The Sword of Gryffindor

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 182554

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> Brenwen wrote:
> > 
> > In DH - how did the sword of Gryffindor get from the hands of the 
> goblin Griphook [after the debacle at Gringotts Bank] back to the 
> sorting hat where Neville could grab it and decapitate Nagini?
>  
> tubazrcool:
> > 
> > I think it just disappeared ... like magic or something.
> >
> Carol responds:
> 
> Yes, the answer is definitely magic of some sort. I think that the
> Sword must have had a spell on it that caused it to come to a
> Gryffindor "under conditions of need and valor," as DD tells Snape in
> "The Prince's Tale" (DH Am. ed. 689).

<snip>

>  It belongs to
> Gryffindor House, and just as it came to Harry when he was facing the
> Basilisk in CoS, brought by Fawkes, probably on instruction from
> Dumbledore, it came to Neville when he bravely faced Voldemort without
> a wand and under instructions from Harry to kill Nagini.

Geoff:
I read the COS incident differently. The sword was not inside the 
hat when Fawkes brought it. It appears that the Hat responded 
to a direct plea from Harry:

'"Help me... help me..." Harry thought, his eyes screwed tight under 
the Hat. "Please help me!"

There was no answering voice. Instead, the Hat contracted, as 
though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly.

Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry's  
head, almost knocking him out. Stars winking in front of his eyes, 
he grabbed the top of the Hat to pull it off and felt something long 
and hard beneath it.

A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the Hat.....'
(COS "The Heir of Slytherin" p.235 UK edition)

To me, this implies that a deep magic had been invoked, not by 
Dumbledore and whether it was from the Hat or the sword -or 
both -I'm not sure but it certainly seems that the sword possesses 
powers of its own to give assistance. It's one of those very magical 
objects, like the Room of Requirement and the Hat which are appear 
to be sentient and react to need.