CHAPDISC: DH26, Gringotts
Carol
justcarol67 at yahoo.com
Fri Aug 15 07:40:36 UTC 2008
No: HPFGUIDX 184081
CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Chapter 26, Gringotts
> 6. Before they leave, Hermione comments that Bellatrix "tasted
disgusting." How do you think that Harry tasted? His polyjuice
potion certainly was a more pleasant color. Is a person's polyjuice
"flavor" significant?
Carol:
Boy, I'm really responding to this chapter discussion in bits and pieces!
Hermione says that Harry's polyjuice potion looks like it tastes good,
but the actual taste isn't mentioned (DH Am. ed. 50) because Harry, of
course, doesn't drink it. We aren't told what "essence of Crabbe"
tasted like, but Hermione (correctly) remembers that it looked liked
bogeys. Goyle's merely tasted like overcooked cabbage (CoS Am. ed.
215)--given that JKR also uses "cooked cabbage" to describe an
unpleasant smell ("cats" is another), I get the feeling that JKR
heartily dislikes that particular vegetable, at least the cooked
variety. If, as the color suggests, "essence of Crabbe" actually
tasted like "bogeys," it's on a par with "essence" of Bellatrix (worse
than gurdyroots). I imagine that even at best Polyjuice Potion is not
particularly delicious, what with lacewing flies and all those other
ingredients plus human hair (or worse, fingernail or toenail
clippings), and the actual effects of turning into someone else will
be unpleasant regardless of who you're turning into. Still, some
peop;e's Polyjuice Potions apparently taste worse than others, with
the worst taste for the worst people. (Was Crabbe's potion a clue to
how very bad--worse than either Draco or Goyle--he would turn out?)
Color is evidently even more of an indicator of the person's "essence"
than taste, with Harry's being "a clear, bright gold" (DH 50), in
contrast to the bogey green and murky brown of Crabbe's and Goyle's or
the "sick sort of yellow" of Millicent's cat's (CoS 215).
Interestingly, Mafalda Hopkirk, the Ministry employee who sent Harry
his notice of expulsion (and then wished him a pleasant morning) turns
out to be a harmless and even kindly little witch, judging from the
color of her polyjuice potion, "a pleasant heliotrope color" (DH 238).
Neither taste nor color is mentioned for wimpy little Reg Cattermole
or the burly DE-loving Runcorn. i don't recall any details of the
Muggles' potions before the Godric's Hollow visit. Apparently, their
"essence" isn't important.
Crabbe and Bellatrix are another matter, as is Harry. The very
expression "essence of Crabbe" (from CoS) seems to indicate JKR's
usual essentialist view, that a person (despite the occasional
possibility of redemption and the importance of choice) is who he (or
she) is, good or bad, brave or cowardly, from at least age eleven and
possibly from birth, and that person's quality can most clearly be
judged, not from his words and actions (which can be deceptive, as
with Snape or the false friend, Wormtail) but from the taste and color
of his Polyjuice Potion. I exaggerate, I realize, but Harry's pure
gold potion annoyed me, as did JKR's inability to allow Harry to lose
a Quidditch match through his own error or misjudgement. In her eyes,
Harry is perfect; his essence pure gold.
>
> 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?
Carol:
Even though a precedent has been set with characters changing to a
person of the opposite sex through Polyjuice (Crabbe and Goyle as
first-year girls in HBP; Hermione, Tonks, and Fleur as Harry in DH),
all three probably find it easiest to play a person of their own sex.
More important, possibly, Harry and Ron have wands that they've won,
which leaves Hermione with Bellatrix's. (They don't, of course,
realize what a giveaway that will be.) Harry, as leader, really needs
to be under the Invisibility Cloak with Griphook, and Hermione is the
only one of the three with the Transfiguration skills to disguise the
unPolyjuiced person, another reason why she rather than he needs to
take the potion. I really don't know what would have happened if Ron,
who's a good mimic but net necessarily a good actor, had played
Bellatrix. It might have been disastrous. Harry, who knows Bellatrix
all too well, might have gotten into character easily enough (though
we've never seen any indication of his acting ability), but in the
end, it didn't matter. The Goblins had been warned that the vault
would be robbed, and the wand confirmed their suspicions.
>
> 8. How did you feel about the changes to Diagon Alley? Were you
surprised by any of the changes to the Wizarding World?
