CHAPDISC: DH28, THE MISSING MIRROR

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 184264


> 
> 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?

Pippin:
Voldemort, like Harry, knows that Hogsmeade is the best place for
someone who's planning to break into Hogwarts to start. He also knows
that the secret passages exit there and might be expecting Harry to
try one of them. 
 
> 2. Was Aberforth really sincere in his urging of Harry to abandon
his quest? That is, did Aberforth really think Harry should just stop?

Pippin:
As far as Aberforth knows, all Albus's grand plans have failed,
leading only to needless deaths, Albus's among them. He doesn't want
Harry to be another. His suggestion that Harry "give [the job
Dumbledore wanted Harry to do] to someone else" suggests he hasn't
quite given up faith in his brother. But he obviously fears that Harry
was chosen for his gullibility (or devotion, if you prefer) rather
than any special aptitude.

> 
> 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?

Pippin:
It shows us that Harry doesn't feel  manipulated. He's already aware
that Dumbledore withheld information, but he believes the path laid
out for him will lead to Voldemort's destruction. 

> 
> 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?

Pippin:
"Cordial" always sounded a bit distant for a relationship between two
brothers -- it's a word for diplomatic talks or labor/management
negotiations. I thought it hinted a little at underlying strain, like
Ron and Hermione being formal with each other after they've had a bad
fight.

If Aberforth never knew that Albus was haunted by his sister's death
then it doesn't sound as if they ever really talked about it.

> 
> 5. Which happy memory Aberforth uses for his patronus?
Heh. Heh. I'm sure he thought of his, er,  affection for his goaty
friends.


> 
> 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?

Pippin:
Albus thought he could do it all -- care for Ariana, search for the
Hallows, and become a leader of the WW. But he denied to himself how
much care Ariana needed, just as he denied how much violence would
actually be needed to overthrow the existing order and how eager
Gellert was to use it. In addition, Albus was only thinking about the
greater good of wizards -- that the far more numerous Muggles would be
worse off when they'd been put in their place did not register with
him. In those days, he does not seem to have been concerned with
rights and freedoms for everyone -- just for the chosen few.

Harry, OTOH, has no dependents,  only a secondary responsibility for
Teddy, and no illusions about the risk to those who fight with him.
He's also aware that he can't have it all -- he's given up Ginny, and
the pursuit of the Elder Wand. In addition, he knows of very few
people who won't be better off if Voldemort is defeated. 
 
> 
> 7. Why was the tunnel undiscovered by Marauders?

I'm not sure it existed until Neville needed it. The Marauders never
even found the RoR, since it wasn't on the Marauders Map. As
Dumbledore said, no one should think they know all the secrets of
Hogwarts.

> 
> 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?

Pippin:
I don't think so.  I think the "don't hurt them" plea is meant to be
ambiguous, like Hagrid's "Don't hurt 'em" -- we don't know whether
Albus was pleading with Gellert or Aberforth, or even Ariana. 

But at first, when he's saying, "Don't make me, I don't want to" I
think he's talking to someone, or something, else. He knows he's about
to be forced to relive those memories, and he doesn't want to. He's
pleading like Harry does in his nightmares about the graveyard --
perhaps he, like Harry, is pleading with his parents even though in
reality that didn't happen. 

> 
> 9. Would you want Aberforth to be Harry's mentor? Why or why not?

Pippin:
Aberforth is a sort of anti-mentor. He's nothing like what a mentor
ought to be, except that when it counts, he sends useful guidance to
Harry. Of course as a role model, he's a disaster: filthy, rude, and
morally suspect.

> 
> 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?

Pippin:
I pretty much believed what Aberforth was saying, though I was still
shocked by the extent of Dumbledore's puppet-mastery when it was
revealed. But Doge was obviously too kind, and Rita always more
interested in promulgating scandal than truth.

> 
> 11. Were you surprised by any of Aberforth's revelations? Did they
> affect your view of Albus?
> 
Pippin:
I was surprised to be told that Dumbledore was a natural liar. But I
think I accepted it.

Pippin