CHAPDISC: DH35, KING'S CROSS

[jkoney65]

No: HPFGUIDX 185128

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> Zara, thank you so so much for your help. You are amazing. :)
> 
> Chapter Discussion: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter
> 35, KING CROSS
> 
> 
> Harry wakes up in a strange place. At first he does not understand 
> what is happening to him, then slowly he realizes that he must 
exist 
> and that he must be more than a thought because he is definitely 
> lying down on some sort of surface. His senses are slowly 
awakening, 
> he is not sure whether he is in that place by himself or not. Harry 
> also realizes that he is naked and it does not bother him at all. 
He 
> realizes that he has eyes because he can see. Harry also realizes 
> that he does not need glasses. Then Harry hears pitiful noises. 
Harry 
> feels as if he encountered something shameful and for the first 
time 
> wishes that he were clothed. As soon as wish forms in his head, 
robes 
> appear. Harry's surroundings seem to invent themselves right in 
front 
> of his eyes: a glass roof in the sunlight, and a wall. Harry 
wonders 
> if he is in some sort of strange room of requirement. Then Harry 
sees 
> something that looks like a strange baby with flayed skin under a 
> table, which is the source of the noises. Harry is afraid of the 
> creature; he knows that he ought to comfort him, but it repulses 
him.
> 
> Dumbledore appears, smiling, his hand fully healed. His first words 
> to Harry are that he cannot help the creature. Then Dumbledore 
> cheerfully greets Harry, calls him a wonderful boy, a brave man and 
> leads him to two seats that Harry had not previously noticed.
> 
> Harry asks whether Dumbledore is dead and gets affirmative answer. 
He 
> gets a negative answer to the question of whether he is dead. With 
> Dumbledore's help, Harry realizes that letting Voldemort kill him 
> made all the difference in the matter of Harry's survival.
> 
> Harry and Dumbledore have a long conversation where all the 
mysteries 
> of the series are touched on in one way or another, in ways readers 
> may find satisfying to various degrees.
> 
> We learn that Albus guessed that Harry would live and is delighted 
> that he was right. We learn that Harry was a Horcrux that Lord 
> Voldemort never meant to make, and that when Harry let Voldemort 
kill 
> him, that piece of Voldemort's soul died, and now Harry's soul is 
> clean and completely his own.
> 
> Albus reveals his entire tragic family history. We learn that after 
> three muggle boys attacked her, Ariana became very ill and was 
having 
> uncontrollable outbursts of magic when she was upset. We hear that 
> Dumbledore's father was put in Azkaban for going after those muggle 
> boys and that Kendra, Dumbledore's mother, moved the family to 
> another town to care for Ariana away from prying eyes. A few years 
> later, Kendra died accidentally, as a result of an outburst of 
> Ariana's. This forced Dumbledore to come back from his studies to 
> care for his younger brother and sister. Per his own admission 
> Dumbledore resented that he must take time away from his studies 
and 
> care for his siblings and that his brilliance may suffer. 
> 
> When Grindelwald became one of his neighbors Dumbledore, infatuated 
> with his brilliance, plotted with him to being about Wizard 
> domination over Muggles, for "the Greater Good".  Albus and 
> Grindelwald planned a trip together to seek the Hallows, until 
> Aberforth confronted them with questions about how Albus is 
planning 
> to manage the care of his ill sister. This confrontation became a 
> duel between the three of them, and Ariana was caught in the 
> crossfire, so to speak, and ended up dead. Grindelwald fled and 
Albus 
> was left to bury his sister and carry his guilt, shame, and grief 
> forever. Apparently he waited several years to confront Grindelwald 
> and defeat him.
> 
> The Hallows and Elder Wand are discussed during this conversation 
as 
> well. Albus apologizes for sending Harry on a wild goose chase 
after 
> Hallows, as he had feared Harry might, like him, succumb to their 
> allure. Albus praises Harry as a person who is more worthy than him 
> and worthy to unite the Hallows.
> 
> Albus also attempts to explain his plans regarding the Elder Wand. 
He 
> does not succeed for this reader.
> 
> Harry must now decide whether he should board the train and go on 
or 
> go back and make sure Voldemort is defeated. He decides to go back.
> 
> The end
> 
> 
> 
> 1.	How many nods to Greek philosophers you can find in this 
> chapter?

The closest I got to Greek philosophers was a greek mythology class 
25+ years ago. So this is a bit beyond me. 

> 
> 2.    Is the action in this chapter happens in Harry's head or some 
> other place?               
>         Explain why or why not.

I think this is happening in some sort of afterlife. As someone else 
mentioned, if we have ghosts, voices beyond the veil, etc. this 
meeting of the living and the dead is reasonable.


> 
> 3.    Where do you think Dumbledore spends his days now?

In heaven, enjoying his time with loved ones and other pursuits of 
happiness.


> 
> 4.	The theme of the hero given a choice whether to rest or to go 
> back and possibly be hurt more or prevail over the enemy is fairly 
> common in the fantasy genre. When Harry makes his decision to go 
back 
> did you feel at any time that he is going back to die for real now? 
> Explain why or why not.

I wasn't sure at first, because dying while killing Voldemort would 
have been an awesome way to end the book. Although many people would 
have been unhappy with the hero dying. Once the HP phenomena got so 
big, I don't think she would have been able to kill him off whether 
it was in her original plans or not.



> 
> 5.	"Of house elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty and 
> innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That 
> they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of 
any 
> magic, is a truth he had never grasped". I think that this quote 
> pretty much sums up one of the major themes in the series. Do you 
> agree or disagree? Explain why or why not.

Others have answered this very well and there isn't much I can add to 
it.


> 
> 6.	List discussed the injured baby under the table extensively 
> in the past, but if you want to please discuss some more here.

I thought Zara said it best:
As Albus says to Harry in this chapter: "Do not pity the dead, Harry.
Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love."

The "above all", in my opinion, being a reference to Voldemort, the
pitiful state of whose soul I believe the baby symbolizes.


> 
> 7.	Can somebody explain to me one more time what was 
> Dumbledore's rationale in sending Harry on Hallows Quest?

I think he wanted harry to know of the stone so that when the time 
came he could call upon it and gather the strength he needed to 
complete the walk to his "death."


> 
> 8.	"If you planned your death with Snape, you meant him to end 
> up with  the Elder Wand, didn't you?
> "I admit that was my intention," said Dumbledore, "but it did not 
> work as I    intended, did it?
> "No," said Harry, That bit didn't work out"
> 
> What do you think Harry meant by his question? What do you think 
> Albus' actual plan was?

I think he either hoped that the power of the wand would go away or 
if not, Snape would end up with it. Dumbledore trusted Snape enough 
to let him have the wand.

What DD wasn't expecting was for Voldemort to go looking for the wand 
of legend. While DD was alive, Voldemort wasn't looking for the wand. 
He was trying figure out why his wand performed so badly against 
Harry. It wasn't until after Malfoy's wand also was useless against 
Harry that he went looking for it. 

> 
> 9.	Why do you think chapter was named "King's cross"?

Well it looked like King's Cross station to Harry. Which is a nice 
metaphor for being in between places. You board the train to go 
somewhere. The symbolism of Harry being Christ-like by sacrificing 
himself also came to my mind.