CHAPDISC: DH24, The Wandmaker

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 183632

One of my favorite chapters, and so many good questions!  Thanks SSS, 
especially for adding the quotes to your questions. :)

> 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]?

Harry's growing obsession with the Hallows is a dangerous venture 
because he's seeking a magical solution to the problem of defeating 
Voldemort.  Harry temporarily turns his back on DD's belief that 
Harry's power is his human feelings and relationships rather than 
magical ability.  His obsession and resulting impulsiveness led to 
their capture and ultimately, to Dobby's death.  Digging the grave by 
hand was a penance, as well as the first time Harry was forced to 
slow down for reflection about his plan to unite the Hallows.  

> 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?

I think it's meant to be a poignant moment.  It didn't quite sound 
right to me.  Dobby wouldn't be happy that Harry Potter was digging 
his grave when Dobby should be doing the work!  Harry's act would 
send Dobby swooning about Harry's goodness.  

> 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?

It's not a permanent control since LV's thoughts come unbidden to him 
again later on.  I took the explanation in the book at face value: 
Grief for Dobby helped Harry shut his mind to LV just as grief for 
Sirius stopped LV from possessing him.  Strong feelings of loss for a 
loved one repel LV.
 
> 5.  Is there significance to JKR's choice of "Nurmengard" as a name 
> for the prison?

I thought of the Nuremberg trials as others mentioned.  JKR hinting 
that Grindelwald seized power at nearly the same time as Hitler was 
seizing power also reminded me of connections to Nazi Germany and 
concentration camps. (Do those dates still work out, the GW rose to 
power during WWII?)

> 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?

I felt confident only because the pages remaining were growing 
smaller and smaller, lol.  Seriously, that section of the chapter is 
one of my favorites in DH, the part about Dumbledore knowing Ron 
would want to return to Harry, that Peter was capable of feeling some 
remorse, that Harry would be able to reject the power & glory of the 
Hallows when once he realized the cost. 


> 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?

I think that's the right answer, that Dumbledore knew Harry was a 
Seeker at heart and the goal of the Seeker is to grab the Snitch to 
end the game.  For a short time, Harry believed uniting the Hallows 
was the way to end the game.  I didn't think seeking the Hallows was 
the right thing for Harry to do because his obsession led him to 
*want* to get into LV's head.  That seemed like a bad idea. I 
expected LV would sense a change in Harry and open the connection 
again.  But since Voldemort was deeply obsessed himself at the 
moment....

> 10.  What did you think was going on when you first read that Harry 
> was laboring over seeing Griphook or Ollivander first... and chose 
> Griphook?  

I can't remember now!  I figured Harry had a wand question for 
Ollivander, but don't remember if I figured out that Griphook might 
help them retrieve the Hufflepuff cup at Gringotts.  
 
> 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)?

This was a little overdone imo.  Griphook appears to think all 
wizards are the same: out to get the goblins.  There are reasons why 
he thinks that.  Yet he's traveled with wizards during the year who 
helped keep him safe & didn't betray him, and he's met Bill who not 
only works with goblins but calls some of them friends.  Why does he 
consider Harry so unusual just because he dug Dobby's grave without 
magic?  Dean & Ron helped too.  


> 12.  Is Griphook correct that this is "precisely about" wizards vs. 
> goblins?  Why did he drop the subject so abruptly?

Griphook, and later Bill, contribute more mature views of the 
situation than Hermione's somewhat naive response that Mudbloods are 
as low as goblins or elves in the new order.  When you start out 
lower than a human, it's a safe bet you'll remain that way under an 
oppressive regime.  It's true though that Mudbloods are the main 
target during the story.  (As an aside, I don't agree that goblins 
are equal to elves because Goblins control the money with no apparent 
checks/balances on their institution.)  

Griphook drops it because he's supposedly seeing Hermione as an 
unusual witch on the same level as Harry.  Personally I think he 
dropped it so Hermione would be quiet.

 
> 13.  Why did Harry remove the Sword of Gryffindor when he left 
> Griphook's room, and why did he not say anything as he did so?

He doesn't trust Griphook.
 
> 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?

Because understanding Dumbledore is equally important to him by this 
point.  He hopes his decision to destroy Horcruxes rather than 
seeking Hallows is the right one, but he doesn't know for sure.  If 
he understood DD better he'd have more certainty about his decision.

 
> 16.  Ollivander says he has no idea why the wand Voldemort borrowed 
> failed against Harry's wand.  He says "something unique" happened.  
> What was that something unique, do you think?

I guess it's the answer DD gave Harry in the King's Cross chapter, 
that Harry's wand recognized LV and regurgitated Voldemort's own 
magic against him.  


> 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?

Ollivander is all about great magic coming from great wands imo.  
He's not as concerned about the type of magic as the power.  That 
concept is the very thing Harry rejects when he seeks the Stone but 
not to use it, or decides not to seek the Hallows or to give up the 
Elder wand in favor of his original wand.  He rejects the idea that 
powerful magic is the highest calling.  Mainly the two are 
philosophically opposed more than anything else.