CHAPDISC: DH2, In Memoriam

[nirupama76]

No: HPFGUIDX 176947

Niru writes:

Great questions! :)

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

Yeah. I thought it was a childish prank too.

> 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?  

It is a flaw. Healing appears to be something that is only taught to 
those who choose to study it. Some people like Molly appear to pick 
up a number of healing charms along the way, but it doesn't seem to 
be part of the Hogwarts curriculum.

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

Harry (and Ron) appear to automatically assume that Hermione will 
know something. Ususally they are right. But Hermione doesn't appear 
to know much about healing beyond the uses of Dittany (which 
admittedly are many). So in this case I think Harry is selling 
himself short. After all he does now how to fix broken/dislocated 
noses. Didn't he heal Demelza Robbins after Quidditch practice in 
HBP with the Episkey spell (from memory she is described as having a 
fat lip or something)?


> 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?

A fair bit since OotP. In those days, he would have been prone to 
hurl the mirror into the wall. This time he tries to control his 
reactions and concentrate on the job at hand.


> 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.

Perhaps to show that there aren't too many items that Harry 
treasures. I was surprised he packed so few items and just discarded 
the majority of his possessions.

> 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!)

It is probably a combination of the two. He was predisposed to 
withholding information and then the incident with Ariana happened. 
They had to keep her in the house and were probably taught not to 
talk about it much.

> 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 think Rita was not entirely honest in obtaining information from 
Bathilda. Bathilda was after all very old and nearly senile. I don't 
know what means Rita used, but I won't be surprised if some of them 
were fairly underhanded. And knowing Rita, she wouldn't have been 
interested in scholarly stuff. She was after scandal plain and 
simple. The things she really wanted out of Bathilda were the Ariana 
story and the Grindelwald story.


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

He didn't know much is my guess. Dumbledore certainly didn't put it 
out there and given what happened and his fears of how Ariana might 
have died, I don't think he'd have enlightened Doge.

> 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?

The duel probably grew in legend a bit. But Rita is not right.


> 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 she always planned for him to have this realizaion. Harry 
does not lack curiosity. In fact he has an abundance of it and has 
proved it at many points. I don't think he would gone around asking 
Dumbledore personal questions anyway. How many people will ask their 
teachers questions about their family and stuff? Especially if the 
first time he asked a question, he was lied to (rebuffed)? Harry is 
a private person and he is just respecting Dumbledore's privacy.

 
> 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?

Hmm... the one question Harry asked was very, very personal. But I'm 
inclined to think that Dumbledore would have avoided answering 
personal questions.


> 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?

No. Rita is lying.


> 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?  

No.


> 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?

There's no ring of truth. Rita is alluding to pedophilia. That's why 
Harry feels so sick and angry when he reads that.

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

Well... they both have "certain points of view". Doge clearly 
idolizes Dumbledore and his tribute is glowing. Dumbledore is 
undoubtedly a great man but he's not the God-like figure Doge makes 
him out to be. Rita is taking certain truths like that fact that 
Ariana was ill and very closely watched and twists it around to 
create scandal. She is careful not to cook up a complete lie. She 
takes just one small grain of truth and then manufactures a story.

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

I thought it was Albus Dumbledore from beyond the veil. Almost 
expected Sirius at some point!

Niru