CHAPDISC: DH31, The Battle of Hogwarts

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 184617

 
> 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?

Pippin:
Harry thinks they're all irredeemable at this point, and the narrator
reflects his point of view, describing the Slytherin table as
deserted. But actually Slughorn may already have had the idea of
getting reinforcements from Hogsmeade and shared it with those of his
students he could trust. 

We can't tell, from the books themselves, whether any of his students
came back with Slughorn or whether any Slytherin students actually
fought for Voldemort. But we do know that even though DE children were
being evacuated along with the rest and the Slytherin children must
have gone to join their families, no one betrayed the evacuation of
the other students to Voldemort. 


> 
> 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?

Pippin:
Rowena Ravenclaw never admitted to anyone but the Bloody Baron that
her daughter had deserted her, and it seems even the Baron never knew
she had taken the diadem.

> 
> 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?

Pippin:
Perhaps with the aid of the diadem, she realized that stealing it
hadn't been a very clever thing to do :)

 
> 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.

Pippin:
Harry had some hints: Voldemort expected him to search in Ravenclaw
Tower, he knew there was a horcrux at Hogwarts, and he'd seen the
diadem already.

Dumbledore didn't know any of that.

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

Pippin: 

Dumbledore doesn't pay enough attention to the ghosts, does he? Or
even the House Elves. Perhaps he sees them as failures and talking to
them makes him uncomfortable.

> 
> 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?

Pippin:
The mandrakes aren't dangerous as long as they're in their pots. The
plan is to lob them over the walls, presumably the outer defensive
walls, well away from the castle and its other defenders.   The pots
would then break on impact. If the mandrakes are not fully mature, the
attackers won't be killed, only stunned. 

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

Pippin:
He only has to remember the sound of one word, which is, IIRC, the
only one he's ever heard. 


> 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?

Pippin:
I think he's still trying to regain favor for his family. But his
heart isn't in it -- otherwise he'd have stunned Harry first and
gloated afterwards. 

 
> 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?

Pippin:
I think Harry realizes now he can't let his anger think for him,
especially in the middle of a battle. 

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

Pippin:
Hermione doesn't say that conjuring fiendfyre is difficult. She says
it's nearly impossible to control.

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

Pippin:

There was  a spare? ::ducks:: 

Seriously, a Weasley child had to die to give Molly a motive to duel
Bella to the death. 

Pippin