CHAPDISC: DH 22, The Deathly Hallows

[Blair]

No: HPFGUIDX 183191

> Discussion Questions:
> 1) Why does Hermione do her best to protect Xenophilius from the 
> Death Eaters? Is it only because of her feelings of friendship for 
> Luna? Or did she, like Harry, recognize his desperation to save his 
> child?

Oryomai:
I'm not sure.  Hermione is far more logical than Harry.  We have to
remember that she was the one who put the jinx on the Dumbledore's
Army sign up sheet.  I'm not sure that she thought the same as Harry,
but she definitely did not want to have his murder on her conscience.

> 2) Why does Hermione consider the trips to Godric's Hollow and the 
> Lovegood household "a waste of time"?

Oryomai:
They didn't end with the destruction of a Horcrux.  That's the only
mission as far as she's concerned.  It doesn't matter that they
learned about the Hallows or that they got a copy of Rita Skeeter's
book; it didn't further the mission.
 
> 3) Harry realizes that his "talk of living with dead people" had 
> scared of Hermione. Why is living with dead people comforting to 
> Harry and yet frightening to Hermione?

Oryomai:
Hermione's never really had to deal with death the same way that Harry
has.  All the people that she cares about are still alive.  Harry has
such strong ties to those that have passed on that he would want to
see them.  There are very few people that Hermione would want to see
brought back to life (although at the end of the Battle of Hogwarts
there might be more).

> 5) When Harry realizes that Voldemort must also want the Elder Wand, 
> it "extinguishes" all of his hope and happiness. Why?

Oryomai:
I think that it's because Harry realized that Voldy was more likely to
get to the wand before he did.  If Voldy had the Elder Wand, he would
be able to beat everyone.  This is before the whole nonsense at the
end with the beating of wands and such.

> 8) Harry feels that Ron and Hermione are obsessed with the horcuxes. 
> She accuses him of being obsessed with the Hallows and tells him that 
> they are "the ones trying to do what Dumbledore wanted us to do!" Why 
> are they at an impasse over the way to proceed? Why does Harry "give 
> up on her"?

Oryomai:
Harry probably thinks that the Hallows would be much easier to find at
this point.  They don't even know what the Horcruxes are; they know
exactly what the three Hallows are and Harry has a pretty good idea of
where they are.  He gives up on Hermione because she is very single
minded at times -- she wants to find the Horcruxes and that's what
she's going to do.

> 10)If Harry is so determined that finding the Elder Wand is the way 
> to proceed, why do they waste months without making any real 
> progress? What, if anything, is achieved in these long months of 
> camping?

Oryomai:
Boring me to death? :-)  Really, nothing is accomplished in these
months of camping.  They serve to separate the Trio from the rest of
the WW, give them a chance to hear what's going on (through Ted Tonks
and the rest), and takes up a big ole chunk of the book.  For me, the
camping sections were the worst in the entire series and I could not
wait for them to be over (I don't even re-read them most of the time!).
 
> 11)What is it about the Potterwatch broadcast that makes Harry feel 
> more connected to the world?

Oryomai:
Harry gets to hear the people he knows talk about what everyone has to
do in order to defeat Voldy.  This is the first time that he has had
any kind of news since he left Bill and Fleur's wedding.

> 12) Why do Lupin's words cause Harry to feel "a mixture of gratitude 
> and shame"?
> 13) Why does Lupin say that Harry's instincts are "good and nearly 
> always right"? Are these words in reference to the past, or are they 
> meant to foreshadow events to come?

Oryomai:
I guess I'd combine these two.  I think that when Lupin compliments
Harry like that, Harry is thinking about how he yelled at Lupin and
called him a coward (which, btw, I thought was totally out of line of
Harry...but I digress), and here Lupin is defending him on the radio.
 Lupin was the only one of MWPP still around...I think he felt like he
didn't get his chance to fight like the others did.  His remarks about
Harry's instincts, I think, are about the past.  I think he's hoping
that if Harry hears him, he'll know that Lupin thinks he did the right
thing in the end.  They also foreshadow the end, when we're supposed
to believe that the boy who didn't ask any questions about his parents
can suddenly know everything :-)

> 
> 14) Is the rush of emotions Harry felt while listening to Potterwatch 
> responsible for his reckless saying of Voldemort's name? If not, what 
> causes him to break the taboo that he's kept for months?

Oryomai:
I think hearing Potterwatch was like being back with the Order.  DD
worked very hard to get the Order to say Voldy's name.  I think Harry
was feeling encouraged and inspired by the radio program he just heard
and kinda dropped the ball.

Oryomai