter and has been known since book 1, yet it never figures into
> the denouement. Any speculation?

I always thought we would see at least one of the uses of
dragonsblood.  I wonder how they get it.  I wonder how they
get dragon's heartstrings for wands.  It isn't as though the
dragon would voluntarily donate them.

> 14. Rita refers to Dumbledore's relationship with Harry
> as "unhealthy."  While she is mining for sensation, how much of this
> do you think has a ring of truth?

I think she is just casting aspersions that she hopes will
make both Dumbledore and Harry look bad.

> 15. Doge's tribute is glowing, and Rita Skeeter's report insinuates
> sensational scandal.  Which one is more honest?  Do both withhold
> certain truths?

I think both are flawed.  They see what they want to see.  Ah,
the truth.  "It is a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore
be treated with great caution."

> 16. What was your reaction to the flash of blue in the mirror the
> first time you read the book?

I think I thought it was Dumbledore's portrait - that somehow the
other mirror was somewhere that Dumbledore could look out of
a portrait of his and see.

Laura
-- 
Laura Lynn Walsh    lwalsh at acsalaska.net
http://llwcontemplations.blogspot.com



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