Chapter 30: The White Tomb
In which Hermione shows how she's NOT the cleverest witch of her age, Scrimgeour shows he can't count to two, and Harry is a selfish git. Again.
Chapter 30: The White Tomb
All lessons were suspended, all examinations postponed.
I've wondered about this before, whenever they cancel exams, such as in COS It never affects Harry's year, but it's bloody tough titty on the poor sods who are doing their OWLS or NEWTS. In this case they are postponed, but being cancelled strikes me as a bit harsh. "Oh sorry, I can't prove I'm right for your job, my stupid school cancelled NEWTS." Ginny has OWLs this year, but it's not said when she'll get to take her exams (because it's Harry's POV and he doesn't care)
I am also concerned about the students who were hurried away from Hogwarts too, as I hope everyone who was supposed to take their exams got the opportunity.
Some students got dragged off, some managed to stay. As most of Harry's year were probably 17 at this point, I can see more staying that JKR gives them credit for, Dumbledore was loved by more than Harry.
Again, I don't get why the parents were dragging the children away. They didn't exactly rush to save their children when the chamber was opened, or when a troll got in, or when there were a werewolf on staff. This isn't the first murder on the school grounds, and it's not even the first teacher's death, Barty Snr was killed on the grounds, Cedric was found dead there, and Quirrell died too. This is only one wizard, after all. He must have been near to death anyway, at his age.
She (Seamus' mother) had difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade
I'm not surprised actually, considering that it's a pretty small village, and there's only two pubs, (that we know of) and they wouldn't have more than a very few bedrooms (unless they were MAGICALLY EXTENDED!!!) Why would she need a bed anyway? She's a witch! Why would she need to stay the night? Maybe she's lost her broomstick, or has forgotten how to Apparate.*sigh* (Like everyone else in this book seemingly.)
Some excitement was caused among the younger students, who had never seen it before,
Never seen excitement before? Poor younger students.
when a powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen giant winged palominos
They had giant wings?
Harry ignores the delegation from the Ministry, as he was sure that, sooner or later, he would be asked again to account for Dumbledore's last excursion from Hogwarts.
Ok - after general jollity after DD's death we are back to the Idiot Plot. Why on EARTH hasn't he already been questioned? Not for the first time in the series I BOGGLE at the laxity of the Ministry's (and in particular the Auror's department - if they are supposed to be the equivalent of the Muggle Police) handling of matters when people are attacked and/or killed. No scene of crime team, no magical forensics, no immediate interviews with the eye witnesses… The most powerful wizard in the land has been murdered - and although no-one took Harry's word for anything throughout the series as a whole, (Dementors, flying pudding, World Cup, Voldemort returning to name but four...) somehow they are trusting him enough to believe him in this - now, when there's murder involved?
No no no no no! Bilge!
*headdesk* No wonder they never bloody catch anyone. Moody for Minister, I say.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were spending all of their time together.
Even in the wilds of Norfolk I could hear the collective squee on the day the book came out when the shippers read this bit.
Harry then - once more - complains inwardly about Dumbledore dying - this time because it's spoiled the end of his term and he would have been happier with Ginny if Dumbledore hadn't got himself killed, the thoughtless bastard. This is the equivalent of commuters complaining that the train is late after someone has thrown themselves on the line.
Harry could imagine how it would have been if Durnbledore had not died, and they had had this time together at the very end of the year, Ginny's examinations finished, the pressure of homework lifted The beautiful weather seemed to mock them;
No, Harry. That would be me.
Although, re-reading that with the whole Harry-dore vibe of the book to look back on, it does seem like Harry was imagining him and Dumbles hand in hand walking along side the lake and enjoying the summer. *shudder*
... and hour by hour, he put off saying the thing that he knew he must say, doing what he knew it was right to do, because it was too hard to forgo his best source of comfort.
More hyperbole. "best source of comfort" being Ginny.
Never mind the friends who have been with you through thick and thin, or the people who could talk to him about Siirus, or about his parents. Never mind the Weasleys who have been more of a family than he's ever seen. No. Comfort means a warm Ginny.
They visited the hospital wing twice a day: Neville had been discharged, but Bill remained under Madam Pomfrey's care.
This seems rather like voyeurism to me, but still. It's not like Harry's even had much interraction with Bill before, has he? But, I guess, to give them the benefit of the doubt, they could be accompanying Ron.
'... so eet ees lucky 'e is marrying me,' said Fleur happily, plumping up Bill's pillows, 'because ze British overcook their meat, I 'ave always said this.'
I'm restraining myself here, but to layer stereotypes on top of stereotypes? Grrrr. And calling Bill British? This makes my blood boil. Would Minerva like to be called British? No. He's English, Fleur. English. Sod the political correctness. Double Grrrr.
Back at the common room we have a tender double date (although not quite yet as Ron and Hermy still aren't officially shipping) and Ron asks if anyone they know was killed. A little unpleasant this, I thought - I'd be interested and worried enough to ask if ANYONE had died, not just acquaintances. It smacks of the headlines you get "Avalanche in Switzerland - 2 Britons killed." Never mind the 150 Swiss, eh? We don't know them.
Hermione winced at the toughness in his voice. Ick. Nobody really winces. It's so… Homer Simpson. D'oh! This is Harry's POV and he'd have to have seen Hermione wince. She's hardly a wincing kind of girl, but then, I'd have never taken her as doing half the stuff she does in this, so perhaps she is. Hope she gets some smelling salts for the next books, she's turning into a Victorian heroine.
Ginny yawns and says she's going to bed.
'I haven't been sleeping that well since ... well ... I could do with some sleep.'
Is it just me or did this sound like she'd been shagging Harry on a nightly basis?
Hermione leaned forwards towards Harry with a most Hermione-ish look on her face.
Wow. How DID she manage that? Oh yes - it's because she's Hermione. Der. It would be a neat trick if Ron could do it, though. (and where IS Ron? Why is he being almost totally ignored?)
After Ginny goes, Hermione says that she's found something out.
'R.A.B.?' said Harry, sitting up straight.
