ChapDisc - DH 16, Godric's Hollow

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 182115

> Note: CMC is the author of this ChapDisc, Mike only posted it
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
> CHAPDISC:  Chapter 16 – Godric's Hollow
><SNIP of summary and some questions>

5. Harry fantasizes how, if not for Voldemort, he would have grown up
as an ordinary wizard boy in Godric's Hollow.  Had that occurred,
it's easy to think of all the ways in which Harry would have been
different – what (if anything) about Harry would have stayed the same?


Alla:

Well, this is all depends on how much one thinks Harry's character is 
influenced by his environment and how much by his genes, no?

Since I think that his loyalty to his friends, his "saving people 
thing" is who Harry is no matter whom he would grew up with, I think 
this is all would have stayed the same.

He would have been a happier boy, somebody who would have probably 
trusted adults more, because he would have his parents to go to and 
knew that adults are not all like Dursleys, but this is the 
difference, and you are asking about similarities.

I think he would have been stronger not weaker to take on the similar 
task if it was needed, but of course since his parents would have 
been alive, he would not have been a chosen one.

I would love that "life" for Harry, but of course the only reason I 
can even wish different life on him is because I got to know him 
through this story of his "life".



6. The only evidence of the Wizarding World that Harry and Hermione
see in Godric's Hollow (in this chapter) are the Potter memorial
statue, and the tombstones.  Where are the signs of life in GH?

Alla:

I thought this was the point, that there were none, that the place 
was destroyed by Voldemort.


7. Why didn't Dumbledore tell Harry about their common roots in
Godric's Hollow?

Alla:

LOL. Why didn't Dumbledore tell Harry about so many things? No 
seriously, Dumbledore is a secretive and manipulative bastard IMO, 
and I would have been more surprised if he would tell Harry their 
common routs.



9. This chapter offer two quotations from the New Testament – the
first verse upon the Dumbledore family headstone is from Matthew 6:21
(i.e., Jesus' Sermon on the Mount). Here is the passage in its
context (from the New American Standard Bible):

--- 19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
--- and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 "But
--- store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
--- nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
--- 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The quote also appears in Luke 12:33-34, with a somewhat different
introduction (from the New American Standard Bible):

--- 33 Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves
--- money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in
--- heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34 For
--- where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Harry says he does not know what the inscription means. What does it
mean? (in the context of DH).


Alla:

That Voldemort is totally wrong, that immortality especially achieved 
through such terrible way as murders means nothing, that horcruxes 
mean nothing and the only treasure that means something is good life 
in heaven if you ever get there.


10. The second Scripture verse, upon the Potters' headstone, is from
Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, 15:26 (the King James
Version).  Here is the passage in its context (from the New American
Standard Bible):

--- 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits
--- of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a
--- man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all
--- die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his
--- own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are
--- Christ's at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He hands over
--- the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule
--- and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has
--- put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will
--- be abolished is death.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." – Harry's initial
reaction is that this is a Death Eater slogan.  How does this
statement differ from the Death Eater philosophy?

Alla:

Well, actually I do not see that it does, differ from DE philosophy 
that is.

Let me explain myself. I am not talking about the whole passage, of 
course it IS different from DE philosophy in the sense that if one 
lets Jesus in his heart, he will live forever with Jesus in heaven, 
NOT that one would live forever on earth as Voldemort and DE seem to 
want to.

But imagine that you read only this one sentence:

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

I really and truly understand why Harry was confused. I mean, that's 
what Voldemort and Co want, to destroy death and live forever, don't 
they?

So, I get why he thought that, I would have thought the same thing, 
had I not known.

To make a long story short, no I do not think the sentence itself 
differs in any shape or form from DE philosophy.

The complete passage and the interpretation of course do differ, but 
IMO not the sentence itself.


11. Harry supposes that Dumbledore selected the inscription for his
mother and sister – who selected the epitaph for the Potters?

Alla:

I think Dumbledore did as well. I just do not see who else could have 
done it. I want to say Remus, but somehow I feel that would be given 
him too much credit, since he did not do a d*mn thing for their son 
IMO.


12. If you were unaware that these were Biblical passages, did that
change your interpretation of these epitaphs?

Alla:

I was aware.

CMC, these are great questions, thank you so much.