Dh reread CH 23

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 186922

Alla:
>
> What does put a bit of work our way means here? He worked for us? Or against
us? Or something different? Because this could be an answer i Stan really was a
DE, no?

Zara:
In this context, I believe it means he gave them instructions on things they
could do for pay. Perhaps where to look for people to Snatch to get a reward, or
similar. If he were under Imperius, though, he could do something like that.

Alla:

Thanks Zara and everybody else who responded onlist and offlist! I guess here goes my hope for finally finding out if Stan is a Death Eater or not.




Carol responds:
I have mixed feelings about Grindelwald. Yes, he seems to have felt remorse for
his crimes, and he has unquestionable courage. I admire the way he, a dying,
toothless old man, fearlessly confronts Voldemort, taunting him with his lack of
knowledge and lying to him. <SNIP>But, then there are all those crimes, murder, torture, imprisonment of innocent
people, and whatever else he did
 <SNIP>

Alla:
Oh yes of course, I do agree that he committed so many crimes, but I don't know, I guess she just made me believe his remorse. That does not mean that I would have liked him in RL, I would probably never ever bothered to get close to him and maybe not even believed him, but I believe in this scene.


Carol:
<SNIP>
But to
pile on all those crimes afterward with no restitution other than fifty years in
prison? Does the prison sentence count as a kind of Purgatory to purge his sins
and crimes? <SNIP>

Alla:

Country where I came from is sadly famous for horrific conditions of the prisons. So yeah, if it is as bad, I think it does. By going in such prison you are not just loosing your freedom, which IMO should be punishment enough. You stand a pretty good chance to lose your health, your sanity, and a lot of other things, your mindset will just never be the same. No I never had to spend time in prison back there, but it is pretty much common knowledge.

I mean, of course it counts only if he truly felt remorse IMO.


Carol:
<SNIP>
 I agree that Lucius is acting from pure
self-interest, and it's also clear that his views haven't changed at all. He's
still perfectly willing to follow the DE agenda, to summon Voldemort so he can
kill Harry, which will, he thinks, restore him to his old prestige. (Maybe he'll
even get a new wand!) There's no change in his views of "Mudbloods" and "blood
traitors," either. Voldemort's mistreatment and humiliation of the Malfoys
hasn't yet reached the point where Lucius will cease to be loyal as long as
there's still the chance that loyalty will be rewarded.

His eagerness is an interesting contrast to Narcissa's coldness. Her views on
Pure-blood superiority clearly haven't changed, either, and she, too, is
perfectly willing to hand Harry and his friends over to Voldemort as long as its
in her family's interest to do so. But I don't think at this point she feels any
personal loyalty to Voldemort, who has, to say the least, abused her family's
hospitality (and is about to do worse). Her primary concern, in contrast to
Lucius, is Draco. Voldemort's agenda comes second. For her, I think, obedience
to Voldemort is a practical necessity, not a matter of personal loyalty, but she
has no more sympathy or empathy for Harry and his friends than her husband does. <SNIP>

Alla:

Right, I do agree with basically everything you wrote here, I am just saying that I was thinking about Malfoys at the end, you know?

And if there was a slightest hint that their views indeed changed, I would think JKR would have shown it here. As you say, it does not look that way. I do not know though about Narcissa not feeling personal loyalty to Voldemort anymore, I mean she is certainly not feeling it at the end, but here she is still eager even if in the cold way for him to be pleased if they caught such important fugitives IMO.

I am just thinking that this scene to me shows one more time that even if Malfoys really love each other, they are, how to put it? Very crappy people in my opinion. Funnily, I feel a little bit more for Draco than I would usually do after this reread, he does appear pretty terrorized to me, but older Malfoys? Ugh, I wish they were sent to prison for a long time.

I mean, much was made out of Narcissa not telling Voldie that Harry is alive and I just do not think that there was anything else besides it except wanting to see Draco. I think that if Draco was with her, she would have absolutely told on Harry.


Carol, who likes Alla's selection of quotations here, especially the last two,
both of which are masterful character sketches in miniature (no doubt *intended*
as such by the author but left for the reader to interpret)

Alla:

Thanks.