CHAPDISC: DH31, The Battle of Hogwarts

[saturniia]

No: HPFGUIDX 184603

> 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?

It's completely possible there are good Slytherins.  However, one of
the main qualities which defines Slytherins is that their ends
justify their means.  If there's any *possibility* Harry might lose,
what proper Slytherin would want to openly support his side?

> 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?

I may be incorrect, but wasn't The Grey Lady one of the more reticent
ghosts?  That said, I doubt she'd tell her history (especially the
fact she stole her mother's diadem) to anyone she didn't deem clever
enough, or unless circumstances were so dire that the end of Hogwarts
was nearly inescapable.  Her motivation?  Most probably embarassment
that she was fooled by Voldemort.

> 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?

Not necessarily.  Was her reason for stealing the diadem to augment
her own cleverness, or to drop her mother's to its natural level?

> 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.

Short answer:  It wasn't common knowledge.
To expand on that:  Rowena had the diadem.  She co-founded Hogwarts.
She had a daughter (before and/or after the founding).  Helena stole
the diadem and hid it.  Following that, a hundred or more generations
were educated at Hogwarts and both Helena and the diadem's function
were lost to esoterica.  By the time Albus was a student, I'd bet
most people just considered Helena a footnote in Rowena's history and
the diadem lost in some collection.
Also, before Voldemort's rise to power, he probably felt he had no
reason to find it.  After, he was racing against a man as intelligent
as he was, and a good deal more charming.  He lost.

> 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?

I always assumed the mandrakes were potted until they reached where
they were most effective.

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

Both yes and no.  Does Ron understand what the sounds mean?  Probably
not.  Can he imitate the sounds he heard?  It's likely.

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

How would you suggest he do that?  She needs to leave the RoR so he
can open the storage room, and in order to stop the battle, he needs
to destroy all the horocruxes so he or someone else can kill
Voldemort.
Once she's out in the battle, it's safer to be a fighter than a
bystander, since that means she's ready to defend herself.

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

Neither.  As has been said, it makes her a good Order member.  She
was in the Order before she was wife or mother, and it makes sense
that she should continue to fight their battles until there is no
longer any need of her services.

> 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?

I think Malfoy was thinking he'd do what's best for Malfoys.  If he
delivers Harry to Voldemort, he might be able to buy back some favor
for his family.  If Harry wins the fight, Draco's family is free.
Under the circumstances, it's a win-win scenario.

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

Why not?  We had to see *someone* die in battle, and Sirius,
Dumbledore, Dobby, Hedwig, and Moody were all dead.  The twins were
the most-loved and most-known Weasleys who weren't Ron or Ginny (who
both had to survive the battle in order for the epilogue to work), so
why not?

Saturniia