[HPforGrownups] CHAPDISC: DH2, In Memoriam

[Cassy Ferris]

No: HPFGUIDX 176684

Really nice questions!

> 1. Harry believes the teacup in the hall is a prank.  What was your
> reaction the first time you read this?

Before I read Harry's thoughts about it, I simply reconed that it was
tea someone brought for Harry to drink. It seemed a very strange
choice for a prank, anyway.

> 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?

I think that it really is a flaw in curriculum. Even if  healing
charms themselves are too advanced for the majority students to
perform, it would not hurt to know about their existence.  I don't
know in wich NEWT level course they might fit, I think there sjould
just be a seperate course. And they surely must teach it somewhere
post-Hogrwards, most probably in some kind of apprentice practice at
St. Mungo's.

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

I suppose that Harry is used to Hermione knowing *everything*, so he
just assumes that she would know about those as well.

> 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?

Well, judging by the relative easiness with which Harry shuts and
opens his mental connection with LV, he made an enomorous progress.

> 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.

No idea, honestly. I didn't pay much attention at the time, to be honest.

> 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!)

IMHO, the combination of the two. Given his family history, there's no
wonder he learmed to keep secrets, but  he might have a natural
inclination to. It also might be, that he, being much brighter than
people around him, grew up to beleive that he knew best in all
situations. And what's the point of sharing your troubles if you don't
need an advice or any kind of assistance? After all, that's what Harry
does as well: he prefers to solve his problems himself in many
situations, not asking for help, most of the time believing he doesn't
need any help.

> 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 don't think that early correspodance between those two was actually
anything more that academical discussions and thus, not particulary
interesting for the general reader.

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

None, I presume.

> 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?

Grindewald doesn't struck me as a type who would go quitely. Why
should he? But this duel must be less dramatic that Harry's with LV in
terms that it wasn't a case of life and death. Grindelwald survived,
though was imprisoned and, maybe, even if he won, he wouldn't have
killed Dumbledore "for the old times sake". Those two were not mortal
enemies, after all.

> 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 planned anyway. After all, Harry has to realize that he
lacks significant information then he stumbles across questions
unanswered and no reaction from the readers would have made JRK to
provide hero with info too early or too easy. Dumbles only tells him,
that we, readers, need to know.

> 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 doubt it. Dumbledore has never been really sincere with Harry while
alive. Or, I believe, with anybody else.

> 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?

I hope that some of her dirt on Dumbledore was true, mainly because I
never really liked the man, seeing him as a shameless manipulator. no
offence to Dumbledore fans meant.

> 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?

Maybe it is just a red herring. Probably we were supposed to believe
 that it could be somehow used to destroy Horcruxes?

> 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?


SPOILER for  Ch 33 The Prince's Tale:
(after telling Snape that Harry must be killed by Voldemort)
Dumbledore opened his eyes. Snape looked horrified.
"You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?"
 - how more unhealthy can a relationship get? ^_~ Seriously, imho,
Dumbledore deliberately had put Harry in danger on many occasions
(most obviously in PS and GoF), so yes, the relationship is not
exactly normal.

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

Doge is honest, since he speak his true feelings. I don't think that
he withholds thruth, more that he doesn't accept it and ignores any
facts that might tarnish Dumbledore's golden image.

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

"Oh no, not communicating wth the dead!"