CHAPDISC: DH26, Gringotts

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 184076

> Questions:
> 
> 1. HRH plan on using "a single long, coarse black hair (plucked from
> the sweater Hermione had been wearing at Malfoy Manor)" (DH 519).
> This might remind our readers of another time HRH attempted to use
> polyjuice potion.  As you were reading did you have any fears that
> this attempt might end as poorly as the previous?

Montavilla47:
No.  There's a big difference in long human hair and "long" cat hair. 
The polyjuice potion had become pretty ordinary by this point in the
book.  I didn't anticipate any problem.


> 2. Why do the trio align themselves with Griphook?  Why not ask for
> Bill's help?  Would Bill help them?  Why doesn't Harry even consider
> this idea?

I have no idea why Harry doesn't ask Bill for help.  It seems really
stupid not to.  Bill WORKS for Gringotts.  In OotP, it was Bill who
had the blueprints to the Ministry.  Bill's a Weasley.  He's gone 
above and beyond to help Harry in the past.  He is, as Harry noted
in GoF, Rock-Star Cool.  

And he's a CURSEBREAKER!

I'm not sure how a human with extensive knowledge of goblins,
AND the very bank they're trying to break into, AND cursebreaking,
could possibly help when you're trying to negotiate with a goblin,
break into a bank, and steal an object that's probably cursed. 

Sorry.  That thumping sound was my head hitting the desk.

> 3. Harry has the sudden urge to destroy Bellatrix's wand when he is
> reminded of the spells it has performed.  Is this rational?

No.  As others have said, it's an emotional reaction.  


> 4. Why does Ollivander make Luna and Luna alone a new wand?  Why not
> make new wands for all of the people who were incarcerated with him?
> Why not make new wands for as many people as possible who have been
> victimized as he was by Death Eaters?  Why doesn't Ollivander think
> about arming the enemies of his enemy?  What does this say about his
> character?

I wonder what it says about the others that they never think to ask him.
If I had been Dean, I'd be begging Ollivander to take me on as an 
apprentice.

> 5. Is Harry's plan to withhold the Sword of Gryffindor from Griphook
> a double-cross?  Should Harry have explained their need of the sword
> (withholding certain details of course) and do something to ensure
> that Griphook would allow them to use it for a while?  Were you
> comfortable with Harry's decision?  Or did you agree with Hermione?

Not exactly.  Yes.  No.  Yes.

I think what really bugs me about what Harry does here is not that
he's double-crossing Griphook.  He isn't--or at least he doesn't intend
to double-crossing Griphook ultimately.  

What bugs me is that he decides to act in a way that's going to be
perceived as a double-cross.  For no good reason that I can see.
If he doesn't want to hand it over to Griphook immediately, but 
intends in good faith to hand it over eventually, then he ought to
just say that.

Does he expect Griphook to intuit--when Harry doesn't hand
over the sword as expected--that Harry is acting honorably?  No.
Of course Griphook is going to think he's being double-crossed.

And he'll act accordingly.  Harry knows this is wrong and he 
does it anyway.  

> 6. Before they leave, Hermione comments that Bellatrix "tasted
> disguisting."  How do you think that Harry tasted?  His polyjuice
> potion certainly was a more pleasant color.  Is a person's
> polyjuice "flavor" significant?

I really don't want to think about how Harry tasted.  I find this
whole polyjuice character test extremely distasteful.  (Pun intended.)
Shall we speculate on how those little girls that Crabbe and Goyle
transformed into tasted?  

> 7. Hermione breaks character as Bellatrix when she says "good
> morning" to Tom, the Leaky Cauldron barman.  Of the three, who is the
> best actor?  Is Hermione the best choice to play Bellatrix?  Would
> Harry or Ron have done a better job with her character?

Ron is, canonically speaking, the best actor of the three.  He's the 
one who mimics Peter Pettigrew and Harry's parseltongue.  He's 
seen almost as much of Bellatrix as Hermione has.  And, let's face 
it, Hermione is a terrible actress.  The one time she tried it before
(in B&B's), she was a dismal failure.


