CHAPDISC: DH3, The Dursleys Departing

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No: HPFGUIDX 177137

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CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Chapter 3, The Dursleys Departing

This chapter serves several purposes, as is common to early chapters
of HP canon.  Jo is filling in information and moving the plot along
at the same time.   The chapter begins with Vernon interrupting
Harry's packing in his usual rude manner.  Vernon is wavering in his
decision to pack up Petunia and Dudley and leave the house.
Although he has been told that he and his family are in danger,
Vernon suspects Harry of plotting with "his lot" to get the house on
Privet Drive away from the Dursleys, a theory that Harry shoots down
in short order.

Harry reminds Vernon that Harry himself isn't the source of this
information.  Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley have recently
paid a visit to Privet Drive, we learn, to explain to the Dursleys
that the protective spells around Harry will end the moment he turns
17, thus putting both him and them in mortal danger from Voldemort
and the Death Eaters.   The Order of the Phoenix has offered to
protect the Dursleys, but that means that all three of them will have
to go into hiding.  Vernon wants to know why the Ministry of Magic
isn't offering protection, and Harry explains again that the Order
believes that the Ministry has been infiltrated by DEs.   Vernon then
expresses his dissatisfaction that Kingsley himself isn't going to
come and take the Dursleys. Instead, the job has been given to
Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones, as Kingsley is guarding the Prime
Minister.

Vernon expresses his dissatisfaction with the qualifications of
Dedalus and Hestia, and Harry reminds him with some impatience that
disasters and general malaise continue to attack Britain, and that
this is due to DE activity and the increasing presence of
dementors.   At this point, Dudley enters the conversation.  He
clearly remembers his encounter with the dementors and isn't eager to
repeat the experience.   While Vernon continues to bluster his
objections to the plan, Dudley announces that he will go with the
Order members.  That decides his parents, and Vernon ceases his
complaints immediately.

Harry goes to his room to finish packing and tries to mollify Hedwig,
who is none too pleased with her recent confinement to her cage.
When he hears Dedalus and Hestia arrive, he goes downstairs to help
them deal with his relatives.  Dedalus explains (in his usual
ebullient manner) that the 3 Dursleys and the 2 Order members will
drive together about 10 miles away from Privet Drive before
Disapparating to their safe location.   This precaution is necessary
because the Ministry is looking for reasons to arrest Harry, and any
suspicion that he has performed underage magic could give them an
excuse to do so.   Harry is to wait at the house for his escort, who,
it appears, will not be just Mad-Eye as he had expected.

Hestia tells Harry that Mad-Eye will give him the details, but that
the Dursleys must leave so that they will be far enough away to
Disapparate at the same moment that Harry leaves Privet Drive for
good, thus breaking the protective enchantment that Lily gave him.
Hestia and Dedalus prepare to leave the room so that the Dursleys and
Harry can say their goodbyes, but Vernon says an abrupt goodbye,
stopping himself before he can shake Harry's hand.   Petunia avoids
looking at Harry altogether.  But then comes an unexpected objection-
Dudley asks why Harry isn't coming with them.

His parents are completely flummoxed by this question.  Once Vernon
realizes that Dudley is serious, he tells Dudley that Harry doesn't
want to come along, adding, with a glare at Harry, "do you?"   But
Dudley isn't satisfied with this answer and asks, "But where's he
going to go?"  By now, Vernon and Petunia are getting worried about
Dudley.   Vernon gives his usual perfunctory answer, referring once
again to Harry's lot.  Hestia finds this insulting to Harry and
protests to Vernon, but Vernon is indifferent to her protests and
leaves the room.   Harry answers for him that the Dursleys aren't
concerned about his whereabouts and consider him "a waste of space".
And Dudley responds, "I don't think you're a waste of space."

Harry is utterly unprepared to hear Dudley express this sentiment.
He thinks about the little contact he's had with Dudley this summer
and the previous one, and realizes that things have changed, although
he has been too preoccupied to pay attention.   He finds
himself "rather touched" but still wants the moment to end, as it is
obviously difficult for Dudley to express himself and awkward for
Harry to hear his open expression of concern.   Petunia, however, is
moved to tears by Dudley's sudden show of humanitarianism.  Hestia
and Dedalus watch this scene in bemusement, and Vernon stomps back in
to hurry everyone along.   Hestia and Dedalus bid Harry goodbye and
good luck.

Then Dudley approaches Harry (somewhat to Harry's alarm) and offers
his hand.   The two of them shake, and say goodbye with mutual
respect  (calling it affection would be a great overstatement).
Finally, Petunia prepares to leave the room.   She says goodbye,
turns to walk out, then stops and looks back at Harry.  She appears
to be on the verge of speaking
then turns away once more and walks
out of the room.

QUESTIONS

Oh, the Dursleys
*shakes head*

1.  The way Vernon calls to Harry speaks volumes about their
relationship.  What strikes you about this and what do you think it
means?  Is Vernon's behavior here consistent with that in the other
books?

2.  Although Vernon is the chief disciplinarian at Privet Drive,
clearly it is Petunia who sets the tone of the family's relationship
with Harry.  We learn in Book 1 that it is her rage and resentment
towards Lily that is playing out in her treatment of Harry.   What do
you think Petunia sees when she looks at Harry, and how does it make
her feel?

3.  Many of us expected a confrontation between Harry and Petunia in
DH, but instead, Jo (as she usually does) surprised us by giving us
Petunia's back story in another context.

4.  What do you think she would have said to Harry had she chosen to
speak at this time?  Will Harry and Petunia ever see each other
again?  Is there unfinished business between them?

5.  After Dudley's encounter with the dementors in Book 5, fans
wondered what experiences   Dudley relived.  From Harry's point of
view, Dudley had never had a moment of fear, doubt or sadness in his
entire life.   But something life-changing happened to Dudley during
that encounter, as we see in DH.  What do you think Dudley saw, and
how did it change him?

6.  What was your reaction on reading Dudley's unexpected defense of
Harry?

7.  Do you see Dudley and Harry having any further contact throughout
their lives?

8.  How would Dudley's worries about Harry affect his relationship
with his (Dudley's) parents?

9.  Compare Dudley's dementor experience with that of Bellatrix or
Barty Crouch Jr.  Can we learn anything about the moral awareness of
these characters by their reactions to encounters with dementors?
Other characters have different kinds of reactions-think of Hagrid,
for instance.  How would someone like Mundungus Fletcher react to
them?

10. The ways in which Harry arrives at and leaves Privet Drive every
year are significant.  What are your thoughts on this?  Think of the
way he first came to the Dursleys' home in PS and the way he left in
DH.   Think also of the ways he leaves and returns in each book.
What can we learn about Harry from this?

11. How the Order was operating since Dumbledore's death?  It didn't
seem to be much of democracy while he was alive.   How would
decisions be made without him?

12. Did you wonder what would happen to the Dursleys' lives while
they were in hiding?  Would Vernon lose his job?   How would their
bills get paid?  Or were you happy to see the back of them?  *grin*

13. In PS and CS, Hedwig travels directly from Privet Drive to
Hogwarts on the train along with Harry.  In books 3-6, she is free to
fly about on her own for a while before meeting Harry and returning
to school.    Here, she is confined to her cage and not happy about
it.  Did you see this as a foreshadowing of her fate in the next
chapter?   Was it meant that way?

Laura

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Next chapdisc, chapter 4, The Seven Potters: Oct. 1