CHAPDISC: DH31, The Battle of Hogwarts

[Chris]

No: HPFGUIDX 184599

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CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,
Chapter 31, The Battle of Hogwarts



The chapter starts with students, teachers, ghosts, remaining members
of the
Order of the Phoenix all gathered in the Great Hall. Professor
McGonagall
attempts to organise the evacuation of the students, but it is Ernie
Macmillan
who first suggests, to a smattering of applause, that some students
might want
to stay and fight. McGonagall agrees that if students are `of age'
they may
stay. The Great Hall then cheers loudly at the news that the
headmaster, Severus
Snape, has done a bunk!

Harry is trying to locate Ron and Hermione. Whilst informing the Hall
of the
protections in place that would need reinforcing, Professor
McGonagall is
drowned out by a high, cold voice that seems to come from the very
walls
themselves. The realisation that this voice belongs to Voldemort
elicits fear in
many students. Voldemort informs the residents of Hogwarts that no
magical blood
need be spilled, as long as they hand over Harry by midnight . The
initial
silence within the Great Hall, as every eye turns to Harry, is
splintered by the
Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson, suggesting that they grab Harry. However,
within
seconds, the Gryffindors, followed by the Hufflepuffs and then the
Ravenclaws
stand to form a human wall, wands drawn, between Harry and the
Slytherins,
leaving Harry overwhelmed.

Professor McGonagall dismisses `Miss Parkinson', along with the rest
of the
other Slytherins, who troop out of the Hall. Slowly the three
remaining houses
are dismissed, but whereas none remain at the Slytherin table,
numerous
Ravenclaws, even more Hufflepuffs and half of the Gryffindors remain
seated,
determined to help fight. In fact, Professor Mcgonagall has to ensure
no
underage wizards, including Colin Creevey, remain in the Hall. Harry
then
enquires about Ron and Hermione, but is interrupted by Kingsley
addressing the
Hall. Kingsley describes the formulated battle plan, which includes
sending
groups up to the various towers with Flitwick, Sprout & McGonagal.
The `Order'
members (Kingsley, Mr. Weasley and Remus) are assigned to the
grounds. Fred &
George volunteer to defend the various entrances of the passageways.

McGonagal reminds Harry to continue his search for the last Horcrux.
Harry
cannot concentrate without Ron and Hermione, but fails to locate them
on the
Marauder's Map. Harry refocuses on the fact that Voldemort thought
he'd go to
Ravenclaw Tower . This confuses Harry since this suggests that the
diadem is the
last Horcrux but he cannot understand how Voldemort could have got
hold of it,
when no-one had seen the diadem in living memory. "In living memory."
That thought
fires Harry into action and he heads off in search of Nearly Headless
Nick to
enquire after the identity of the Ravenclaw ghost. Nick sends Harry
in the
direction of the Grey Lady. Harry wants to know about the lost
diadem, but is
initially rebuffed. Harry insists that this information is vital to
defeat
Voldemort, and suggests that the Grey Lady doesn't care, which upsets
her enough
to let slip that the diadem belonged to her mother. The Grey Lady
is/was Helena
Ravenclaw!

Harry coerces Helena to reveal all about the diadem. Helena recounts
the
following tale. Helena stole the diadem from her mother in an attempt
to make
herself cleverer than her mother. Her mother hid this secret from the
other
Hogwarts founders, until close to death. At this point, she sent the
Bloody
Baron (who loved Helena ) to try to bring Helena back. Helena's
refusal to
return elicited the Baron's fury, who then murdered her. Overcome
with remorse,
the Baron then took his own life. The diadem remained at this site,
hidden by
Helena in a hollow tree on hearing the Baron approaching. The site –
a forest in
Albania !

Harry realises that this is where Voldemort must have found the
diadem, and
guesses that Helena had been charmed by Riddle into revealing its
location.
Harry then realises that once the diadem was made into a Horcrux then
Voldemort
would want to return it to Hogwarts. And he would have had the
perfect chance
when he returned to Hogwarts to ask Dumbledore for a job. Whilst
Harry considers
where Voldemort might have hidden the diadem, Hagrid comes crashing
through a
window near the Entrance Hall – hurled there by Grawp. Harry can see
that the
battle has begun. Hagrid follows Harry as he continues to search for
Ron and
Hermione. Harry comes across two stone gargoyles smashed on the
floor – this
stimulates a series of memories for Harry. Ravenclaw's bust at
Xenophilius's
house, the statue in Ravenclaw Tower and then another statue, an ugly
old
warlock that Harry had placed a wig and tiara on. The realisation of
where the
diadem resides strikes Harry - a location model pupils such as
Dumbledore and Flitwick would never have found.

