CHAPDISC: DH 22, The Deathly Hallows

[jmnabers]

No: HPFGUIDX 183195

Thanks for catching my mistakes, Carol! Sloppy writing for the first
one, and for the second I think with they Grayback appearance and
knowledge of where they were going next, I just mentally made the
Snatchers into Death Eaters.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I'll answer *some* of my own
questions ;-)

1) As I reread, I was really taken with Hermione's actions as they
escape. I know it's sort of cheating because the question is more
directly about the previous chapter, but I was very much taken by
Harry's connection of the look on Xenophilius's face to what he
imagines his mother must have looked like as she defended Harry.
However, Hermione wouldn't have had that same moment of insight into
his actions. It is a moment of true kindness on her part, and I like
that she doesn't make a lot of fuss about it. I think it also
foreshadows the beginning of the next chapter (getting ahead of
myself) where she attempts to hide Harry's true identity from the
Snatchers.



> >
> > 4) Why is Harry able to put the story together so quickly? It says
> his "imagination was racing ahead, far beyond Ron and Hermione's." Is
> it imagination, experience, or something else that allows Harry to
> make the intuitive leaps that other cannot?

I'm not sure what I think here, but I remember feeling it was the
first real moment that Harry would actually have a chance to defeat
Voldemort. I love Harry, but I was always a little conflicted about
the task Dumbledore had given him. How could Harry achieve what
Dumbledore and so many others could not? It was at this moment that I
realized that he did have what it would take to get the job done.
Something seemed to all come together in this scene, making the many
pages / months of nothing left in this chapter even more difficult to
bear.





> > 7) Harry wishes his scar would burn again because "for the first
> time ever, he and Voldemort were united in wanting the very same
> thing." When his visions do return, they are blurred. Why are the
> visions different now than they have been in the past?

Again, this was a fascinating little snippet of information. I found
myself wondering if perhaps Harry is unwittingly using legilimancy?
Perhaps the visions are blurry because rather than "receiving" the
transmissions, he's actively trying to "tune in" to them? Obviously,
he tried something similar in OotP, wanting desperately to see in
Voldemort's brain, but we later discover that Voldemort was avidly
working at getting those visions into Harry's head. Could it be this
time that Harry is really trying to gain access without Voldemort's
help, rendering the visions "blurry" because he doesn't really know
what he's doing?


> > 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?

Put me in the "no progress was made" camp. It is incredibly difficult
to read (and summarize!) this chapter. The answer is found! Now let's
not do anything about it for months.


> > 11)What is it about the Potterwatch broadcast that makes Harry feel
> more connected to the world?
> > 12) Why do Lupin's words cause Harry to feel "a mixture of gratitude
> and shame"?

I think part of the shame, too, is thinking about what he's doing
right now...ie, nothing! Hearing about Ted, Dean, and Hagrid might
cause Harry to feel ashamed of the relative safety he's enjoying.
These friends are out there fighting, and they are, essentially, doing
nothing but hiding. I think something about that mix of information
spurs Harry's emotions out of their stupor.


> > 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?

I like Carol's point here that it's both forgiveness and warning.
Maybe it's also a reminder that Harry's instincts should still be
tempered by common sense?


> > 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?

Carol, I hadn't even considered that he might not have ever believed
in the taboo. I think he was angry and spoiling for a fight. Angry
people do rash things, but I did find this plot twist more of a
contrivance than anything else.

jmnabers