CHAPDISC: DH28, THE MISSING MIRROR

[tommy_m_riddle]

No: HPFGUIDX 184244

It's a great job, Alla!

> 1. How did the DEs know that the Trio would apparate into Hogsmeade 
> and not to any other place? What obvious moment am I missing?

Sarah:
I think it's because Voldemort decided to alert Snape to the fact 
that Harry might be showing up at Hogwarts soon, back in the last 
chapter.  Snape might not realize that the other Death Eaters might 
have Harry demented, but he'd certainly want to know about his 
presence.

> 2. Was Aberforth really sincere in his urging of Harry to abandon 
his
> quest? That is, did Aberforth really think Harry should just stop?

Sarah:
I kind of think this serves at least two purposes.  Firstly, it's a 
convenient spot to drive home, in case we forgot, that Harry is not 
compelled by outside sources to behave as the Chosen One or even 
Dumbledore's Man.  He has free will.  What he will do in a few 
chapters is by his free will, not because he's a trained Dumbledore 
monkey or because a dusty orb told him to.  Secondly, it just 
continues to show that despite being Albus' brother, Aberforth was 
never really in the loop because of his strained relationship with 
Albus.  Even though the prophecy was made under his own roof, he 
doesn't fully get the importance of it and that Harry must fulfill 
it.  (Yes, I know I just got done talking about Harry having free 
will, and it's true that he certainly could just run away now.  But 
as Dumbledore said, it would never be over for him because of the way 
that *Voldemort* interprets the prophecy.)

> 3. "he had made his choice when he dug Dobby's grave; he had decided
> to continue along the winding, dangerous path indicated to him by
> Albus Dumbledore, to accept that he had not been told everything 
that
> he wanted to know, but simply to trust" What  significance if any do
> you see in this quote?

Sarah:
It relates somewhat to what I discussed in my last answer.  Harry 
still has the option to deny the prophecy and just take evasive, 
hiding maneuvers while Voldemort takes over Britain and rounds up 
Muggleborns.  I don't think Harry ever really considered this an 
option, but it was one that he had.  He also had been debating 
searching the Hallows instead of the Horcruxes at that time, and 
decided against it.
 
> 4. Can you reconcile Elphias Doge's statement that Albus and
> Aberforth were friends and that they reestablished cordial
> relationship some time after Ariana's death with the way Aberforth
> talks to Harry about his brother? Why or why not?

Sarah:
I think that Doge was an Albus fan, trying to be flattering in Albus' 
obituary (and perhaps even seeing it that way).  It's not completely 
false, they were somewhat in contact, at least later, when Aberforth 
for example warned Albus that Voldemort and the Death Eaters were in 
town for Voldemort's job interview.

> 5. Which happy memory Aberforth uses for his patronus?

Sarah:
Something about goats, for sure.  :)

> 6. We hear the words "greater good" from both Aberforth and Harry in
> this chapter. Are they talking about the same thing? Why or why not?

Sarah:
I think they are very different.  I think that Aberforth is almost 
making a noir humor kind of joke, about what Albus said in his letter 
to Gellert, and became Gellert's slogan and was carved above the door 
to Nurmengard.  I think Harry means it sincerely, and this other 
reference is completely escaping him.

> 7. Why was the tunnel undiscovered by Marauders?

Sarah:
It only exists when the Room of Requirement provides it, and the Room 
of Requirement is a very hard one to map.  At least that was my 
reading.
 
> 8. If Albus' plea in the cave means what Harry tells Aberforth it
> meant, does it mean that Albus knew after all who killed Ariana?

Sarah:
I am sorry for this answer but I still have no idea.  There are some 
questionable things in there.  It almost reads like Gellert was 
making Albus kill her, in parts.  But in King's Cross, Albus still 
claims to not know.
 
> 9. Would you want Aberforth to be Harry's mentor? Why or why not?

Sarah:
Helper and dispatcher?  Yes.  Mentor?  No.  Aberforth does not have 
enough information about what's really going on at the heart of this 
thing to guide Harry's individual path.  He's great at knowing who 
showed up and guiding them how to get where they need to be, though.  
He's more like a guy who runs a depot where the military ship out 
from, than a top secret agent.

> 10. By the end of this chapter, we and Harry have heard three
> accounts of the Dumbledores, from Doge, Skeeter, and Aberforth. 
Which
> account did you find most credible, and why?

Sarah:
Hmm.  I guess it takes all three.  And we really still don't know.  
Even with Dumbledore's later addition of his side of the story, I 
have no idea whom to believe.  Obviously all parties have their 
biases.  Perhaps none of them are honest.

> 11. Were you surprised by any of Aberforth's revelations? Did they
> affect your view of Albus?

Sarah:
No, he pretty much eloquated my view of Albus spot on!