Professor Sprout, Neville and some others come rushing past wearing
earmuffs and
carrying Mandrakes into battle. Harry then rushes off to find the
Room of
Requirement with Hagrid. A terrifying enchantment shakes the castle
which causes
Fang to panic and take flight, and Hagrid to follow. As Harry
continues to
search for the room, he encounters Sir Cadogan (who shouts
encouragement) and
Fred, Lee & Hannah guarding one of the entrances. Harry then
encounters
Arberforth who suggests that a few Slytherin children should have
been kept as
hostages. Harry's comment that Albus would not have endorsed such an
action is
met with a grunt.

On rounding the next corner, Harry is both angry and relieved to see
Ron and
Hermione. Hermione explains that Ron had suggested they enter the
Chamber of
Secrets in order to obtain a basilisk fang to help destroy the `cup'
Horcrux.
Ron shows that he has picked up enough of the Parseltongue language
(from
Harry's successful attempt to open the locket) to get into the
Chamber. To
Harry's amazement, Ron shows him the mangled remains of Hufflepuff's
cup –
destroyed by Hermione, as Ron felt she deserved the chance.

Harry informs Ron & Hermione of the location of the diadem and they
set off to
find it. On entering the Room of Requirement, they find Ginny, Tonks
and
Neville's grandmother. They are the last to enter from the Hog's
Head, and Mrs
Longbottom has now sealed it. She is proud to discover that Neville
is fighting
somewhere in the castle and sets off to find him. Tonks then explains
that she
has left Teddy with her mother and has come to Lupin, departing once
she learns
he is somewhere in the grounds. Harry needs Ginny to leave to allow
the `Room'
to convert to the hiding place for the diadem. Ginny is only too
delighted to be
given a chance to join the battle, prompting Harry to shout that she
needs to
return immediately after.

Ron then realises that the house elves need to be told to leave if
they are to
be saved. This causes Hermione to drop everything and throw herself
into a
passionate embrace with Ron. Harry's initial disbelief at the timing
of this
coming together is then overcome by the need to find the diadem. Ron
(embarrassed) agrees to calm it until they've found the Horcrux.

As they step back into the corridor, they encounter in turn, Grawp,
Ginny, Tonks
and Aberforth, all involved in holding off the advancing Death
Eaters. Harry,
Ron & Hermione leave to allow Harry to locate the Room of
Requirement. They
enter the room, that is as big as a cathedral. Harry can't remember
where the
diadem was hidden, so instructs Ron & Hermione to split up and look
for the bust
of an old man wearing a wig. Deep within the room, Harry finally
finds what he
is looking for, but he is prevented from acquiring it by Draco,
Crabbe & Goyle.
Harry laughs at Draco on finding out that he is using his mother's
wand. Harry
then attempts to stall the threesome, whilst covertly trying to
obtain the
diadem and hope that Ron & Hermione find him. Ron shouts for Harry,
which
prompts Crabbe to magically topple a fifty foot pile of junk onto Ron
and
Hermione prevented to a small extent by Harry's counter-charm. Malfoy
castigates
Crabbe for potentially burying the diadem, but Crabbe displays
contempt for Malfoy, who he describes as `finished'. Harry lunges for
the diadem, leading to an attempted cruciatus
curse from Crabbe, which misses Harry but sends the diadem flying.
Malfoy
screams that the Dark Lord wants Harry alive, but again Crabbe will
not listen.
Hermione arrives on the scene to send a stunning spell at Crabbe, who
is saved
by Malfoy. Crabbe then aims the `Avada Kedavra' curse at
the `Mudblood', but
Hermione dives aside. Harry, furious at what he has just seen, sends
a stunning
spell at Crabbe but only manages to dislodge Malfoy's wand from it's
owner.

