CHAPDISC: DH27, The Final Hiding Place

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 184152

> Jen questioned me: 
>  
> 1)  What did you think would be the 'final hiding place' when 
> reading the chapter title?  Were you expecting a Horcrux at 
> Hogwarts all along?

Mike:
So that's what the chapter title meant. I've never been more confused 
by chapter titles than I was by this book. Like chapter 11, "The 
Bribe". Who was bribed? Who did the bribing? I thought maybe she 
mistyped the title, and meant the "Bride". Though I kept waiting for 
Kreacher to come home with a fiancé, nothing. Then I waited all 
chapter 14 for that "Thief". I figured it must have been GG snatching 
the EW from whatsisname, but I had to think about it. I thought it 
could have been the Trio stealing the locket back from Dumbridge, or 
Harry re-stealing back Mad-Eye's eye.

So now we get the "Final Hiding Place". What,... where? By the lake? 
Not such a good hiding place, I'm thinking. Huh, it wasn't the Trio 
that were hiding, as in chapter 9, "A Place to Hide"? Now I'm lost. 
No, wait,... that's chapter 29 with "The Lost Die-dum". 



> Jen continued the questions: 
> 2)  This is likely the shortest chapter in all of the HP books,
> yet descriptions of the dragon take up quite a few paragraphs at
> the beginning:  how the dragon feels, what it's doing while the
> Trio rest by the lake, where it might go next, etc.  Then right
> before leaving the lakes, they watch the dragon take flight until
> it vanishes, even though Harry insisted they must leave at once.
> Do you think the dragon plays a symbolic role?  Is it a
> significant part of this chapter for another reason?  Or did you
> find the mentions of the dragon more filler?

Mike:
Umm, symbolism? I don't do symbolism. I just think it was cool for 
the Trio to get to ride a dragon. Though, without a saddle like 
Eragon had, their uhh, hindquarters must of been getting a bit raw, 
dontcha think?


> Despite my ineptness, Jen tried again: 
> 3)  Harry's vision of Voldemort killing everyone within reach at 
> Malfoy Manor is a first-hand view of Voldemort using the Elder
> wand.  Do you believe Voldemort exhibits extraordinary magical
> power in this scene or were his powers about what you expected
> he was capable of regardless of the wand?   Any thoughts on
> Bellatrix and Lucius '[throwing] others behind them in their race
> for the door'?

Mike:
Can I just admit that I missed the part where LV goes crazy with the 
AKs the first read through? But now my considered analysis is that LV 
must have a form of Tourette's that causes him to fire off two-word 
spells instead of four-letter words. ... Not buying that one? Oh 
well, I tried.



> Jen, do you really want to ask me another? Oh shoot: 
> 4)  Voldemort initially believes his Horcruxes must be safe
> because he would feel 'if he, himself, most important and
> precious, had been attacked, mutilated[.]'  Comments about either
> Voldemort's reasoning or how he describes his Horcruxes?  Did the
> course of Voldemort's thoughts about his Horcruxes and the
> realization that Harry is hunting them offer any new glimpses
> into his interior life?

Mike:
Yeah, well Voldemort wasn't being attacked "himself", so I don't have 
any answer for what the heck he's thinking. He doesn't give a crap 
for his soul, so why would he think the soul pieces would give a crap 
about "himself". What, he thought they would text him if they were 
under attack? So my insight into LV's interior life is that he has 
Tourette's and is delusional.



> Jen, Jen, will this never cease: 
> 5)  If you were a Harry!Horcrux theorist, or argued against the 
> theory, did you think the possibility of Harry being the final 
> Horcrux was defunct when the last Horcrux was revealed as an
> object hidden at Hogwarts?  Were you keeping count at that point?
> Were you already suspecting the possibility of a twist with the
> Horcruxes?

Mike:
Well, I was a Harry!Crux proponent. But since I was still confused 
about who was hiding at this point, I,... umm,... what was I saying? 
Oh yeah, Horcrux counting. I was still on track, cuz I didn't have 
Nagini on my dream team. Besides, with JKR's math, I figured we could 
get anywhere from 5 to 9 Horcruxes and still be within the margin of 
error.



> So, Jen, you liked my last answer, huh? Wanna try another:  
> 6)  Voldemort is fairly certain the Potter boy couldn't know of
> his connection to the Gaunts, or about the cave, until he
> remembers Dumbledore.  In a final assessment of why Dumbledore
> was the only wizard Voldemort reportedly feared, what was the
> basis of Voldemort's fear?  Did it have to do with Dumbledore's
> knowledge of Tom Riddle's past or other factors?

Mike:
In addition to Tourette's and Delusionalism, LV has *Life Dyslexia*. 
He gets everything backwards and mixed up when it comes to life. He 
figured the best way to achieve immortality was to rip apart his life 
one piece at a time. He also thinks that Dumbledore is most dangerous 
now that he's dead. 

A subset of this dyslexia shows up when he thinks about the RoR. Cuz 
of course he was the first and only one to find the place, and all 
that other stuff in there musta come after he hid the "Die-dum", 
except it's already in there when he hides the die-dum, which wasn't 
really lost in the first place, it was stolen. Hey, that's who "The 
Thief" was, ya think? No, well in any case, I figured Voldemort was 
gonna die dumb.



> So I'm getting better, Jen? No. Well try another anyway: 
> 7)  Harry is the one to determine when they jump off the dragon;
> he's the one who casts the protective spells.  When Hermione
> attempts to plan their trip to Hogwarts rather than following
> Harry's lead, Harry 'firmly' decides the course of action.  Is
> this a new twist in the Harry/Hermione relationship?  Do you
> think something changed between them over the course of the year
> or is it typical that Harry takes over in certain situations?

Mike:
OK, I know this one. Riding on the dragon made Harry flash back to 
the TWT. See, now that he's defeated the dragon (well he did get a 
free ride, that counts doesn't it?) he has to do the next task, which 
is to go jump in a like. Didn't y'all notice Harry fishing around in 
his pockets for some gillyweed?

So of course the last task is the maze of streets in Hogsmeade and 
the maze of tunnels into Hogwarts. Naturally Harry won't let Hermione 
talk him out of it. He's even going to have to find the Tri-wizard 
Cup,... ahh, I mean the Hufflepuff cup. No wait, they just found that 
in the maze of tunnels of Gringotts. But it was a cup, right?


> I don't know why you insist on continuing, Jen. Once more into
> the breach, I guess:
> 8)  Any thoughts on Harry's decision to go to Hogsmeade even after 
> learning Voldemort believed it would be 'impossible' for Harry to 
> enter Hogsmeade undetected?  Did Harry forget this point in his
> haste to find the last Horcrux?

Mike:
Oh, this one is easy. Harry snuck into Hogsmeade in PoA under the IC. 
He went to the Three Broomsticks under it again in GoF. Then he tags 
along with DD under the IC in HBP. Harry thinks the only way to visit 
Hogsmeade is under his cloak. So he throws it on and heads off. 
Pretty much par for the course for Harry.



> Jen, are we done yet?:
> 9)  Please add any additional questions or comments that aren't 
> covered in this summary.  

Mike:
I guess we are. Wait, I have a question. If the Diary Horcrux had 
succeeded in killing Ginny, would that soul piece tear? The damn 
things could be like Tribbles.


Mike, who is sure he has Jen confused and wondering if she really 
wrote that stuff that Mike credited her for :o)