DH reread CH 6-7

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 186361

Carol earlier:
> 
> > I am trying to find the place in the book where HRH finally figure out that the Sword of Gryffindor will destroy the Horcruxes because it's been steeped in Basilisk venom (anybody?)

> zanooda:
> 
> It's in "The Goblin's Revenge": "The sword can destroy Horcruxes! Goblin-made blades imbibe only that which strengthen then - Harry, that sword's impregnated with basilisk venom!" (p.304). Hermione says it, but I believe Harry guessed it as well :-).
>
Carol:
Thanks very much. That makes sense because it's the chapter in which they find out that a fake Sword of Gryffindor has been stolen and given into the keeping of the DEs. 

So the kids figure out why they need the Sword of Gryffindor before Snape places it in the icy pool--just as, IMO, Dumbledore intended that they would when he wrote his will. Apparently, the key piece of evidence that they needed to solve the mystery was that the sword was Goblin-made, which tells Hermione that it would have absorbed the Basilisk venom. They already knew that Basilisk venom would destroy a Horcrux and that DD managed to destroy the ring Horcrux after being cursed by it, but they didn't know how. Overhearing the Goblin's conversation and learning from Phineas Nigellus that the last time he saw the sword leave its case was when DD used it to destroy a ring in his office gives them the information they need to put two and two together. (I was wrong about Harry not knowing that DD had used the sword to destroy the Horcrux until the Pensieve memory. Bangs head on desk.)

At this point, IMO, Dumbledore's plan of using the will to inform Harry that he needs the Sword and having the Trio (really Hermione with help from Harry) figure out why he needs it has been fulfilled. Step two is getting the sword to Harry under the right conditions.

Just after Phineas reveals that he saw DD use the sword to destroy a ring, Harry asks whether he's told Professor Snape what he saw, and Phineas makes his exit, presumably to report to Portrait!DD and Snape. He doesn't overhear them figure out that the sword can be used to destroy Horcruxes, but Portrait!DD will know from his report that they now have sufficient evidence to solve the riddle and that the time is nearing for Snape (who has already given the fake sword to the DEs) to deliver the real sword under the conditions that I've already discussed.

The chapter also answers Alla's questions (sorry I didn't look a little farther before posting earlier--I knew it was here somewhere!):

After Hermione figures out that the sword can destroy Horcruxes because it has absorbed the Basilisk venom, Harry says, "And Dumbledore didn't give it to me because he still needed it, he wanted to use it on the locket--"

Hermione chimes in, "--and he must have realized they wouldn't let you have it if he put it in his will--"

Harry: "--so he made a copy--"

Hermione: "--and put a fake in the glass case--"

Harry: "--and he left the real one--where?"

They've solved the riddle (although I don't see why making a copy of the sword was necessary to the original plan if DD knew that Scrimgeour would leave it in the headmaster's office), with the exception of the real sword's being entrusted to Snape. (Does anyone think it was really Snape who made the fake sword after Ginny, Neville, and Luna tried to steal it?)

Does that answer your question, Alla? Whether or not the sword was DD's to give (I don't think it was, but that doesn't matter), DD knew that Scrimgeour or whoever proved the will wouldn't let Harry have it. Nevertheless, he used the will to communicate to Harry that harry need the sword, trusting that the Trio (especially Hermione) would figure out why they needed it. Once Portrait!DD knows that they had sufficient information to solve the riddle, he apparently tells Snape that Harry will need the sword but can only take it "under conditions of need and valor." Snape forms his plan but can't carry it out until he knows where the Trio is hiding. As soon Phineas Nigellus tells them that the kids (actually just Harry and Hermione at this point) are hiding in the Forest of Dean, Portrait!DD sends Snape out to put his plan into action. Ron rather than Harry retrieves the sword "under conditions of need and valor" and earns the right to use the sword, which the kids now know can be used to destroy a Horcrux.

Plan complete. It makes perfect sense to me now (except for DD's creating the fake sword--I think it must have been Snape who did it under circumstances that the Trio could not possibly understand and DD could not have anticipated).

Carol, who had forgotten a few pieces of the puzzle but thinks that she has them properly assembled now