CHAPDISC: DH24, The Wandmaker

[jkoney65]

No: HPFGUIDX 183645


> 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.

Jack-A-Roe:
I would say that Dumbledore has lived with the nightmare of his 
sister getting killed and probably relived it many times. Add in the 
number of deaths in the previous wars and I would think it would 
cause him to have nightmares.


> 
> 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]?

Jack-A-Roe:
Doing it manually allowed Harry to feel every bit of the loss. It 
also allowed him to work out his frustrations and grief by doing a 
mindless physical activity. 

They haven't done much physical activity since they camp magically. 
It's amazing how excercise can help clear your mind when all of your 
stress has been accumulated mentally.

As his stress fades and his mind clears he is able to think about the 
problem and it leads to the "understanding blossom(ing) in the 
darkeness."


> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
I think the description fits. He is doing it manually and feels 
closer to Dobby and feels like he is honoring Doby in the best way 
that he can. Doing it manually is much more personal than just doing 
it magically.

I think Dobby would have been overwhelmed that Harry put that much 
effort into something for him. He also would have been upset that 
Harry did something himself for a "lowly" house elf.


> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
Snape's lessons were a fiasco. Their approaches to life are 
completely different and so are the way they learn things. Snape was 
either unwilling or unable to adjust his teaching style to help Harry 
learn.

The death triggers it because Harry is emotion based in his learning 
of this subject. The death brought it all together.


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

Jack-A-Roe:
I think she did it to reinforce the Grindelwald/WW II connection.


> 
> 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"?  

Jack-A-Roe:
I think it was ironic that the wand was of Dobby's former master.


> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
No, I wasn't sure that Harry could know and not seek. I couldn't have 
done it either without the help of my friends.


> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
I didn't put it all together during the first time I read the book.



> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
I never thought he wasn't much of a thinker. He was usually 
unmotivated. It's when all hell brakes loose that Harry starts 
putting things together.


> 
> 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?  

Jack-A-Roe:
Since he was going to see both of them, I didn't think it mattered.


> 
> 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)?
> 
Jack-A-Roe:
He is unusual in that he doesn't think down on someone because they 
aren't a wizard. That doesn't seem to be the case with most of the 
wizarding world.


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

Jack-A-Roe:
It only is because Griphook believes it to be so. Much like the 
prophecy was only important because Voldemort thought it was.

He dropped the subject because he wasn't going to get the argument he 
wanted and he wasn't going to convince the "unusual" wizard.



> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
Because it was important to his cause and he wasn't going to leave it 
with anyone else. Especially someone who hadn't agreed to help him 
yet.


> 
> 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?


Jack-A-Roe:
By then Harry had an understanding of Voldemort and what motivated 
him. He never studied Dumbledore and the clues DD left confused Harry.



> 
> 15.  How do you react to those remarks of Ollivander's concerning 
> wand ownership and control?  Since they're really JKR's words – and 
> rules – are they reasonable? Fair?  Do they tell us enough?  
> "Subtle," "complex," "usually," "in general" – is this just the 
> nature of wand lore, and it *is* nebulous and imprecise?  Or is 
this 
> simply a way to leave open more possibilities for the author?

Jack-A-Roe:
The wand stuff was confusing then and it still is now since we seem 
to talk about again and again. It also means we can't pin the author 
down and say she made a mistake


> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
It could be the double horcrux connection between Harry and Voldemort 
or it could be that Harry beat Voldemort's wand in the graveyard and 
this one knows that or possibly Voldemort didn't win the borrowed 
wand and so it won't work for 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
Just like we have computer geeks, he's a wand geek.


> 
> 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?

Jack-A-Roe:
I would guess that Harry has gotten better and reading the visions. 


> 
> 19.  What did you think was coming next, as you read the end of the 
> chapter and knew that Voldemort had taken possession of the Elder 
> Wand?

Jack-A-Roe:
I was thinking that Harry was in even deeper trouble than he was 
earlier.


Great job on the summary and the questions!