Chapter 25 to 30
- Ginny leaning against Harry's legs as they both make fun of Ron show both the comfortable physicality of the relationship, and ofc, the way Ginny feeds the joke to Harry's set up shows how in tune they are with each other.
- Hermione telling Harry off for distracting Ginny because she is supposed to be studying for exams: full older sister energy.
- ' the truth is you don't think a girl would have been clever enough' 'how can i have hung around with you for five years and not think girls are clever?' love this exchange between harry and hermione. XD
- The author loves to make Trelawney half right. The lightning struck tower card she keeps pulling is the title of the chapter Dumbledore dies.
- We have seen Hermione step back in face of Harry's anger, but the other suggestion that he is kind of frightening is when Harry angrily asks Trelawney to stay where she was (post hearing who told the prophecy to Voldemort), she looks alarmed.
- 'boiling with anger at Snape, his desire to do something risky had increased ten fold': this is Sirius' godson alright.
- I must say, it says a lot about Harry's newfound control that he wasnt willing to talk about Snape until Dumbledore pushed him. He has to pace the room to keep himself from shouting and knocking over things. This also speaks to the respect Harry has for Dumbledore and their newely repaired relationship post year 5.
- Harry being upset actually upsets Dumbledore enough to consider telling him of Snape's true loyalties. His rational mind wins over, the one that thinks about war - and he just ends the discussion with how he trusts Snape without offering the explanation.
- Harry struggling with the idea that there may be a time he has to leave Dumbledore and save himself - this boy is so traumatised that with adults he likes, he cant trust them to take care of themselves. A combination of abandonment issues and just inability to not do.
- Harry doesnt agree with Dumbledore: so he marshals Ron and Hermione, asks them to check Marauaders Map and rustle up DA coins, gives them Felix Felicis.
- "I'll be fine, I'm with Dumbledore" a parallel to "I'm not worried Harry, I'm with you"
- there is a lovely, haunting atmosphere from the get go, the black rocks and moonlit sea. You can picture it vividly. (especially when Dumbledore and Harry swim inside the cave)
- The speculation of what Tom Riddle did with the kids at the orphanage: dumbledore theorises it is the journey to the cave itself. (I had a pet theory that he used parseltongue around them, since he mentioned that snakes found him on the trip to countryside)
- Like the chamber of secrets which goes underground, under the lake, the set piece of HBP also goes under ground and in water. Voldemort's mother's locket lies in the basin, and that adds to archetypal imagery of this. (The author lays it thick with all word usages like 'penetrating' the cave defenses, 'cleaving' the silken water)
- 'Your blood is worth more than mine' - there is a double meaning here, of Dumbledore's theory of Voldemort resurrecting his living body with Harry's blood, and how it will tie Harry to life while containing the power to redeem Voldemort's soul.
- Harry's genuinely scared of the place: its silence is unnerving, darkness is oppressive and he can sense, like Dumbledore can, the presence of dark magic.
- 'Voldemort would never have expected a sixteen-year-old to reach this place' - this bites him when Regulus reaches this place with a house elf.
- 'he found the idea that there were bodies floating around them and beneath them horrible' Harry secretly freaked out by Voldemort's defenses. His fear is so palpable this chapter and is the only time he cannot think clearly in crisis. (forgetting about using fire against Inferi when Dumbledore told him earlier in chapter. No wonder he could not talk about this episode properly with Ron and Hermione)
- Dumbledore drinking the Drink of Despair is laden with Gethsemane imagery: Dumbledore drinks from the 'cup of judgement' and causes him intensely painful visions. (In his case, of his own sin - his responsibility and guilt in Ariana's death).
- 'Hating himself, repulsed by what he was doing' - this sentence is important because there is a parallel with the expression on Snape's face as he kills Dumbledore. Dumbledore's lost boys indeed.
- 'Don’t hurt them, don’t hurt them, please, please, it’s my fault, hurt me instead …’ - ah this really hits, knowing his backstory in DH.
- More gethsemane imagery: Dumbledore's first words when awoken "water" - "i thirst".
- 'but taller than any': JKR does not care about consistent heights, she only uses heights to show power in the scene/ power dynamic. The emphasis on Dumbledore looking pale but taller than Inferi is a pattern from whenever she draws attention to height.
- ‘I am not worried, Harry,’ said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. ‘I am with you.’ --- Dumbledore transfers the mantle of power to Harry here and this hits :(
- Dumbledore means safety to Harry: the moment Dumbledore shows weakness, shows exhaustion, Harry feels horror and fear. A true child growing up and realising that safety blanket of theirs is gone.
- Madam Rosmerta has silk dressing gown embroidered with dragons. The style on this woman.
- would he be responsible, again, for the death of a friend? - Harry's feelings about Cedric and Sirius bleeding into this sentence.
