Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
1. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm note entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery" (454). This is one of the very few things we have heard in the entirety of the series yet about Dumbledore's family, and it's a funny detail, isn't it? It seems that Dumbledore comes from a wizarding family if his brother was aquainted with inappropriate goat charms. But it also seems like the rest of Dumbledore's family isn't as intelligent as he is. An illiterate wizard practicing inappropriate charms on a goat? That sounds to me like the wizarding equivalent of a redneck.
2. GoF sets the stage for Dumbledore being too trustworthy in ways I didn't realize before HBP. When Hagrid is crying about being half-giant, he says, "Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gameskeeper job . . . trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances . . . tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent" (455). Yes, that whole "trusting people" and "giving them second chances" stuff is what ends up getting him killed. Also interesting about him accepting anyone at Hogwarts. After all, one might argue that the biggest mistake he made was accepting Riddle and giving him a magical education-- trusting him when he seemed so, well, untrustworthy what with the stealing, lying, and torturing other children and small animals. Later on, Moody says to Snape, "'Course Dumbledore trusts you . . . He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me-- I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?' Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand as though something on it had hurt him" (472). Interesting! First of all, this again highlights Dumbledore's impulse to trust and give second chances. This is also particularly interesting because "Moody" here is actually Barty Crouch, Jr. aka Voldemort's faithful servant at Hogwarts. So, what is he getting at here? The "spots that never come off" that he refers to are obviously the dark marks emblazoned on the Death Eaters' forearms. Is he indicating that once you're a Death Eater-- like Snape was-- that you're never not a Death Eater? Or is he incredulous at Snape for switching sides when he still bears Voldemort's mark-- is Snape one of dark Wizards BC Jr hates because he gave up his convinctions rather than went to Azkaban for Voldemort?
3. More on the "Is Snape good or evil?" front. Hermione says Dumbledore trusts Snape. "'Oh give it a rest, Hermione,' said Ron impatiently. 'I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everythingm but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him' . . . 'I think they've both got a point,' said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. 'Ever since I foudn out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was . . . Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in the seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters . . . But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater-- not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enouch to keep himself out of trouble'" (530-531).One thing in particular that interests me about this is that Sirius seems to think that Snape was never accused of being a Death Eater . . . but he was. During Karkaroff's trial (which Sirius does have knowledge of), Karkaroff accuses Snape. Crouch responds, "Snape has been cleared by this council . . . he has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore." Karkaroff then replies, "No! . . . I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!" (590). This wasn't a closed court room, so to speak. A lot of people were there. Sirius knows that Karkaroff was tried. So why didn't he know that Snape was ever accused? Also, either Snape really is still a Death Eater, or he's doing a superb job at fooling everyone.
4. The beginnings of the Order of the Phoenix. Of course we see the order beginning in the infirmary at the end of the novel when Fudge refuses to believe that Voldemort has returned and Dumbledore immediately rallies the good guys. But we even see the beginnings of the order a little before that. I remember reading on JKR's web site that members of the order communicate with one another using their patronuses, but I couldn't remember that ever happening. However, When Krum/Crouch are attacked outside the forbidden forest, "He [Dumbledore] raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Harry saw something silvery dary out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird" (560). The phoenix is Dumbledore's patronus (also from JKR's web site), and he obviously uses it here to communicate with Hagrid.
5. I'm trying to piece together exactly who the Death Eaters are. What I mean is, how many have been mentioned, how many do we know, and how many are left? At Barty Crouch, Jr's trial, "Six dementors entered this time, flanking a group of four people . . . there was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman wiht thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified . . . the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, 'The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" (594-596). The scared looking boy is BC Jr. I assume the woman and one man are the Lestranges. When Voldemort rises in the graveyard, he surveys the circle and says, "The Lestranges should stand here . . . but they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me" (650). Who is the other man at BC Jr's trial? Furthermore, as Voldemort continues to survey the circle, he says, "And here we have six missing Death Eaters . . . three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return . . . he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever . . . he will be killed, of course . . . and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service" (651).Who are these people? And more importantly, where does Snape fit in? I've read arguments for Snape being the "most faithful servant," but people who make this argument are obviously shitty argument makers who don't care about context as the subsequent dialogue makes it clear that Voldemort is speaking about BC Jr here. That leaves the "one too cowardly to return" and the one "who I believe has left me forever." Is Snape one of these? Who is the other? Where does Regulus fit in?
6. I was pissed off at JKR in HBP because I thought there was no basis for Bill and Fleur's relationship. Au contraire: "Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them" (616).
7. On Horcruci (I will be using that as the plural from now on): here are a slew of quotes from Voldemort's speal to his Death Eaters in the graveyard that I find interesting.
- "And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to gaurd myself agains mortal death?" (648). The "they" he is talking about here (from context) is his followers, the Death Eaters. After reading HBP, it's clear that these "steps . . . to gaurd myself against mortal death" are the horcruci he's created. And this makes it seem like his followers knew about them: "they, who knew the steps I took." Interesting.
- "I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost . . . but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know . . . I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads toward immortality. You know my goal-- to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked . . . for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it" (653). I find it interesting that Voldemort has obviously taken steps toward immortality-- in act, he believes he's gone further than anyone else in achieving immortality-- but he doesn't actually seem to have a clear idea of how the horcruci he's created work. Although he had already created multiple horcruci (he mentions "experiments," plural), he doesn't seem to understand how it is that he came to be alive or what form he was in after he "died." It's also interesting that he says, "it appeared that one of more of my experiments had worked" because it sounds as though he's tried to create several horcruci, but he doesn't actually know if he's been successful or how they will work.
- Voldemort describes how he finally returned to his body. He mentions Quirrell (although not by name) and says that Quirrell died when he left his body, and he "was left as weak as ever I had been . . . I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers . . . and then, not even a year ago, when I had alomst abandoned hope, it happened at last . . . a servant returned to me." He continues speaking about Wormtail. Notice that he skips the entirety of CoS, which answers a question brought up in HBP-- it doesn't seem that Voldemort can tell when a horcrux is destroyed. This could be very useful to Harry in DH.
8. My theory on the much-discussed "gleam of triumph." "'He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's . . . He said the protection my-- my mother left in me-- he'd have it too. And he was right-- he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face.' For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes" (696). My theory is that there is something important about Harry's blood that will come to be important in defeating Voldemort in DH. When Harry and Dumbledore are trying to enter the cave in HBP and Dumbledore realizes the door demands a payment of blood to enter, Harry offers his. Dumbledore refuses and says something about his blood being far too valuable. I think the value of Harry's blood is something Dumbledore must have suspected all the way back in GoF, and the fact that Voldemort could touch Harry after using his blood in the potion validated whatever supposition he had made about Harry's blood. Perhaps this will even tie into those 12 uses for dragon's blood that Dumbledore is famous for-- perhaps whatever he supposed about Harry's blood grew from the previous work he had done with Dragon's blood.
