CHAPDISC: DH26, Gringotts

Sat Aug 16 16:33:35 UTC 2008

No: HPFGUIDX 184089

Beatrice:

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?

Alla:

Okay, so coming late to answer those great questions. No, actually 
for some reason I was not being nervous that it will be CoS take 2.

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?

Alla:

Truly, beats me, really really beats me. Would have made so much more 
sense to me to ask Bill for help and I personally do not doubt that 
Bill would have at least tried to get one of his Goblins friends to 
help Harry. Would he had been successful? I do not know, maybe not. 
But they did not **try**. And if Harry would have lied to Griphook as 
a very urgent last resort, I may have been easier on him.

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

Alla:

He wants to destroy the wand that killed Godfather, makes a perfect 
sense to me and I am not sure if it is rational or not, but it is 
very understandable.

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?

Alla:

Well, Olivander's character had always been an enigma to me since his 
book 1 characterization of Voldemort's deeds and still is at the end 
of the series. I mean clearly he is not a DE himself as we know, but 
what the heck is this awe of the monster, I do not know.

The best I can do to characterize him is the person who cares only 
about his craft and if somebody can push the products of his making 
to the limit, no matter how horrible that limit can be, he will 
respect that person.

Why he makes Luna alone a new wand? Frankly I am surprised that he 
did that for her. I would imagine that maybe in his head he thinks 
that magic is neutral and in his head he decided that he is not 
supposed to help none of the parties? But he was just tortured for 
crying out loud, wasn't that enough to tip the scales in his mind? I 
have no idea. I know that I for sure would not have been behaving as 
he did, and would do my very best to try and make as many wands as 
strength will allow me to make sure that the monster paid if not for 
what he did to people around me (which I would have worked for 
definitely), but at least for what he did to me. But hey, I am not 
Ollivander.

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?

Alla:

I wrote about it recently, it is dishonest and wrong IMO. Double-
cross? I do not know, if double-cross means taking immediate 
advantage of the person, then sure IMO it was.

I mean Harry wanted Griphook's help, but intended to give sword back 
when Voldemort is gone? For all Harry knows it could have been 100 
years. Bad move Harry.

Having said that, if I had evidence that Harry knew that Griphook 
intended to double-cross him, I would have no problems with Harry's 
decision.

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?

Okay, I am pretty sure that what I am going to write right now stands 
a chance to be misinterpreted, so I am going to try to be very clear 
lol. While I have very little problem per se with Harry using 
**either** Imperio or Crucio, comparatively and ONLY comparatively if 
I were to choose which one I have less problems with , it will 
definitely be Imperio here. Again let me stress, all that it means 
that on the scale of 1 to 10 I would grade me having problem with 
Harry using Imperio as 1.5 and Harry using Crucio as 0.5, I think.

Why? Because when I read about Harry using Imperio here, I was like 
huh? What sense of urgency do you have Harry? Did Goblins hurt you in 
some way? Were they the ones who tortured kids in your school or 
something? Who the hell gave you the right to compel the free will of 
another being just because you need a sword from **their** bank?

I definitely understand that ends justify the means here

See, if character is provoked badly or hurt or upset, I will cut a 
huge slack to that character in **fiction**, accordingly I have no 
problem with Harry's crucio. I have no problem with disproportional 
response to bad guy ( character I see as bad guy) in fiction, as long 
as I am satisfied that another character was indeed provoked or was 
defending himself or others, etc, etc. But here? Yes, since there was 
no harm done, I do not have much problem either, but I would for sure 
prefer Harry to use another curse. I do not LIKE Goblins at all, as I 
said before, but surely I do not see them as enemies.

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?

Alla:

Oh yeah, cruelty to living creature made me feel even worse about 
Goblins. As I said before Goblins went way down in my mind after book 
7, way way down.

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?

Alla:

I would not put anything past Griphook, yeah I am ready to believe 
that he knew about it.

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?

Alla:

The bastard, he could do with a little bit more gratefulness. If 
Griphook did not intend for Harry to obtain anything from the vault, 
that makes him double bastard in my eyes. But only if he did not know 
that Harry was not being honest with him either.  And yeah, the fact 
that he is accepted without the question tells me loads.

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?

Alla:

I loved that part and I already said how I feel about Goblins. Thanks 
for amazing questions Beatrice.