There's a long thought filled moment after he says this. Harry - strangely, REALLY strangely, doesn't get excited and I couldn't work this out. For six years he's been the most anxious to "Go And Find Out" that I'm surprised the series wasn't called "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the …" and suddenly, he's not bothered, he's just resigned into doing his duty. Nelson would be proud of you, Harry. Blimey fandom, do you think he's grown up?
He creates a little mantra to repeat in case any of us hadn't remembered or understood Dumbledore's long and plodding path to get us to this point:
'the locket .., the cup ... the snake ... something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's ... the locket ... the cup ... the snake ... something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's ...'
Although it's purely Dumbledore's conjecture about the cup, the snake or something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's, and Merlin alone knows how WRONG he's been before.
Anyway, back to the R.A.B. I could scream. Really. How DIM are they? The whole fandom has worked this one out. And even if fandom is wrong and JKR invents someone ELSE with those initials just to thwart fandom being more intelligent than Harry (although my cat is more intelligent than Harry) they should have seen the connection here.
I know that this is a plot device, or it would be solved too quickly but this really does beggar belief. You'd think that B would immediately lead Harry to Black, wouldn't you? Sirius being his Godfather, and Harry owning the BLACK house, with - ooo - that handy tapestry….*headdesk*
'No,' she said sadly, 'I've been trying, Harry, but I haven't found anything ... there are a couple of reasonably well-known wizards with those initials - Rosalind Antigone Bungs
underlucius: (helpfully) Erm... Could it be Black?
... Rupert "Axebanger" Brookstanton ...
underlucius: (louder) Perhaps it's Black!!?
but they don't seem to fit at all. Judging by that note, the person who stole the Horcrux knew Voldemort, and I can't find a shred of evidence that Bungs or Axebanger ever had anything to do with him"
underlucius: (going pink with anger) Someone - a Death Eater with RB as initials?? IT'S BLACK!!!!!!!
But no. Hermione says she hasn't found anything out about the mysterious RAB, what she has to tell is about Snape, apparently.
She looked nervous even saying the name again. Snape is the new He Who Shall Not be Named! YAY!
She rubs it in (HARD) that she was half right about the Half Blood Prince and Harry takes it quite well, although he does blame Dumbledore. That made me smile.
Pure-blood mother, Muggie father ... ashamed of his parentage, trying to make himself feared using the Dark Arts, gave himself an impressive new name - Lord Voldemort - the Half-Blood Prince - how could Dumbledore have missed - ?
Because he's DUMBLE-dore, Harry. If Remus Lupin is a significant name then so is Dumbledore.
They discuss why Snape didn't turn Harry in for using the book, particularly after Sectumsempra.
'I don't think he wanted to associate himself with that book,' said Hermione. 'I don't think Dumbledore would have liked it very much if he'd known.'
Why? Doesn't the wizarding world encourage talent? That makes no sense. It seems odd that an old fashioned school like Hogwarts doesn't have a streamed system where the most talented are encouraged. Surely wizards should be taught the basis for inventing spells, and under supervision would make more sense, imho.
'And even if Snape pretended it hadn't been his, Slughorn would have recognised his writing at once. Anyway, the book was left in Snape's old classroom, and I'll bet Dumbledore knew his mother was called "Prince".'
Well DER Hermione, brightest witch in the room, specialist subject "The Bleedin' Obvious."
I would have thought that Dumbledore would be more likely to recognise Snape's writing than Slughorn, to be frank. My hand writing is unrecognisable from my 16 year old writing. And Dumbledore would (of course) have known who Snape's mother was! He's the bloody headmaster! And so would Sluggy come to that. If he nurtured Ginny for a puny bat-bogey hex he would have known about Eileen Prince and her talent at Gobstones. It's likely too, that Severus inherited his talent for potions from his mother, and Slughorn took pride in remembering people's parents.
'I'm trying to say, Harry, that you're putting too much blame on yourself.' Hermione continues.
Funny - my reading of this scene was Harry blaming everyone else.
Including you, Hermione. ("You were the one who kept telling me the book was dangerous!")
There's a morbid moment while they are all silent. Harry was sure that they, like him, were thinking about the following morning, when Dumbledore's body would be laid to rest.
He goes on to muse about how he's going to feel at the funeral. Harry had never attended a funeral before; there had been no body to bury when Sirius had died. He did not know what to expect and was a little worried about what he might see, about how he would feel.
So here we get the Harry we all know and (some of us) love; is he concerned about Ron, who is, it has to be said, rather more sensitive than the other two? Is he worried that Hermione, as a girl might need support? Is he worried about Ginny, who being younger might get upset? Of course not, this is HARRY. He's thinking about himself. As ever.
At breakfast next morning the school gathers in the Great Hall. Everyone is wearing their dress robes, which means that
Harry is probably dressed as the love child of the Pengiun and the Count from Sesame Street. VUN sausage, TWO sausage, ZREE sausage... Waaak Waaak Waaaak.
No-one is hungry apart for Ron "eat anything - anytime" Weasley who is stabbing pieces of kipper with unwonted venom.
Unwonted is rather the wrong word, he's often as grumpy as hell at breakfast. And Hi, Ron!
Harry spots Crabbe and Goyle, oddly lonely without the tall, pale figure of Malfoy between them, bossing them around. Harry had not spared Malfoy much thought. His animosity was all for Snape
Bizarre behaviour. After "obsessing" (JKR's words, not mine) over Malfoy for an entire year, and hardly giving Snape a thought, he now seems unable to hate two people at once, and even feeling the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike.
Where, Harry wondered, was Malfoy now, and what was Voldemort making him do under threat of killing him and his parents?
What's this, Harry? Empathy? And there was me thinking you spelled it with an M... Perhaps you caught it from Snape when he confronted you in the Flight chapter...)
…when they reached the Entrance Hall, they found Madam Pince standing beside Filch, she in a thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient black suit and tie reeking of mothballs.
Best ship in the book, for my money.
