CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 10, THE HALLOWEEN LONG

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 188394


> Alla:
> 
> I am afraid I still do not follow.  Oh, you are saying that Draco would have killed him otherwise? I guess to me he got scared to kill, not nobly decided to save Dumbledore.

Pippin:
But it was also scary not to kill Dumbledore. Voldemort was going to murder Draco and his entire family. Seems to me Draco had to choose on the basis of something other than being scared, because he didn't have any safe alternatives.

> 
> Alla:
> 
>  I thought that the suspicion that they may not be Trio protects them from Voldemort. But it is obvious that we see it completely differently, to me it is another moment of Draco not being able to decide if he wants to change or not, certainly NOT a showing of nobility of heart and mercy to his enemies. IMO of course.
> 

Pippin:
True, they'll be perfectly safe from Voldemort when Greyback has finished eating them, but I just don't see how that helps :)

If Draco hadn't changed at all,  he would have said who they were at once. Remember when he wanted to help the Heir of Slytherin and hoped that Hermione would be killed?

> 
> Alla:
> 
> That is a cool speculation, I however do not think that Regulus' plan was caused by anything else than desire to cause revenge for his servant and friend and for himself.

Pippin:
Revenge for what? Kreacher had escaped, and as far as Voldemort knows, Regulus has done his bidding.  If Regulus still supports the Dark Lord's aims in general, why does he simply not leave the horcrux where it is and go on being a faithful Death Eater?  

> Alla:
> 
> Well, of course this is what Founders wanted, to divide students equally that is, the thing is they decided to divide the students not based on the letters of alphabet (yes, I know, how boring the story will be), they decided to put brave students in one house, smart in another, ambitious in third and hardworking and loyal in fourth, instead of mixing them all together and finding some less innate qualities to divide them upon.

Pippin:
But the point was that they wanted to preserve their separate philosophies about what makes for a great wizard. Suppose they had each started their own school instead, wouldn't they preferentially admit those who had the  qualities, innate or otherwise, that they favored in their students? Many schools in the real world certainly do that. 

Hufflepuff alone didn't believe in excluding anyone from her house, whether  they were loyal and hardworking or not.  But I can't imagine that she would have allowed a student whose laziness or disloyalty became disruptive to continue, so perhaps it comes to the same thing. 

The Founders banded together because they were the greatest wizards of their time. They were friends. And that means that they must have recognized one another's greatness. 

So Slytherin would have thought the other three had achieved so much because they were  powerful, ambitious purebloods, Gryffindor would have thought them great because they had brave deeds to their names,  Hufflepuff would have attributed her colleagues'  success to hard work and loyalty, and Ravenclaw would have thought they were all smart. 

So, IMO, Harry, in recognizing Snape's courage, is thinking the way that the founders did in the days when the Houses were united. JKR does want us to admire courage, of course, but to me she's not creating a world where only a quarter of the people are brave, but one in which anyone can be brave, but a quarter of the people are most impressed by bravery. 

It seems to me that if, as a reader, you want to fantasize about being recognized for your bravery, then Gryffindor is definitely the house for you. But if, as a denizen of the Potterverse, you are called on to show bravery, then being a Gryffindor will be of no particular help.


> Alla:
> 
> Actually, that is a very good point. Except he was not a Hogwarts champion, right? Not really. Harry takes a center stage and he takes a second place to Harry right away, so I guess we are supposed to treat him as face of Hufflepuff, but unfortunately I do not think he was supposed to be a face of Hogwarts. IMO of course.

Pippin:
It is made very clear that Cedric was chosen by the Goblet as the Hogwarts champion  over all the other Hogwarts students who submitted  their names. Harry is only picked because Barty Jr. confunded the Goblet so it thought that he represented a fourth wizarding school. 

Pippin