ChapDisc - DH 16, Godric's Hollow

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 182116


> 3. By the end of DH, we know that Phineas is working for the Good

> Guys, and that he is trying to help pinpoint the whereabouts of the

> Duo so SilverDoe!Snape can drop off the Sword of Gryffindor.  How

> competent does Phineas seem at his assigned task?



a_svirn:

I don't think he saw it as an "assignment" exactly. More
like a favour for a fellow Slytherin headmaster. And I think it was well
within his competence. In fact, pretty much the only thing he could do
was to spy on the Trio (Duo). Had he tried to be friendlier and less
snide, they would have been even more wary of him.



> 4. Why did it take so long for Harry & Hermione to make the

> connection between Godric's Hollow, the Sword of Gryffindor and

> Bagshot?



a_svirn:

Actually Harry wanted to go there from the start. The problem was that
their adversary could easily make the same connection. And he did.
(well, not with the sword, but with Harry, Bagshot and the Hollow.)



> 7. Why didn't Dumbledore tell Harry about their common roots in

> Godric's Hollow?



a_svirn:

Why should he have? The explanation would have involved the story of
Ariana's illness and her death, his relationship with Grindenwald
etc.  In other words, something too private and too painful to talk
about.


> 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): <snip>
> 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.

a_svirn:

Well, I can see how the second quote can be explained along these lines,
but what the Horcruxes and immortality have to do with your heart and
treasure? Especially when you consider that Voldemort hadn't even
been born when Dumbledore buried his sister.



> 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) <snip>


> "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.



a_svirn:

The thing is, we don't know anything about death eaters'
philosophy (apart from its purebloodism component). True,
Voldemort's philosophy, if it can be called such, was about
outwitting Death, but certainly not about destroying Him. He didn't
mind other people dying, in fact, he would be very much put out if they
didn't.



> Alla:
> CMC, these are great questions, thank you so much.


a_svirn:

Hear, hear!

a_svirn.



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