Tonks is happy and pink haired again, because Lurve can override any terror of losing the most powerful good wizard as has been expounded earlier. (It's a miracle, though, according to Harry, and he should know, being the Messiah.) It made me curious that she wasn't depressed though, as you think she would be, with DD dead an' all. Maybe she had a good night. *nudge nudge wink wink*
I was rather amused that the women: Tonks, (pink and strong and holding hands with poor Remus) Fleur (supporting Bill), Luna (helping Neville into a chair) were all being stronger than their men. A bit of an afterthought, methinks. And Yay for Luna/Neville!! I love them both muchly.
Harry FINALLY (again showing this Spooky Empathy Disease) feels affection for Nev/Luna.
They alone of all the DA had responded to Hermione's summons the night that Dumbledore had died, and Harry knew why: they were the ones who had missed the DA most ... probably the ones who had checked their coins regularly in the hope that there would be another meeting ...
I'm still not understanding why they didn't keep the DA on, but that's his call I guess - it's not like he'll need his friends to conquer Voldemort.
Ah.
Also, Death Eaters are at the door and you faff around with magic coins in the middle of the night? How many people are clutching coins in bed? Why not just send up red sparks or perhaps YELL?
I was furious to see Umbridge at the funeral. Another lapse into OOC-ness for Minerva as far as I'm concerned, in fact a lapse into OOC-ness for ALL the staff. All of them hated her. She made Hagrid run into exile, she nearly killed Minerva, she scarred several children for life, just for starters. Why they didn't sack her is fairly IC for a large government organisation - you stuff up bigtime, you get shuffled sideways or upstairs - but it surely was Minerva's choice to invite guests and frankly, Umbridge should NOT be there. Her very presence is offensive. If I'd been Minnie I'd have had a couple of centaurs on the gate.
We are, as it happens, reminded of Hermione's act of throwing her to the centaurs as Umbridge scurried hastily into a seat a good distance away when she sees poor inoffensive Firenze, who probably would have been horrified if he knew what she was thinking.
I, having once been an ardent fan, am now on the verge of hate for some of these books. JKR seems to portray bullying in a glamorised state - it's all right if the good guys do it, and if we bully the bad guys, we have permission to laugh at them. Sod the "messages" about fat being bad, is the message of Potter truly that bullying is All Right?
I liked the idea of a wizard's funeral though; the rather shocking way the body itself is carried to the front, rather than the more clinical idea of putting into a box.
Hermione is crying, Ginny is crying, Ron is pale and shocked. Hagrid is crying. Not Harry though. He's so manly. Perhaps he doesn't know what's going on? (judging by the way Ginny keeps having to show him where to look, it certainly seems that way.) No, no, that's silly.
Harry glanced at the back row to which Hagrid was heading and realised what was guiding him, for there, dressed in a jacket and trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the giant Grawp, his great ugly boulder-like head bowed, docile, almost human.
A ruddy BIG human. A giant-sized human! Is he a giant, do you think? Ah. Not human then, but it was very good of Harry to think "almost human." He'll be saying "some of my best friends are giants," next, I'll warrant.
Hagrid and Grawp share a comedic moment and Harry wants to laugh. How sensitive. It's bad enough that he has shamed an unwitting Hagrid at Aragog's funeral, now he almost makes a mockery of the sweet man at the funeral of the man that Hagrid loved beyond all other. Can you imagine how mortified Hagrid would have been? Nice going, Harry, you jerkwad.
When someone we've never met before (probably a member of the Wizengamot or something) stands to give the Oration, Harry gets another urge to giggle. I hate him. *stabs*
Although - Harry himself wonders what is wrong with him. Maybe there is something going on here that we don't know about - maybe somehow, Harry is carrying a piece of Dumbledore's soul. Yeah - don't ask me why - i'm the logical one.
There was a soft splashing noise to his left and he saw that the merpeople had broken the surface... Harry wondered where Dumbledore had learned Mermish. There was so much he had never asked him, so much he should have said ...
Can I say - HELL YEAH!? Where DO wizards learn languages? No universities, no languages at school, not even French or Latin (which would be helpful, don't you think?) I'd like to know, Jo, please.
And then, without warning, it swept over him, the dreadful truth, more completely and undeniably than it had until now. Dumbledore was dead, gone ...
I was right! he DIDN'T know what was going on!! Dear me. Did the 19 times it got mentioned in The Phoenix Lament not help?
It's a funeral, Harry. Dumbledore's dead, Harry. He's dead, Harry, DEAD!
And then he cries. Finally! Then, over the next paragraph or two nauseatingly, groaningly, clunkily, dreadfully, Harry Grows Up.
And Harry remembered his first nightmarish trip into the Forest, the first time he had ever encountered the thing that was then Voldemort, and how he had faced him, and how he and Dumbledore had discussed fighting a losing battle not long thereafter. It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated ...
Hmm. Not exactly what he said, Harry. This is what DD said in The Philosopher's Stone:
"He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share... not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time -- and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."
Dumbledore knew the prophecy (it sounds like he even knew about the Horcruxes) and he's telling Harry that Voldemort can be infinitely delayed. Not beaten. Interesting.
And Harry saw very clearly as be sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over.
More Growing Up as Harry realises that he's had loads of people who cared for him and he killed a few of them. Sorry, fandom, but he did.
Plus, as a personal note as a writer, this is NOT what I want in a book in terms of character development, regardless whether it's a children's book or something for adults. Harry has been through a hell of lot (der) in the books and he should have developed slowly over time, and to my eyes, he hasn't. In this book he behaves like a 3rd year, and it took someone to actually point it out to me that he was nearly 17 and I was actually shocked. I don't want him suddenly to Grow Up like he was getting an erection.
However: I digress. This introspection leads of course us to the Great and Noble Sacrifice™ he's about to make.
Small interruption here as the Table turns into the Tomb and a ghostly phoenix spirals into the sky. If this portends that she's bringing DD (phoenix animagus) back I'll be very angry indeed.
Harry and Ginny look at each other and probably Occlumensed themselves. It does sound like Occlumency though, doesn't it?
