CHAPDISC: DH25, Shell Cottage

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 184031

Jane
> Although Harry does not specifically tell him what the trio is after
> in the Lestrange's vault, Griphook has been assured that they are
> not after gold or treasure to enrich themselves. So he must reason
> that it is something with a different kind of value, and he may
> surmise that is is also goblin-made. By agreeing to assist them, he
> does not stipulate that they may not take anything made by goblins.
> And when they are in the vault, and he sees what it is they have
> come for, he does not indicate that he is surprised at what it is.
> Of course by that point he might believe that the trio will be
> entombed in the vault, and that it doesn't matter what it is they
> wanted.
> 
> For me, this leads to the further question: Did Griphook expect the
> trio to die in the vault, and was he using this expectation to steal
> back the sword? Or was he willing to "trade" whatever else they were
> after for the sword? I put the word trade in quotes, since at the
> time the deal was made, he didn't know specifically what they were
> after, but he would have had a good idea of what the Lestranges had
> in their vault.
> 
> Finally, I took the handshake to be Griphook's understanding of the
> human concept of the gesture, and he was impressing upon Harry the
> seriousness of what he expected out of Harry. He was not making a
> similar commitment in return.

Montavilla47:

Welcome Jane!  I like the way you and Pippin are heading with
Griphook.  I hadn't thought of it that way before, because I was 
seeing Harry and Co. very much as the "good guys"  and everyone
ought to help the good guys, right?

But if you think about it from Griphook's perspective, it's almost
like he's a bank employee who is forced to help rob his own bank.
In which case, he acts very ethically and cleverly at the same time.
He persuades his captors that he's willing to help--given the 
incentive of an valuable item that the Goblins would like back in
their possession.

Then he tells him captors just enough to get them trapped 
inside the vault.  So clever!  

And yeah, I know we shouldn't expect Harry to be--you know--
a hero or anything.  He's just a guy trying to destroy Horcuxes.
But I really was disgusted at Harry lying to Griphook.  Plus, I was
a bit disgusted at having to sit around for several weeks while
the Trio planned their bank heist.  

(Digression alert:  Just whose brilliant idea was it to have 
Hermione impersonate Bellatrix Lestrange?  Wouldn't Ron
have been a better choice, since he's the one with the mad
mimicry skillz?  Hermione has pretty much been 
established by this point as the worst actress in the world.)

So, I was rooting for Griphook to grab the sword and run.