Chapter Discussion: Chapter Fourteen, Goblet of Fire: The Unforgivable Curses

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 192199

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Chapter 14

The Unforgivable Curses
The chapter opens with Ron and Harry discussing how Snape seems afraid of Mad
Eye Moody. Ron imagines seeing Moody change Snape into a horned toad and bounce
him around the dungeon.
Harry's whole DADA class has heard exciting things about Moody and they all
queue up early at the classroom, except for Hermione who had been in the
library. The first class is Moody showing them the Unforgivable Curses,
demonstrated on spiders. Everyone laughs at the spider doing gymnastics under
Imperius. But they sober up when Moody asks if they'd like it if he did it to
them. He demonstrates Cruciatus but Hermione makes him stop when she sees
Neville's reaction.


Finally Moody does Avada Kedavra. He explains how there's no defence, no
countercurse. Only one person has ever survived it - Harry. But Harry is not
thinking about his survival, but about his parents' deaths.

Moody advises CONSTANT VIGILANCE.
After class, Hermione notices that Neville is still very badly shaken. She
begins trying to comfort him, but Moody comes up and takes Neville to his office
for "a cup of tea."
After dinner, Ron and Harry see that Neville is feeling much better and is
reading a book Moody lent him: "Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their
Properties." They fetch their Divination stuff and try to do their assignment. 
As usual, they can make neither heads nor tails of it, so they fall back on the
old Divination standby and make it up. While doing this homework, Harry notices
Fred and George off to themselves, working on what seems to be an important
sheet of parchment.
Hermione finally returns from the library, and announces the inauguration of
S.P.E.W. While Ron and Harry are trying to decide how to react, Hedwig shows
up. She has a letter from Sirius, which says that he's flying north
immediately, that Harry should go straight to Dumbledore if his scar hurts
again, and that Dumbledore is "reading the signs."




Questions:


1. In the beginning of class, Crouch!Moody says he'll only be staying for a
year. We know why Barty Crouch, Jr had no intention of staying any longer. But
do you think this was originally agreed upon between the real Moody and DD, and
did that have anything to do with the DADA curse?




2. Do you think Crouch!Moody* left the Cruciatus on the second spider too long? 
Do you remember the impression it made on you on your first reading, if any?





3. Having seen Crouch!Moody demonstrate the Unforgivables in Harry's class, what
do you think of the Ministry's policy of not showing dark curses to students
until they're in sixth year, and about DD ignoring that?




4. Harry didn't seem to make anything of Neville's distress after seeing the
Cruciatus curse. Given his own feelings about Avada Kedavra, do you think he
should have been more perceptive about Neville, or did he have too much to think
about on his own account?





5. Some readers have seen truth in Harry and Ron's made-up homework predictions.
What do you think? Here's the list:

Monday: Ron -cough; Harry - burns

Tuesday: Ron - lose a treasured possession (H's idea); Harry - stabbed in back
by a friend (R's idea)

Wednesday: Ron - lose a fight; Harry - lose a bet (was going to have a fight,
but R said it first)


Later on: Ron - changes a second drowning to being trampled by a Hippogriff;
Harry - death by decapitation.




6. What do you think of the name S.P.E.W. and Hermione sticking with it after
Harry's and Ron's immediate reactions?





7. Sirius says DD has been reading the signs. What are they? How many can we
list?




Please add any other questions you can think of!

Annemehr



*"Crouch!Moody" is an old HPfGU shorthand that indicates "Crouch Jr disguised as
Moody". We also have Vapor!Mort for LV when he was "less than the meanest
ghost" and Baby!Mort for the ugly baby stage he was in when Wormtail brought him
back to England.

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