She met Harry's gaze with the same hard, blazing look that he had seen when she had hugged him after winning the Quidditch Cup in his absence, and he knew that at that moment they understood each other perfectly
Then Harry dumps Sally Ginny. She understands. It's all so... *sniff* Soooo...
Pathetic. And Pointless. Plus Ginny behaves like a 35 year old, not a 15 year old.
He uses that old chestnut that Voldemort will "find out about her" and she'll be in danger.
Horseapples Harry! Voldemort's canonical M.O. is to come after your friends and family, anyway. He'll wipe out the Weasley's one by one, then he'll take Hermione. Ginny would be safer with you than without you. Just THINK boy - THINK!!!
Or perhaps it's just a Wham Bam Thank you Ma'am speech. He is a teenage boy, after all.
'What if I don't care?' said Ginny fiercely.
'I care,' said Harry. 'How do you think I'd feel if this was your funeral ... and it was my fault ...'
He'd grieve, Ginny. For about TWO WEEKS. *coughSiriuscough*
Plus once again - this is all about HIM. Like with Dumbledore's death, it's not about Ginny dying, it's how he would feel. He's guilt tripping her, and she falls for it, as, let's be honest, if she was actually dead, she's not going to give a stuff about how he feels is she?
"I never really gave up on you,' she said. 'Not really. I always hoped ... Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more - myself.'
Okay, Rowling? Three "bits" in one paragraph? Not good. Second, I refuse to believe that Ginny developed a mature, adult love for Harry at the age of TEN, because that's not psychologically possible!
And the fact that "being a bit more myself" meant serial dating (not that there's anything wrong with that, actually) plays right into the Harmonians hands of "Oh Ginny U HOR!"
Smart girl, that Hermione,' said Harry, trying to smile. 'I just wish I'd asked you sooner. We could've had ages ... months ... years maybe ...'
If you believe THAT Ginny, you are as stupid as he is. Remember Cho? Ravenclaw Seeker he had a crush on for about three years?
Do you really believe that he would have dropped an older woman to go out with the kid?
'But you've been too busy saving the wizarding world,' said Ginny, half-laughing. 'Well ... I can't say I'm surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much.'
So you like a killer, Ginny? Can't you find yourself a nice Death Eater boyfriend? So what's she going to do when he beats Voldemort and he's got nothing to do? Help him be miserable for the rest of his life? Nothing more useless than an ex-hero, Ginny. Read "Glory Road" by Robert Heinlein for proof of that.
As gehayi pointed out to me, the thought of a 10 year old schoolgirl forming a passion at such an early age makes my skin crawl, like Fenrir and Slughorn, and flashes of Dumbledore, this is a pedo's dream. Nabokov would be proud.
The dumping complete, he leaves her by the side of the lake. Ron and Hermione are in each other's arms, comforting each other (Harry, take note, you flipping iceberg) (although there will be a group hug in the movie, mark my words.)
Rufus Scrimgeour was limping rapidly towards him around the bank, leaning on his walking stick.
Ah - here comes the Police! Harry's going to be questioned about Dumbledore's death at last!
"What do you want?' asked Harry flatly.
Play nice with the very powerful policeman, Harry. There's no Dumbledore to keep you out of Azkaban now.
Scrimgeour stopped too, leaned on his stick and stared at Harry, his expression shrewd now.
'The word is that you were with him when he left the school the night that he died.'
Here it comes…. "You do not have to say anything if you do not want to but anything you do say will be taken down and used in evidence…."
'Whose word?' said Harry.
'Somebody Stupefied a Death Eater on top of the Tower after Dumbledore died. There were also two broomsticks up there. The Ministry can add two and two, Harry.'
Hahaha!! Silly Scrimgeour! Surely he means The Ministry can add one and one?
'Glad to hear it,' said Harry. 'Well, where I went with Dumbledore and what we did is my business. He didn't want people to know.'
underlucius: *Aghast* Call this reading him his rights? Call this interrogation? This boy should be in thumbscrews!
Unbelievably Harry refuses to speak. Or rather, not unbelievably, as he's actually acting in character here, for a change, but unbelievably, the Ministry don't appear to have any powers to interrogate. I mean, Dumbledore was murdered. Evidently the Ministry knows this, and who did it, and yet they've made no attempt to question Harry or any of his friends who were witnesses to the night in question. Sheesh. Considering they throw people into prison for the flimsiest of suspicions (Hagrid may possibly have a monster, Shunpike may possibly be a Death Eater even though he hasn't got a mark and several free men have, Sirius locked away and the key thrown away with no trial,) then Harry should be under arrest, at the very least while they conduct their investigations. For all they know, he could have been in collusion - and by the way they've treated him before, this would be totally in character.
The Muggle police would have been swarming over the castle with dogs and fingerprint brigades. Evidently wizards only need "hearsay" (3rd party verbal information) to start the search for Snape. Hearsay is not viable evidence in Muggle courts, btw.
The remainder of the book is more of Harry Growing Up, declaring his continued loyalty for Dumbledore yada yada.
Scrim stomps off, unsatisfied, to where Percy and the rest of the Ministry delegation waiting for him, casting nervous glances at the sobbing Hagrid and Grawp
Although I don't understand why Grawp was crying, although he could be upset that Hagger is, I guess.
Reunion of the Trio and Harry tells them that he's not going back to school, and then, in response to Hermione's question:
"But then what will you do?"
He says that he's going back to the Dursleys, to get a little more of that ol' blood protection, although he masks it under it being something Dumbledore wanted him to do then ….
'I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow,' Harry muttered. He had had the idea in his head ever since the night of Dumbledore's death. 'For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves....'
underlucius: gives up the will to live*
I'm not even going to comment on how he thinks he's going to find the Horcruxes, as that's up to the next sporkfodder book. But Dobby on a Rope - it's taken him SIX years to want to visit the graves of his parents.
Six years.
If this one sentence doesn't sum up the utter self-centred git that is Harry Potter, I don't know what else does.
"I'd like that."
Once more, it's all about Him.
