The Sword of Gryffindor

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 182571

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
Geoff:
> > This firstly assumes that Dumbledore is aware of 
> > Does the fact that the Chamber of Secrets contains a   
> > basilisk. Dumbledore know that for a fact? People are 
> > being petrified - not killed, the latter being what
> > you would expect from contact with one, of these 
> > creatures.
 
> > Secondly, the diary is far from irrelevant to Harry; 
> > it is the major threat to him because of the appearance 
> > of Tom Riddle. It is the manifestation of Riddle which 
> > has drawn Ginny into the Chamber and, hence, Harry. 
> > The basilisk only attacks Harry on the instruction of
> > Riddle's "image" and, as we see, it is only when Harry 
> > manages to destroy both the monster and the Horcrux 
> > that he is safe again.
> > <snip>
 
Carol:
> I didn't say that the diary was irrelevant to Harry. 

Geoff:
True, but you did write "The diary's being a Horcrux 
is irrelevant at this point." To which I replied "the 
diary is far from irrelevant to Harry". Harry is very 
soon made to realise that the diary constitutes a 
grave danger to him in the form of the memory image of 
Tom Riddle. The fact that it is a Horcrux - which Harry 
doesn't know about - but which in hindsight becomes 
known makes it probably the most serious threat to him 
up to this point in time; one which nearly proves final. 
Therefore, I consider that the fact that the diary is 
a Horcrux is very relevant, even if not spelt out in 
those words.

Carol:
> Fawkes, too, is perfect protection against a Basilisk 
> since Phoenix tears are the only antidote for Basilisk 
> venom.

> My point, then, is that DD expected Harry, who speaks   
> Parseltongue, to open the Chamber of secrets, as Tom 
> Riddle, the Heir of Slytherin, had done before him. 

> And Dumbledore obviously expected Harry to encounter 
> a monster there, the same monster that had originally 
> been released (and controlled) by Tom Riddle.
 
Geoff:
And if Harry had not found the entrance to the Chamber? 
What then?

Carol: 
> I snipped the part about the Sorting Hat's powers since 
> IMO they are not relevant here--the hat merely has 
> the "brains" of the Founders and therefore the ability 
> to use Legilimency to determine which House a
> student belongs in. 
<snip>

Geoff:
This brings up a thought which came to me earlier today 
after my last post. There has been much talk of a link 
between the Hat and the sword of Gryffindor. One thing 
which has been exercising me is the fact that the Hat 
should be impartial and without bias when deciding to 
which house new pupils should be allocated. So, this 
begs the question: if someone in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw 
or - heaven forbid - Slytherin <g> finds themselves in 
a situation of calling for help, how does the Hat respond?

One for the academics.

Geoff
- practising his welsh for the weekend.
Cymru am byth? Nos da.