CHAPDISC: DH20, Xenophilius Lovegood

[jkoney65]

No: HPFGUIDX 182912



Chapter 20 Questions

1. Is Hermione's intransigence toward Ron justifiable? Why is she
so unforgiving?

Yes, Hermione is justified. They were all in it together, each 
suffering the same hardships and Ron just walked away. He was also 
the one complaining about the food, while Hermione was the one who 
did the preparations, her beaded bag and the items in it, not to 
mention that she took her cash out of the bank to support them in 
their quest.


2. We finally get an explanation for the sudden appearance of DEs in
Tottenham Court Road-the Taboo. Was it satisfying? Did it feel
contrived that H and H continued to use the euphemism after Ron's
defection (saving themselves from the DEs even if they didn't know
about the Taboo). Could there have been a Taboo on the name in VWI?

The taboo makes the sudden appearance of DE's understandable, but I 
still thought it was dumb concept. Why wouldn't you just put a taboo 
on Potter or Hermione...neither are those are very common names and 
would lead you directly to them.


3. Harry quickly shoots down Ron's hope that DD may still be
watching over them and as quickly shoots down Ron's excuse of young
Dumbledore's behavior. Is this meant to show Harry's disenchantment
with DD or illustrate his growing maturity?

I think it is Harry's disenchantment with Dumbledore. He's confused 
by the clues and very frustrated. I think you need more maturity to 
be able to look back at your own actions or those of others when they 
or you were young. It's easy to say years later that something was 
stupid, it's much harder when you are doing it. 


4. Does Harry's emphatic rejection of youth as an excuse for
behavior hark back to a lingering dissatisfaction with Sirius and
Lupin's excuse for his father?

I didn't read it that way. I just thought he was frustrated and 
nothing is an excuse when you are frustrated. You just want it to 
work. 

5. Harry tries out his new wand on spiders. Why spiders again?

It was any easy demonstration. Most people don't like spiders so 
there wouldn't be complaints about harming them.


6. There has been a good deal of argument over the theme of insiders
and outsiders in HP. Those who are enmeshed in the "good" side never
seen to have to question their place in the world; those who are born
into "bad" side, either accept or rebel. Where do the Lovegoods fit
in to this scheme?

The Lovegoods are firmly on the good side. Wasn't Xeno still 
publishing positive reports about Harry until Luna was captured. Luna 
is definitely on the good side. They just come across as people who 
ate too many wild mushrooms. ;-)


7. Why does Ron not know where to find the Lovegoods' house when he
has grown up in the same neighborhood?

I doubt he had any reason to walk over to it. Floo travel would make 
it unnecessary to walk any distance to someone's house. Also, Ron 
wasn't friends with Luna, Ginny was so I don't see him going over 
there.


8. Did the physical description of the house strike you in any
particular way? Is the fact that it looks like a black rook
significant? (Black is the side the Trio took in "Through the
Trapdoor" in Harry Potter and the Philosopher' s Stone. Hermione
replaced the rook, in fact.)


It didn't strike me as much as anything, although the word black made 
me think that this might have something bad about it.


9. Xenophilia, literally love of the stranger, is the Greek word for
hospitality. Was Xenophilius Lovegood's markedly inhospitable
behavior intentionally ironic? Is he a lover of strangers or merely
a lover of the strange?


I thought it meant liking something that was different and that fits 
the Lovegoods.



10. The Lovegoods are the only Ravenclaw family into whose home we
are admitted. Do they typify Ravenclaw?

It's tough to typify something with only one view. If you believe all 
intelligent people are a little strange in their own ways, then the 
Lovegoods are an extreme example.


11. The odd-looking contraption on the bust of Rowena Ravenclaw turns
out to be a counterfeit Lost Diadem, but that is not revealed until a
later chapter. What did you think it was when you first read about
it?

I thought he was nuts, but assumed it was forshadowing something.

11. What did you think of the non-appearance of Luna?

It struck me as very odd. The painting in Luna's bedroom was enough 
to know that she would have run back to see them. While Luna was odd 
and played up that part of her personality, she did like having 
friends. Her comment about the DA being like having friends says alot 
about her.





12. Any question you want to add.