But then, I guess it is. After all, the series is called "Harry Potter and the…" isn't it?
Chapter 30: The White Tomb
All lessons were suspended, all examinations postponed.
I've wondered about this before, whenever they cancel exams, such as in COS It never affects Harry's year, but it's bloody tough titty on the poor sods who are doing their OWLS or NEWTS. In this case they are postponed, but being cancelled strikes me as a bit harsh. "Oh sorry, I can't prove I'm right for your job, my stupid school cancelled NEWTS." Ginny has OWLs this year, but it's not said when she'll get to take her exams (because it's Harry's POV and he doesn't care)
I am also concerned about the students who were hurried away from Hogwarts too, as I hope everyone who was supposed to take their exams got the opportunity.
Some students got dragged off, some managed to stay. As most of Harry's year were probably 17 at this point, I can see more staying that JKR gives them credit for, Dumbledore was loved by more than Harry.
Again, I don't get why the parents were dragging the children away. They didn't exactly rush to save their children when the chamber was opened, or when a troll got in, or when there were a werewolf on staff. This isn't the first murder on the school grounds, and it's not even the first teacher's death, Barty Snr was killed on the grounds, Cedric was found dead there, and Quirrell died too. This is only one wizard, after all. He must have been near to death anyway, at his age.
She (Seamus' mother) had difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade
I'm not surprised actually, considering that it's a pretty small village, and there's only two pubs, (that we know of) and they wouldn't have more than a very few bedrooms (unless they were MAGICALLY EXTENDED!!!) Why would she need a bed anyway? She's a witch! Why would she need to stay the night? Maybe she's lost her broomstick, or has forgotten how to Apparate.*sigh* (Like everyone else in this book seemingly.)
Some excitement was caused among the younger students, who had never seen it before,
Never seen excitement before? Poor younger students.
when a powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen giant winged palominos
They had giant wings?
Harry ignores the delegation from the Ministry, as he was sure that, sooner or later, he would be asked again to account for Dumbledore's last excursion from Hogwarts.
Ok - after general jollity after DD's death we are back to the Idiot Plot. Why on EARTH hasn't he already been questioned? Not for the first time in the series I BOGGLE at the laxity of the Ministry's (and in particular the Auror's department - if they are supposed to be the equivalent of the Muggle Police) handling of matters when people are attacked and/or killed. No scene of crime team, no magical forensics, no immediate interviews with the eye witnesses… The most powerful wizard in the land has been murdered - and although no-one took Harry's word for anything throughout the series as a whole, (Dementors, flying pudding, World Cup, Voldemort returning to name but four...) somehow they are trusting him enough to believe him in this - now, when there's murder involved?
No no no no no! Bilge!
*headdesk* No wonder they never bloody catch anyone. Moody for Minister, I say.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were spending all of their time together.
Even in the wilds of Norfolk I could hear the collective squee on the day the book came out when the shippers read this bit.
Harry then - once more - complains inwardly about Dumbledore dying - this time because it's spoiled the end of his term and he would have been happier with Ginny if Dumbledore hadn't got himself killed, the thoughtless bastard. This is the equivalent of commuters complaining that the train is late after someone has thrown themselves on the line.
Harry could imagine how it would have been if Durnbledore had not died, and they had had this time together at the very end of the year, Ginny's examinations finished, the pressure of homework lifted The beautiful weather seemed to mock them;
No, Harry. That would be me.
Although, re-reading that with the whole Harry-dore vibe of the book to look back on, it does seem like Harry was imagining him and Dumbles hand in hand walking along side the lake and enjoying the summer. *shudder*
... and hour by hour, he put off saying the thing that he knew he must say, doing what he knew it was right to do, because it was too hard to forgo his best source of comfort.
More hyperbole. "best source of comfort" being Ginny.
Never mind the friends who have been with you through thick and thin, or the people who could talk to him about Siirus, or about his parents. Never mind the Weasleys who have been more of a family than he's ever seen. No. Comfort means a warm Ginny.
They visited the hospital wing twice a day: Neville had been discharged, but Bill remained under Madam Pomfrey's care.
This seems rather like voyeurism to me, but still. It's not like Harry's even had much interraction with Bill before, has he? But, I guess, to give them the benefit of the doubt, they could be accompanying Ron.
'... so eet ees lucky 'e is marrying me,' said Fleur happily, plumping up Bill's pillows, 'because ze British overcook their meat, I 'ave always said this.'
I'm restraining myself here, but to layer stereotypes on top of stereotypes? Grrrr. And calling Bill British? This makes my blood boil. Would Minerva like to be called British? No. He's English, Fleur. English. Sod the political correctness. Double Grrrr.
Back at the common room we have a tender double date (although not quite yet as Ron and Hermy still aren't officially shipping) and Ron asks if anyone they know was killed. A little unpleasant this, I thought - I'd be interested and worried enough to ask if ANYONE had died, not just acquaintances. It smacks of the headlines you get "Avalanche in Switzerland - 2 Britons killed." Never mind the 150 Swiss, eh? We don't know them.
Hermione winced at the toughness in his voice. Ick. Nobody really winces. It's so… Homer Simpson. D'oh! This is Harry's POV and he'd have to have seen Hermione wince. She's hardly a wincing kind of girl, but then, I'd have never taken her as doing half the stuff she does in this, so perhaps she is. Hope she gets some smelling salts for the next books, she's turning into a Victorian heroine.
Ginny yawns and says she's going to bed.
'I haven't been sleeping that well since ... well ... I could do with some sleep.'
Is it just me or did this sound like she'd been shagging Harry on a nightly basis?
Hermione leaned forwards towards Harry with a most Hermione-ish look on her face.
Wow. How DID she manage that? Oh yes - it's because she's Hermione. Der. It would be a neat trick if Ron could do it, though. (and where IS Ron? Why is he being almost totally ignored?)
After Ginny goes, Hermione says that she's found something out.
'R.A.B.?' said Harry, sitting up straight.