> 8. How did you feel about the changes to Diagon Alley?  Were you
> surprised by any of the changes to the Wizarding World?

Only after thinking about the book and wondering why the 
muggle-born weren't going to their muggle relatives for help.  
It's not like anyone was chasing these ragged, homeless, injured
wizards in Diagon Alley.  So, presumably they could go stay with
muggle relatives until the war was ended.  But, I suppose these 
were wizards without any muggle resources.  There were bound
to be some of those around.

My main thought in reading this was to wonder what real life
Nazi-esque situation this was referring to.  I assumed it must be
based on something, because everything else seemed to be,  But
it didn't ring any bells.  

> 9. Ron is forced to stun a man who attempts to assault
> Bellatrix/Hermione.  Did you agree with his decision?  Does he have a
> choice?  How does he feel about the situation?

I imagine he felt it was neccessary.  Stunning is probably the 
least offensive way to stop the guy from ruining their plan.


> 10. There has been a lot of debate about Harry's use of unforgivable
> curses.  Here we have the first time he uses one as he performs the
> Imperius Curse on Bogrod and Travers.  Why doesn't he confound them
> as he does the security guard?  Is it really necessary to use this
> curse?  Is this more effective than a Confundus Charm?  Does Harry's
> feeling that he did not perform a very strong curse make it more
> acceptable that he uses this tactic?

It didn't bug me.  I'm not sure why it doesn't.  With both Imperius and 
Avada Kadavra, I feel like they're not quite as bad as Crucio.  I mean,
you could have someone do things under Imperius that they'd feel horrible
about afterwards--and that would be quite evil.  

But you could also use Imperius for a good reason.   For example, if 
someone had a fear of heights, and they needed to cross a bridge, you 
could use Imperius to make them cross the bridge without feeling fear 
(in GoF, Harry feels a warm, comfortable feeling under Imperius). 

And, unless you make someone do something they'd regret, there seems
to be no ill effect from the curse.

Also, Avada Kadavra, whiile a killing curse, creates a quick, painless 
death.  As Dumbledore tells us, there's a lot worse ways of dying.

On the other hand, Crucio has no purpose other than to cause pain.  
In order to cast it effectively, your purpose has to be to inflict suffering.
And, we see its effect on the Longbottoms.  How many of us have felt
that between Harry and Neville's loss of parents, Neville had it just a 
tiny bit worse?

> 11. How did you feel about the description of the dragon and the
> cruel way in which it is kept?  Did this make you feel any different
> about Gringotts or goblins?  Harry thought he saw dragon fire when he
> first entered Gringotts in SS/PS.  Are there more dragons? Or is this
> the only one?

It seemed like a very terrible waste of a dragon to keep it underground
like that.  

> 12. As they enter the vault, they realize that the treasure has been
> charmed or cursed to burn their flesh and multiply.  Should Griphook
> have anticipated this little snag?  Why aren't they more prepared for
> this?  Was Griphook's lapse intentional?

I hope the lapse was intentional.

You know, it might have been handy for them to have had a 
cursebreaker along for the heist, don't you think?  Wonder where they
could have found a cursebreaker....

> 13. How do you feel about Griphook's treatment of Harry after Harry
> pulls him from the crushing, burning weight of the treasure?
> Griphook grabs the sword, and in the process the cup is almost lost.
> Did Griphook really intend for Harry to obtain anything from the
> vault? Griphook is accepted without question into the hoard of
> approaching goblins.  What do you make of this?

I was really confused during that passage. It was unclear to me 
whether Griphook was grabbing Harry's hair to pull himself
out of the burning gold, or Harry.   That Griphook was accepted
made sense to me.  He's a goblin who has been missing for weeks.
I'm sure they were delighted to see him alive.

> 14. Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape on the dragon's back in truly
> spectacular fashion.  How did you feel about the dragon's escape?
> How do you feel about Gringotts and goblins in general after Harry's
> experiences?

The chapter didn't change how I felt about goblins in general.  We 
knew that they cared more about goblins than about wizards, even
Harry Potter.  The only thing I didn't like was, of course, the poor
dragon being treated so cruelly.  I was happy that the dragon got
out.  

Montavilla47