CHAPDISC: DH24, The Wandmaker

Tue Jul 8 03:21:01 UTC 2008

No: HPFGUIDX 183617

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" 
<susiequsie23 at ...> wrote:
<SNIP of the summary>
>> 
> QUESTIONS
> 
> 1. "It was like sinking into an old nightmare; for an instant he 
> knelt again beside Dumbledore's body..." [p. 386].  Is there any 
> character in this series who has as much experience with old 
> nightmares?  If you think there is another (or other) candidate(s), 
> present the case, or the case that it *is* Harry.

Alla:

Love this question, love but unfortunately I abandoned my rule in not 
reading other people responses before I do mine and I read 
Potioncat's post. Hey, I LOVE Potioncat's posts, can't get enough of 
them :)

So I have to agree with her, in part at least. I mean, I definitely 
think that Harry has nightmares, we KNOW at least about some of them. 
We hear he is dreaming about Graveyard in OOP, he gets this horrible 
visions. Hugs Harry :)

So where I agree with Potioncat is that Dumbledore had nightmares and 
that cave is a great indicator of that.

And I would even agree with Potioncat that Snape probably had 
nightmares. I guess dead Lily pictured prominently in them. I hope he 
had lots of them.

Let me think, I also think Sirius had nightmares about his suggestion 
to make Peter a Secret keeper and his time in Azkaban. At the top of 
my head, I cannot think of anybody else.

Oh wait, no, Molly, of course Molly. Her Boggart indicated what 
nightmares she might have had.

> 
> 2. Many readers feel that the death & burial of Dobby is a turning 
> point in Harry's journey.  What significance do you think there is, 
> if any, in the fact that Harry prepared Dobby's grave without the 
use 
> of magic?  Why does it lead to "understanding blossom[ing] in the 
> darkness" [p. 387]?

Alla:

Oh I think it is very significant, I think it goes back to JKR saying 
in interviews that she does not believe in magic or something like 
that and that ending will reflect it or something like that. I guess 
the idea is that nothing superficial ( if that is the right word) 
will stand between Harry and Dobby, no silly wand waving stuff or 
anything, just grief of one heart for another being.

> 3.  What do you think of the description that "every drop of 
> [Harry's] sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who 
had 
> saved their lives" [p. 387]?  What do you imagine Dobby would have 
> thought of that?

Alla:

I think that Dobby would have appreciated that, but at the same time 
he would really not have wanted great Harry Potter to work for him.

> 4.  Why, after all this time and all the various efforts, has Harry 
> *now* managed to "learn control at last... the very thing 
Dumbledore 
> had wanted him to learn from Snape" [p. 387]?  Why does the death 
> trigger this in Harry?

Alla:

Actually, heee, I think that this really really does not bode well 
for Occlumency as the area of magic, I mean IMO the fact that death 
triggers it in Harry shows that it is not very, well, good.

Like nothing else can make Harry to be succesful in that, what about 
other people?

> 5.  Is there significance to JKR's choice of "Nurmengard" as a name 
> for the prison?

Alla:

What Potioncat said and yes, I felt for Grindelwald too.

> 6.  Is there significance to the fact that Harry used the wand 
which 
> was Draco's, rather than the wand which was Bellatrix's, to etch 
the 
> words "Here lies Dobby, a Free Elf"?  

Alla:

OMG, great point and I think it is subtle enough too. I do not think 
he wanted to do this honor with Bella's wand, it was too dirty.

> 7.  As you read this the first time, did you feel confident that 
> Harry could know and not seek?  Could YOU have known & not sought?
> 
> 8.  When Harry is talking in his mind as if to DD and asks if he is 
> meant to know but not to seek, he also asks, "Did you know how hard 
> I'd find that?  Is that why you made it this difficult?  So I'd 
have 
> time to work that out?" [p. 391]  What do you think is the answer 
to 
> that?  How about what you thought on your first read?  Did you feel 
a 
> new understanding along with Harry, or had you see his mission 
> differently than he had before this dawning?

Alla:

Honestly and truly, I do not get a great wisdom here, you know? I 
mean, I certainly get Harry mastering the Hallows, figuring out about 
the death, etc, but what Dumbledore tried to achieve here, I really 
really do not know.

I mean deliberately slowing Harry down to make sure he does not do 
anything rush I suppose? Here is the idea Dumbledore - do **not** 
send him on this mission then in the first place.

I think Dumbledore played rather cruel game here personally and I do 
not quite see the purpose.

> 9.  Harry Potter has been derided by many for not being much of a 
> thinker.  He becomes a thinker in this chapter, and quite 
decisive.  
> What do you make of this?  Is it a change?  Did it surprise you?  
Has 
> it always been there?

Alla:

I loved it, I loved it sooo much, but no I do not think that it 
surprised me much. Since I am rereading the books now I can see that 
those bits and pieces about Harry being able to think deductively 
were always there. Like in the first book he figured out stuff 
several times despite being wrong about main villain.

> 11.  What, in your opinion, was carried in Griphook's comment, "You 
> are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter"?  Do you think Harry is an 
> unusual wizard?  If so, in what way(s)?

Alla:

Certainly I do. I said it many times that I am fascinated that with 
his horrible upbringing Harry is able to feel even brief pity for 
Malfoy and even tiny bit of pity for Riddle. God knows that even 
after books ended that is more than I was ever able to achieve about 
Riddle. There is not one sympathetic thought I can come up about him.

So, yes, I certainly think that Harry's ability to love IS unusual 
and no, by that I do not mean that he is the most loving person in 
the world. I mean that I am fascinated that with the upbringing he 
had, he was able to love **at all**.

> 14.  When Harry said he understood bits of Voldemort and then went 
on 
> to say he wished he'd understood DD as much, were you surprised?  
Why 
> do you think he made this remark instead of sticking with Voldemort 
> as the topic of his understanding?

Alla:

Because I think that despite Voldemort being forced upon Harry, 
Dumbledore was the one with whom Harry was preocupied on voluntary 
basis, Dumbledore was the one whom Harry really wanted to understand 
and felt that it was necessary for his mission.

> 17.  It has long been an interest of many just what Ollivander is 
all 
> about.  Something about the way he described Voldemort 
as "great"... 
> something about how he made the hair stand up on Harry's neck....  
In 
> this chapter, we have Harry suddenly thinking about having been 
> unsure how much he liked Ollivander back when they first met, and 
> even now, "the idea of the Dark Lord in possession of this wand 
> seemed to enthral him as much as it repulsed him" [p. 402].  And 
yet 
> Luna seems genuinely fond of him.  What do you make of this man?

Alla:

Truly? No clue. I do think though that he has unhealthy fascination 
of Voldemort. He was just tortured for crying out loud and he still 
does that. Sigh.

> 
> 18.  How is it that, compared to the end of OOTP, Harry can be so 
> certain the visions he's having are real?  We know now that they 
are, 
> but how could he be so confident after what happened in OOTP?

Alla:

I really am not sure, actually. I would be interested to hear what 
others say.

Thanks for the great questions :)