There's a long thought filled moment after he says this. Harry - strangely, REALLY strangely, doesn't get excited and I couldn't work this out. For six years he's been the most anxious to "Go And Find Out" that I'm surprised the series wasn't called "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the …" and suddenly, he's not bothered, he's just resigned into doing his duty. Nelson would be proud of you, Harry. Blimey fandom, do you think he's grown up?
He creates a little mantra to repeat in case any of us hadn't remembered or understood Dumbledore's long and plodding path to get us to this point:
'the locket .., the cup ... the snake ... something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's ... the locket ... the cup ... the snake ... something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's ...'
Although it's purely Dumbledore's conjecture about the cup, the snake or something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's, and Merlin alone knows how WRONG he's been before.
Anyway, back to the R.A.B. I could scream. Really. How DIM are they? The whole fandom has worked this one out. And even if fandom is wrong and JKR invents someone ELSE with those initials just to thwart fandom being more intelligent than Harry (although my cat is more intelligent than Harry) they should have seen the connection here.
I know that this is a plot device, or it would be solved too quickly but this really does beggar belief. You'd think that B would immediately lead Harry to Black, wouldn't you? Sirius being his Godfather, and Harry owning the BLACK house, with - ooo - that handy tapestry….*headdesk*
'No,' she said sadly, 'I've been trying, Harry, but I haven't found anything ... there are a couple of reasonably well-known wizards with those initials - Rosalind Antigone Bungs
underlucius: (helpfully) Erm... Could it be Black?
... Rupert "Axebanger" Brookstanton ...
underlucius: (louder) Perhaps it's Black!!?
but they don't seem to fit at all. Judging by that note, the person who stole the Horcrux knew Voldemort, and I can't find a shred of evidence that Bungs or Axebanger ever had anything to do with him"
underlucius: (going pink with anger) Someone - a Death Eater with RB as initials?? IT'S BLACK!!!!!!!
But no. Hermione says she hasn't found anything out about the mysterious RAB, what she has to tell is about Snape, apparently.
She looked nervous even saying the name again. Snape is the new He Who Shall Not be Named! YAY!
She rubs it in (HARD) that she was half right about the Half Blood Prince and Harry takes it quite well, although he does blame Dumbledore. That made me smile.
Pure-blood mother, Muggie father ... ashamed of his parentage, trying to make himself feared using the Dark Arts, gave himself an impressive new name - Lord Voldemort - the Half-Blood Prince - how could Dumbledore have missed - ?
Because he's DUMBLE-dore, Harry. If Remus Lupin is a significant name then so is Dumbledore.
They discuss why Snape didn't turn Harry in for using the book, particularly after Sectumsempra.
'I don't think he wanted to associate himself with that book,' said Hermione. 'I don't think Dumbledore would have liked it very much if he'd known.'
Why? Doesn't the wizarding world encourage talent? That makes no sense. It seems odd that an old fashioned school like Hogwarts doesn't have a streamed system where the most talented are encouraged. Surely wizards should be taught the basis for inventing spells, and under supervision would make more sense, imho.
'And even if Snape pretended it hadn't been his, Slughorn would have recognised his writing at once. Anyway, the book was left in Snape's old classroom, and I'll bet Dumbledore knew his mother was called "Prince".'
Well DER Hermione, brightest witch in the room, specialist subject "The Bleedin' Obvious."
I would have thought that Dumbledore would be more likely to recognise Snape's writing than Slughorn, to be frank. My hand writing is unrecognisable from my 16 year old writing. And Dumbledore would (of course) have known who Snape's mother was! He's the bloody headmaster! And so would Sluggy come to that. If he nurtured Ginny for a puny bat-bogey hex he would have known about Eileen Prince and her talent at Gobstones. It's likely too, that Severus inherited his talent for potions from his mother, and Slughorn took pride in remembering people's parents.
'I'm trying to say, Harry, that you're putting too much blame on yourself.' Hermione continues.
Funny - my reading of this scene was Harry blaming everyone else.
Including you, Hermione. ("You were the one who kept telling me the book was dangerous!")
There's a morbid moment while they are all silent. Harry was sure that they, like him, were thinking about the following morning, when Dumbledore's body would be laid to rest.
He goes on to muse about how he's going to feel at the funeral. Harry had never attended a funeral before; there had been no body to bury when Sirius had died. He did not know what to expect and was a little worried about what he might see, about how he would feel.
So here we get the Harry we all know and (some of us) love; is he concerned about Ron, who is, it has to be said, rather more sensitive than the other two? Is he worried that Hermione, as a girl might need support? Is he worried about Ginny, who being younger might get upset? Of course not, this is HARRY. He's thinking about himself. As ever.
At breakfast next morning the school gathers in the Great Hall. Everyone is wearing their dress robes, which means that
Harry is probably dressed as the love child of the Pengiun and the Count from Sesame Street. VUN sausage, TWO sausage, ZREE sausage... Waaak Waaak Waaaak.
No-one is hungry apart for Ron "eat anything - anytime" Weasley who is stabbing pieces of kipper with unwonted venom.
Unwonted is rather the wrong word, he's often as grumpy as hell at breakfast. And Hi, Ron!
Harry spots Crabbe and Goyle, oddly lonely without the tall, pale figure of Malfoy between them, bossing them around. Harry had not spared Malfoy much thought. His animosity was all for Snape
Bizarre behaviour. After "obsessing" (JKR's words, not mine) over Malfoy for an entire year, and hardly giving Snape a thought, he now seems unable to hate two people at once, and even feeling the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike.
Where, Harry wondered, was Malfoy now, and what was Voldemort making him do under threat of killing him and his parents?
What's this, Harry? Empathy? And there was me thinking you spelled it with an M... Perhaps you caught it from Snape when he confronted you in the Flight chapter...)
…when they reached the Entrance Hall, they found Madam Pince standing beside Filch, she in a thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient black suit and tie reeking of mothballs.
Best ship in the book, for my money.