- Draco disarms Dumbledore and becomes the master of the elder wand.
- Even though Draco disarms Dumbledore, you can tell he feels the weight of the situation where he dilly dallys what he needs to do. Dumbledore immediately clocks it when he smiles, "you're not killer"
- Shoving Montague into a cabinet, an echo of careless cruelty by Fred and George/ indifference by our heroes and how it sparks an idea for Malfoy. (JKR also makes a point of this by Ron lamenting that Malfoy bought Peruvian Instant Darkness powder from them)
- Malfoy who, bizarrely, seemed to draw courage and comfort from Dumbledore’s praise. - this boy definitely needs a father figure. He tried all year to prove himself an adult, and reveals, quite plainly, just how wounded he is from his father's imprisonment.
- Malfoy lurking around and getting ideas from Hermione: the enchanted coins (which is NEWT level magic and said to be impressive, Dramione shippers rejoice) + Filch not recognising potions.
- ‘Someone’s dead,’ said Malfoy and his voice seemed to go up an octave - a parallel from Harry's voice getting high in the cave - to indicate how absolutely terrified he is.
- The moment Dumbledore makes Draco feel safe and comforted with praise, he gets a bit of confidence/bravado even after Dumbledore offers him options. "I got here this far, didnt i? and you’re in my power … I’m the one with the wand … you’re at my mercy'
- The leader of the Order of phoenix reminds him who truly is at power, at all times: 'It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now.' (meta to expand on chapter)
- Malfoy, who has just been about to take Dumbledore's options by lowering his wand, reveals that he didnt know that greyback was going to come and is absolutely terrfied of him. (You can see how much of the beginning of the book, where he threatens Borgin with greyback, was a performance)
- Fenrir greyback is hired for brutality, but is clearly thrown around by Death eaters using their wands, which enrages him.
- ' there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.' - parallel to harry's revulsion and hatred when he was feeding Dumbledore the drink. It affected harry enough that he doesnt talk about it with Ron and hermione - it is the same with Snape in DH. The death of Dumbledore at his hand has a profound effect on him.
- These three set of chapters cannot be rivalled in their intensity. From the eerieness of the cave, to the tower scene and now the climax.
- the entire lead up to Harry running after Snape, pushing people out of the way, having no time to answer Ginny, pushing off Greyback, all of this builds up to the moment Harry meets Snape and SO MUCH is going on in this scene. Harry uses crucio and incarcerous against Snape, but that doesnt affect him. But the moment harry uses his own spells against him - sectumsempra, Snape's face changes into rage, even as he deflects the spell.
- When he tries to use Levicorpus, Snape screams and pushes Harry magically backwards- "No Potter!": Levicorpus specifically has been used against him, as we see in SWM.
- '‘Kill me, then,’ panted Harry, who felt no fear at all, but only rage and contempt. ‘Kill me like you killed him, you coward –’ : There is an interesting ambiguity in this scene, where Harry thinks of himself as wandless and defenceless as Dumbledore, and they were just talking about James and harry knows of Snape's complicity in the prophecy. So 'kill me like you killed him' - is Harry damning him as killer of both Dumbledore and his own father (and by extension, Lily).
- ‘DON’T –’ screamed Snape, and his face was suddenly demented, inhuman, as though he was in as much pain as the yelping, howling dog stuck in the burning house behind them, ‘– CALL ME COWARD!’ - Snape's face is referried to as demented/inhuman/animal like in DH when he is mourning Lily in Dumbledore;s office, when he wishes he could be dead.
- Harry labeling his as a coward after Snape does what is possibly an act of self immolation and sacrifice for the cause is also one of the reasons Harry calls him 'bravest man I never knew'. It is a reference to this scene.
- Snape hits harry magically in this scene (similar to how Remus hits Harry magically in Deathly hallows after being called a coward). Also a scene where James Potter is invoked.
- Harry trying to feel if fang is alive :(
-the sequence of hagrid and harry approaching Dumbledore's body is so beautifully written
- Love how sensory aspects are very integral part of Harry-Ginny relationship: where Harry can obey the pressure of Ginny's hand without really thinking about it, he is so numb that he recognises whose hand he was holding by the trace of her scent in the air. There is also a reference to his awareness of her physicality: 'he could feel Ginny move beside him' when she was watching Fleur.
- Ron and Ginny's reactions to Bill - Ginny who is stoically telling Harry what they have to do, clearly she is trying to keep it together but her voice trembles. And Ron just staring at Bill hoping by looking at him he can turn back time.
- The last of Remus' safety blankets from his childhood, the father figure, is gone and Remus loses control. Harry is so attuned to the fact that Remus maintains a performance of control that he looks away in the moment of his vulnerability. Not only is Remus grieving, he allows himself to question Dumbledore's judgement ('and dumbledore believed that?') - something he berated Harry for doing earlier in the book.