Carol:
We'd been prepared for changes as early as the opening chapters of
HBP, and, of course, we knew about the DE takeover, so it was hardly
surprising that Diagon Alley had changed drastically. I wasn't
prepared for begging "wandless" or wanted posters of Harry, but the
spread of shops that normally would have belonged in Knockturn Alley
and the closing of shops like those of Ollivander and Florean
Fortescue, both empty for nearly two years at this point in the story.
>
> 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 don't think he has any choice. He has to stay in character and help
Hermione out of her predicament. Obviously, he regrets Stunning the
poor man, but he'll recover, and it's imperative to keep the rattled
Hermione from being throttled by a desperate man. (Harry can't act
without giving them all away. It's up to Ron, and he does the only
thing he can think of to do.)
>
> 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?
Carol:
No to the last question, especially since he uses it on Bogrod again
after they go through the waterfall. If it's unacceptable, it doesn't
matter whether it's weak or strong. As for why he doesn't Confund
Travers again, I don't know. Apparently, his Confundus Charm isn't
very long-lasting or, unlike Snape, he doesn't know how to use it to
control people. Once Bogrod's first Imperius Curse washes off and
they're in real danger, I think the curse is somewhat more justified.
He can't just be confused; he actually needs to open the vault for
them. I don't like the idea that Harry is performing Unforgiveable
Curses, but the Imperiuses are certainly more justifiable in my mind
than the Cruciatus Curse. Here they're in serious trouble; they need
Travers, a potentially deadly enemy, out of their way and they can't
Stun or Petrify him without giving themselves and their plan away, and
they can't get into the vault without Bogrod. These are very different
circumstances from a Cruciatus Curse for pure revenge when there's no
immediate danger.
Sidenote here: I noticed that the Imperius Curse, in contrast to
Confundus, sends a surge of tingling warmth from the mind of the
caster, down his arm and through the wand, a much more powerful
sensation than we've noted with any other curse, no doubt very
addictive to power-hungry wizards like Mulciber, the Imperius
specialist. I would hope that Harry never uses that curse again unless
it's an equal emergency.
>
> 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?
Carol:
I always imagined that there were more dragons, but I hope this was
the only one. The cruelty of the Goblins toward teh poor dragon, not
to mention Griphook's treachery, causes me to lose whatever sympathy I
had for them.
>
> 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?
Carol:
I don't think that's a normal protection on these high-security
vaults, which are already virtually impossible for an outsider to
find, guarded by a dragon (or dragons), and can only be opened by a
Gringotts Goblin. He recognizes the curses when he sees them, but I
don't think he anticipated them. He might not have told them, in any
case, since all he wants is the sword and he plans to betray them.
>
> 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?
Carol:
As I said, I'm sure that he planned all along to betray them and leave
them trapped in the vault or at the mercy of the dragon and Goblins. I
thought it was odd at first that the Goblins believed him without
question, but since he's one of them and they know him, and they don't
trust Wizards, it's not that strange, really. Besides, he has the
Sword of Gryffindor in his hand, which he's returning to the Goblins,
whereas HRH are clearly stealing a treasure from the Lestranges'
vault. If any DE or Goblin doubts him, all he needs to do is plead the
Imperius Curse, which Bogrod and Travers will state was also used on them.
>
> 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?
Carol:
Happy for the dragon, which I hope will find its way to the dragon
preserve in Romania. (Presumably, HRH will tell Charlie about it.) I
hope it doesn't kill any people, but they'd better watch out for their
sheep! I don't care about Gringotts, except that I hope the damage to
the doors and the lobby is repaired. No one's money will be safe till
it is, and, besides, there was a kind of grandeur to that lobby. The
Goblins may have been mistreated by some Wizards and certainly by
Voldemort and the DEs, but they're an unloveable lot. I have some
sympathy for Bogrod. Griphook was badly treated by the Snatchers and
Bellatrix, which probably did nothing to improve his view of wizards
even with the counterexample of Harry and his friends, but I don't
like him. He's underhanded and malicious, and I'm very happy that the
Sword left him to return to its rightful home, Hogwarts, thnks to the
valor in the face of peril of Neville Longbottom.
Carol, who typed this post during commercial breaks in the women's
all-around gymnastics, so it may be full of errors
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