Tonks is happy and pink haired again, because Lurve can override any terror of losing the most powerful good wizard as has been expounded earlier. (It's a miracle, though, according to Harry, and he should know, being the Messiah.) It made me curious that she wasn't depressed though, as you think she would be, with DD dead an' all. Maybe she had a good night. *nudge nudge wink wink*
I was rather amused that the women: Tonks, (pink and strong and holding hands with poor Remus) Fleur (supporting Bill), Luna (helping Neville into a chair) were all being stronger than their men. A bit of an afterthought, methinks. And Yay for Luna/Neville!! I love them both muchly.
Harry FINALLY (again showing this Spooky Empathy Disease) feels affection for Nev/Luna.
They alone of all the DA had responded to Hermione's summons the night that Dumbledore had died, and Harry knew why: they were the ones who had missed the DA most ... probably the ones who had checked their coins regularly in the hope that there would be another meeting ...
I'm still not understanding why they didn't keep the DA on, but that's his call I guess - it's not like he'll need his friends to conquer Voldemort.
Ah.
Also, Death Eaters are at the door and you faff around with magic coins in the middle of the night? How many people are clutching coins in bed? Why not just send up red sparks or perhaps YELL?
I was furious to see Umbridge at the funeral. Another lapse into OOC-ness for Minerva as far as I'm concerned, in fact a lapse into OOC-ness for ALL the staff. All of them hated her. She made Hagrid run into exile, she nearly killed Minerva, she scarred several children for life, just for starters. Why they didn't sack her is fairly IC for a large government organisation - you stuff up bigtime, you get shuffled sideways or upstairs - but it surely was Minerva's choice to invite guests and frankly, Umbridge should NOT be there. Her very presence is offensive. If I'd been Minnie I'd have had a couple of centaurs on the gate.
We are, as it happens, reminded of Hermione's act of throwing her to the centaurs as Umbridge scurried hastily into a seat a good distance away when she sees poor inoffensive Firenze, who probably would have been horrified if he knew what she was thinking.
I, having once been an ardent fan, am now on the verge of hate for some of these books. JKR seems to portray bullying in a glamorised state - it's all right if the good guys do it, and if we bully the bad guys, we have permission to laugh at them. Sod the "messages" about fat being bad, is the message of Potter truly that bullying is All Right?
I liked the idea of a wizard's funeral though; the rather shocking way the body itself is carried to the front, rather than the more clinical idea of putting into a box.
Hermione is crying, Ginny is crying, Ron is pale and shocked. Hagrid is crying. Not Harry though. He's so manly. Perhaps he doesn't know what's going on? (judging by the way Ginny keeps having to show him where to look, it certainly seems that way.) No, no, that's silly.
Harry glanced at the back row to which Hagrid was heading and realised what was guiding him, for there, dressed in a jacket and trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the giant Grawp, his great ugly boulder-like head bowed, docile, almost human.
A ruddy BIG human. A giant-sized human! Is he a giant, do you think? Ah. Not human then, but it was very good of Harry to think "almost human." He'll be saying "some of my best friends are giants," next, I'll warrant.
Hagrid and Grawp share a comedic moment and Harry wants to laugh. How sensitive. It's bad enough that he has shamed an unwitting Hagrid at Aragog's funeral, now he almost makes a mockery of the sweet man at the funeral of the man that Hagrid loved beyond all other. Can you imagine how mortified Hagrid would have been? Nice going, Harry, you jerkwad.
When someone we've never met before (probably a member of the Wizengamot or something) stands to give the Oration, Harry gets another urge to giggle. I hate him. *stabs*
Although - Harry himself wonders what is wrong with him. Maybe there is something going on here that we don't know about - maybe somehow, Harry is carrying a piece of Dumbledore's soul. Yeah - don't ask me why - i'm the logical one.
There was a soft splashing noise to his left and he saw that the merpeople had broken the surface... Harry wondered where Dumbledore had learned Mermish. There was so much he had never asked him, so much he should have said ...
Can I say - HELL YEAH!? Where DO wizards learn languages? No universities, no languages at school, not even French or Latin (which would be helpful, don't you think?) I'd like to know, Jo, please.
And then, without warning, it swept over him, the dreadful truth, more completely and undeniably than it had until now. Dumbledore was dead, gone ...
I was right! he DIDN'T know what was going on!! Dear me. Did the 19 times it got mentioned in The Phoenix Lament not help?
It's a funeral, Harry. Dumbledore's dead, Harry. He's dead, Harry, DEAD!
And then he cries. Finally! Then, over the next paragraph or two nauseatingly, groaningly, clunkily, dreadfully, Harry Grows Up.
And Harry remembered his first nightmarish trip into the Forest, the first time he had ever encountered the thing that was then Voldemort, and how he had faced him, and how he and Dumbledore had discussed fighting a losing battle not long thereafter. It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated ...
Hmm. Not exactly what he said, Harry. This is what DD said in The Philosopher's Stone:
"He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share... not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time -- and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."
Dumbledore knew the prophecy (it sounds like he even knew about the Horcruxes) and he's telling Harry that Voldemort can be infinitely delayed. Not beaten. Interesting.
And Harry saw very clearly as be sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over.
More Growing Up as Harry realises that he's had loads of people who cared for him and he killed a few of them. Sorry, fandom, but he did.
Plus, as a personal note as a writer, this is NOT what I want in a book in terms of character development, regardless whether it's a children's book or something for adults. Harry has been through a hell of lot (der) in the books and he should have developed slowly over time, and to my eyes, he hasn't. In this book he behaves like a 3rd year, and it took someone to actually point it out to me that he was nearly 17 and I was actually shocked. I don't want him suddenly to Grow Up like he was getting an erection.
However: I digress. This introspection leads of course us to the Great and Noble Sacrifice™ he's about to make.
Small interruption here as the Table turns into the Tomb and a ghostly phoenix spirals into the sky. If this portends that she's bringing DD (phoenix animagus) back I'll be very angry indeed.
Harry and Ginny look at each other and probably Occlumensed themselves. It does sound like Occlumency though, doesn't it?