- Fawkes' lament. ❤️ In keeping with allegory of the books, Fawkes song offers comfort to Dumbledore's mourners/believers. (Meta for reference)
- Dumbledore's death (and Snape killing him) cracked McGonagall's facade. She is also extremely vulnerable this chapter: expressing grief and confusion and horror.
- Draco buying Instant Darkness Powder from Fred and George lol. And also the Vanishing Cabinets idea from the Montague incident. I love how the plot of this book relies on actions of Fred and George. Complacency is bad, folks.
- Who says Harry isnt smart? He is literally the only one among the Order who posits that you need a Dark Mark to cross the barrier the Death Eaters created towards the Astronomy Tower.
- Molly kissing Bill's bloodied face got me:(
- Ginny doesnt trust Fleur at all, the way she is intently watching Fleur, expecting her to break her brother's heart XD (she is not alone in feeling that - both she and Hermione exchange startled looks when Molly and Fleur hug)
- "I'm good looking enough for both of us" is iconic. I love that Molly offers Fleur her version of an apology for misjudging who she thought she is - the offer of getting goblin made tiara fromn Aunt Muriel.
- also Bill is so cool that even Aunt Muriel likes him.
- So my feelings about the hospital scene is less romantic and more illustrative of dysfunction of Remus and Tonks and the problems that will follow them in Deathly Hallows. It's a band aid rather than a fix - because the scene shows them both ignoring what the other needs. Remus is clearly going through a grief breakdown - his own last protector is dead. Tonks, after a year of being stonewalled by him and dismissed, is desperate enough to barrel through at the time to be taken seriously. ( i am going to rec @evesaintyves work here which i think captures the underlying tension of the scene )
- 'dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think there was little more love in the world' clearly, minerva, you have not heard of the great grindeldore break up.
- Love that Harry is at stage where he is attending staff meeting and giving his inputs lol.
- The chapter ends with Harry's awareness that Fawkes had stopped singing and had left the school. The song adds to the atmosphere of the chapter, since Harry hears it in corridors as well.
- Once Seamus' loyalty is won (to Harry, to Dumbledore), he is in for keeps. Given last year where he disbelieved Harry and Dumbledore on his mother's words, he is now having shouting matches in Great Hall so he can attend Dumbledore's funeral.
- Maxime x Hagrid going strong I see. I really like the fact that Maxime did a mission for Dumbledore (as part of his envoys for giants when she was clearly uncomfortable with her heritage in beginning of GOF) and she attends his funeral and is devastated enough to need Hagrid's comfort. There is a very interesting story here.
- Hour by hour Harry puts off breaking up with Ginny, and hour by hour, she is aware that it is happening (' i knew this would happen') and the implication that she hasn't been sleeping well since whatever happened.
- Fleur finding a silver lining because Bill now likes raw steaks: "British overcook their meat." XD
- "Do you have to rub it in Hermione? How do you think I feel about that now?" XD forever endeared Harry just expresses his irritation now instead of avoiding her. (also Hermione trying to take away some of the self blame Harry had by pointing out the book with teenage Snape's spells is not 'evil' , just someone with nasty sense of humour)
- Harry drawing parallels between Voldemort and Snape, something he will later on include himself in DH. 'The abandoned boys'.
- Pince x Filch, lesssgoo.
- Hagrid as the one who carries Dumbledore and Harry's seemingly dead bodies. The carrier of those moving between worlds.
- 'the last and the greatest of his protectors had died':(
- the imagery of smoke phoenix flying joyfully into the blue as Dumbledore's body is encased within a tomb though:(
- Harry looking away from Ginny earlier in the scene when he cried about Dumbledore, Ginny looking away from him when she admits that she never really gave up on him. The way they both have problems with being vulnerable.
- The way Ginny lets him go the moment he says, "I care.. what if this was your funeral and it was my fault". Ginny lets him go to ease his own guilt and pain.
- Harry repeating "What do you want?" at scrimgeour as he tries and fails to give expressions of sorrow xD
- Invoking the God image of Dumbledore early in series - "he will only be gone from school when none here are loyal to him". Also callback to CoS where Dumbledore says this, which this book mirrors.
- - Both hermione and ginny cottoning on to Harry's feelings: of his focus on destroying Voldemort and how she guessed he won't come back.
- Harry - Ron and Hermione under the beech tree where they had happier times :heart: also the beech tree Marauders sat under in the memory. "We'll be there Harry," Ron and Hermione's declaration here really moves me. Especially Hermione calling back to Philosopher's Stone: "You've said to us once before - that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"
- golden day of peace to enjoy with Ron and Hermione T_T