Crabbe and Goyle train their wands on Harry, but Malfoy's yell –
 `Don't kill
him' – causes hesitation, and Harry's trademark `Expelliarmus' attack
disarms
Goyle. Hermione and Ron fail with a Stunning Spell and a Body-Bind
curse
respectively, followed by Crabbe's second failed killing curse, this
time aimed
at Ron. Hermione then succeeds with a Stunning Spell aimed at Goyle,
whilst
Malfoy cowers behind a wardrobe. Harry starts looking for the diadem
again, but
is interrupted by Hermione's scream. Ron and a gloating Crabbe come
running up
the aisle pursued by a cursed fire that has been initiated by Crabbe.
Harry's
attempts to douse the flames fail, and the six of them (Malfoy drags
the stunned
Goyle) flee. The magical fire mutates into a pack of fiery beasts
intent on
killing all of them. Harry, Ron and Hermione are separated from the
others and
find themselves encircled by the cursed fire. Luckily Harry finds a
pair of
broomsticks, and with Harry on one and Ron and Hermione on the other,
they take
to the air to escape the flame. Harry flies as low as he can, as the
flame
engulfs the contents of the room, looking for any sign of the three
Slytherins.
Initially, he suspects that he has lost them to the flame, but he is
attracted
by the sound of a piteous scream. Despite Ron's protestations, Harry
dives to save Malfoy and
Goyle, who he has found perched on a stack of charred desks, but
cannot manage
the pair of them. Ron, furious that he is risking his life to save
his enemies,
arrives with Hermione to collect Goyle, whilst Harry and Malfoy
escape on the
other broom. Harry, enduring Malfoy's panicked screams behind him,
spots the
tiara which has been flung into the air by the cursed fire. To
Malfoy's
disbelief, Harry dives for the object, catching it on his wrist as a
fiery
serpent lunges at him. Harry then soars through the thick smoke, to
the door and
out into the corridor.

Out in the corridor Malfoy's fears for Crabbe are harshly confirmed
by Ron. The
Headless Hunt gallop past, and screams can be heard from within the
castle.
Harry immediately fears for Ginny. Hermione starts to suggest they
stick
together to look for her when she notices the tiara on Harry's arm.
Harry
examines the diadem, but it breaks apart in his hands emitting a
faint scream of
pain. Hermione confirms that the Fiendfyre (curse fire) must have
destroyed it,
and realises that only the snake remains. The sound of dueling is
heard and
Harry is horrified to see Percy and Fred up against two Death Eaters.
Harry, Ron
& Hermione run to help, and one of the Death Eaters is revealed as
Minister
Thicknesse. The other Death Eater is struck by three separate
stunning spells
whilst Thicknesse is transfigured into a sea urchin by Percy. Then
with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Percy and Fred grouped together there is
an enormous explosion sending the companions flying through the air.
Harry regains his senses half buried in the wreckage – the corridor
half blown away by a terrible attack. Bleeding and in pain Harry
hears anguished shouting that frightens him more than anything has
his entire life. Harry grabs Hermione's hands as she emerges from the
wreckage and stumbles toward the location of the shouting. It is
Percy (together with Ron) attempting to revive the corpse that is
their brother Fred – his last laugh still etched
upon his face.

1.    Is it believable that there are no good Slytherins? Wouldn't
one or two of them remain to fight? Are they all
totally unredeemable? Or is it just herd mentality i.e. one leaves
they all leave?

2.    I would have thought that rumours of the ghosts
pasts would definitely have been well known by all students. Bearing
in mind that Harry and co. learn plenty about Nick, wouldn't someone
from Ravenclaw have figured out about the Grey Lady and passed that
information on?

3.    Why would Helena, who coveted her mother's cleverness,
hide in a forest in Albania on obtaining the diadem? Wouldn't the
whole reason for stealing the diadem be to demonstrate to others how
clever you are?


4.    How could Dumbledore not have found out that Helena stole
the diadem?
When you consider how difficult it was for him to get hold of the
ring and help
Harry obtain the fake locket, would he really not have found out
information
that resided in his own school? Doesn't seem very likely to me.

5.    Would Dumbledore really never have found the Room of
Requirement? He
also fails to find the Chamber of Secrets? For such an omnipotent
wizard, that
seems two rather big failures.

6.    Isn't it a bit reckless to rush through the castle with a
bunch of
mandrakes? Surely the commotion in the castle would aggravate them?
Aren't they
at risk of killing innocent students/teachers?

7.    Is it remotely believable that Ron could remember enough
Parseltongue
to enter the Chamber?

8.    If Harry truly loves Ginny, wouldn't he make more of an
effort to
stop her entering the battle?

9.    Do we think Tonks appearance at the castle makes her a
good wife or a
bad mother?

10.   What is going through Malfoy's head in the Room of
Requirement? Is he
only concerned about delivering Harry to the Dark Lord alive? Or does
he want
his family freed from Voldemort's influence and realises Harry may be
his only
chance for freedom?

11.    Why is Harry suddenly so reticent to use the Cruciatus
curse? Crabbe
is trying to kill his friends – wouldn't this anger Harry more than
his previous
attempts with this curse?

12.     Crabbe is a complete idiot – how could he manage to conjure
such a
devastating curse (Fiedfyre)?

13.     Why, why, why did she have to kill Fred???

Chris


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Next chapdisc, chapter 32, The Elder Wand: October 27