She met Harry's gaze with the same hard, blazing look that he had seen when she had hugged him after winning the Quidditch Cup in his absence, and he knew that at that moment they understood each other perfectly
Then Harry dumps Sally Ginny. She understands. It's all so... *sniff* Soooo...
Pathetic. And Pointless. Plus Ginny behaves like a 35 year old, not a 15 year old.
He uses that old chestnut that Voldemort will "find out about her" and she'll be in danger.
Horseapples Harry! Voldemort's canonical M.O. is to come after your friends and family, anyway. He'll wipe out the Weasley's one by one, then he'll take Hermione. Ginny would be safer with you than without you. Just THINK boy - THINK!!!
Or perhaps it's just a Wham Bam Thank you Ma'am speech. He is a teenage boy, after all.
'What if I don't care?' said Ginny fiercely.
'I care,' said Harry. 'How do you think I'd feel if this was your funeral ... and it was my fault ...'
He'd grieve, Ginny. For about TWO WEEKS. *coughSiriuscough*
Plus once again - this is all about HIM. Like with Dumbledore's death, it's not about Ginny dying, it's how he would feel. He's guilt tripping her, and she falls for it, as, let's be honest, if she was actually dead, she's not going to give a stuff about how he feels is she?
"I never really gave up on you,' she said. 'Not really. I always hoped ... Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more - myself.'
Okay, Rowling? Three "bits" in one paragraph? Not good. Second, I refuse to believe that Ginny developed a mature, adult love for Harry at the age of TEN, because that's not psychologically possible!
And the fact that "being a bit more myself" meant serial dating (not that there's anything wrong with that, actually) plays right into the Harmonians hands of "Oh Ginny U HOR!"
Smart girl, that Hermione,' said Harry, trying to smile. 'I just wish I'd asked you sooner. We could've had ages ... months ... years maybe ...'
If you believe THAT Ginny, you are as stupid as he is. Remember Cho? Ravenclaw Seeker he had a crush on for about three years?
Do you really believe that he would have dropped an older woman to go out with the kid?
'But you've been too busy saving the wizarding world,' said Ginny, half-laughing. 'Well ... I can't say I'm surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much.'
So you like a killer, Ginny? Can't you find yourself a nice Death Eater boyfriend? So what's she going to do when he beats Voldemort and he's got nothing to do? Help him be miserable for the rest of his life? Nothing more useless than an ex-hero, Ginny. Read "Glory Road" by Robert Heinlein for proof of that.
As gehayi pointed out to me, the thought of a 10 year old schoolgirl forming a passion at such an early age makes my skin crawl, like Fenrir and Slughorn, and flashes of Dumbledore, this is a pedo's dream. Nabokov would be proud.
The dumping complete, he leaves her by the side of the lake. Ron and Hermione are in each other's arms, comforting each other (Harry, take note, you flipping iceberg) (although there will be a group hug in the movie, mark my words.)
Rufus Scrimgeour was limping rapidly towards him around the bank, leaning on his walking stick.
Ah - here comes the Police! Harry's going to be questioned about Dumbledore's death at last!
"What do you want?' asked Harry flatly.
Play nice with the very powerful policeman, Harry. There's no Dumbledore to keep you out of Azkaban now.
Scrimgeour stopped too, leaned on his stick and stared at Harry, his expression shrewd now.
'The word is that you were with him when he left the school the night that he died.'
Here it comes…. "You do not have to say anything if you do not want to but anything you do say will be taken down and used in evidence…."
'Whose word?' said Harry.
'Somebody Stupefied a Death Eater on top of the Tower after Dumbledore died. There were also two broomsticks up there. The Ministry can add two and two, Harry.'
Hahaha!! Silly Scrimgeour! Surely he means The Ministry can add one and one?
'Glad to hear it,' said Harry. 'Well, where I went with Dumbledore and what we did is my business. He didn't want people to know.'
underlucius: *Aghast* Call this reading him his rights? Call this interrogation? This boy should be in thumbscrews!
Unbelievably Harry refuses to speak. Or rather, not unbelievably, as he's actually acting in character here, for a change, but unbelievably, the Ministry don't appear to have any powers to interrogate. I mean, Dumbledore was murdered. Evidently the Ministry knows this, and who did it, and yet they've made no attempt to question Harry or any of his friends who were witnesses to the night in question. Sheesh. Considering they throw people into prison for the flimsiest of suspicions (Hagrid may possibly have a monster, Shunpike may possibly be a Death Eater even though he hasn't got a mark and several free men have, Sirius locked away and the key thrown away with no trial,) then Harry should be under arrest, at the very least while they conduct their investigations. For all they know, he could have been in collusion - and by the way they've treated him before, this would be totally in character.
The Muggle police would have been swarming over the castle with dogs and fingerprint brigades. Evidently wizards only need "hearsay" (3rd party verbal information) to start the search for Snape. Hearsay is not viable evidence in Muggle courts, btw.
The remainder of the book is more of Harry Growing Up, declaring his continued loyalty for Dumbledore yada yada.
Scrim stomps off, unsatisfied, to where Percy and the rest of the Ministry delegation waiting for him, casting nervous glances at the sobbing Hagrid and Grawp
Although I don't understand why Grawp was crying, although he could be upset that Hagger is, I guess.
Reunion of the Trio and Harry tells them that he's not going back to school, and then, in response to Hermione's question:
"But then what will you do?"
He says that he's going back to the Dursleys, to get a little more of that ol' blood protection, although he masks it under it being something Dumbledore wanted him to do then ….
'I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow,' Harry muttered. He had had the idea in his head ever since the night of Dumbledore's death. 'For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves....'
underlucius: gives up the will to live*
I'm not even going to comment on how he thinks he's going to find the Horcruxes, as that's up to the next sporkfodder book. But Dobby on a Rope - it's taken him SIX years to want to visit the graves of his parents.
Six years.
If this one sentence doesn't sum up the utter self-centred git that is Harry Potter, I don't know what else does.
"I'd like that."
Once more, it's all about Him.
But then, I guess it is. After all, the series is called "Harry Potter and the…" isn't it?