Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Ch 4-5

Harry Potter and the First Time Readers

Chapter 4 - The Seven Potters

Q1 - What did you think this chapter initially meant?

• It gave him an odd, empty feeling to remember those times; it was like remembering a younger brother whom he had lost.
• Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas, remembering how he used to wake every morning looking up at the underside of the staircase, which was more often than not adorned with a spider or two. Those had been the days before he had known anything about his true identity; before he had found out how his parents had died or why such strange things often happened around him. But Harry could still remember the dreams that had dogged him, even in those days: confused dreams involving flashes of green light and once — Uncle Vernon had nearly crashed the car when Harry had recounted it — a flying motorbike . . .

Q2 - Is there anything else about that flash of green light you think is important?

• Harry’s heart seemed to expand and glow at the sight: He felt incredibly fond of all of them, even Mundungus, whom he had tried to strangle the last time they had met.
• “You got married?” Harry yelped, looking from her to Lupin. “I’m sorry you couldn’t be there, Harry, it was very quiet.” “That’s brilliant, congrat —” “All right, all right, we’ll have time for a cozy catch-up later!”

Q3 - What do you think of Lupin and Tonks getting married?

• “So this time, when you leave, there’ll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We’re choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-KnowWho to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen.

Q4 - What would your plan be to get Harry out safely?

• From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud. There was no need for him to say another word; Harry understood the rest of the plan immediately. “No!” he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. “No way!” “I told them you’d take it like this,” said Hermione with a hint of complacency. “If you think I’m going to let six people risk their lives — !” “— because it’s the first time for all of us,” said Ron. “This is different, pretending to be me —” “Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry,” said Fred earnestly. “Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever.” Harry did not smile.

Q5 - Jenn you mentioned this is unsafe in that Harry doesn’t even know who they are? Are any of them using polyjuice here to cover themselves up?

• They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother’s charm holds, but it’s about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can’t split himself into seven.” Harry caught Hermione’s eye and looked away at once. “So, Potter — some of your hair, if you please.”

Q6 - What would the harm be in telling everyone about Voldemort's Horcruxes?

• Harry dropped the hair into the mudlike liquid. The moment it made contact with its surface, the potion began to froth and smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold.

Q7 - Any significance of it turning gold here?

• When he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front of him. Fred and George turned to each other and said together, “Wow — we’re identical!” “I dunno, though, I think I’m still better-looking,” said Fred, examining his reflection in the kettle. “Bah,” said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, “Bill, don’t look at me — I’m ’ideous.”

Q8 - How about the slight dig that Fleur gives here?

Q9 - Who would you want guarding you if you were one of the seven potters?

• The broomstick spun to earth, but he just managed to seize the strap of his rucksack and the top of the cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. A second’s relief, and then another burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of the cage. “No — NO!” The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed hooded Death Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle. “Hedwig — Hedwig —” But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of her cage.

Q10 - How do you feel about Hedwig’s death?

• Harry saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike — Stan — “Expelliarmus!” Harry yelled. “That’s him, it’s him, it’s the real one!” The hooded Death Eater’s shout reached Harry even above the thunder of the motorbike’s engine: Next moment, both pursuers had fallen back and disappeared from view.

Q11 - Is Stan Shunpike an actual Death Eater?

Q12 - Why has Expelliarmus become Harry’s calling card?

• Harry felt the bike drop a little, though the lights down on the ground still seemed remote as stars. Then the scar on his forehead burned like fire; as a Death Eater appeared on either side of the bike, two Killing Curses missed Harry by millimeters, cast from behind — And then Harry saw him. Voldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his snakelike face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again —

Q13 - How terrifying is this scene?

• It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort was; he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, “Avada —” As the pain from Harry’s scar forced his eyes shut, his wand acted of its own accord. He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury. The remaining Death Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, “No!”: Somehow, Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire button. He punched it with his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling straight toward the ground.

Q14 - How did this happen?

• He felt Voldemort before he saw him. Looking sideways, he stared into the red eyes and was sure they would be the last thing he ever saw: Voldemort preparing to curse him once more — And then Voldemort vanished. Harry looked down and saw Hagrid spread-eagled on the ground below him. He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting him, groped for the brake, but with an earsplitting, ground-trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy pond.

Q15 - How good of an ending is this chapter and the title of the next…

Chapter 5 - Fallen Warrior

Q1 - How convinced were you that this was Hagrid?

• No sooner had Mrs. Weasley bent over her son than Lupin grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently, back into the kitchen, where Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through the back door. “Oi!” said Hagrid indignantly. “Le’ go of him! Le’ go of Harry!” Lupin ignored him. “What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?” he said, giving Harry a small shake. “Answer me!” “A — a grindylow in a tank, wasn’t it?” Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard. “Wha’ was tha’ about?” roared Hagrid. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I had to check,” said Lupin tersely. “We’ve been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor.”

Q1 - Who was the betrayer?

• “So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?” said Harry angrily. “Of course not,” said Lupin, “but the Death Eaters — frankly, most people! — would have expected you to attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!”

Q2 - Why is Harry so defensive of Stan?

• “The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?” “ ‘Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,’ ” said Lupin calmly.

Q3 - What does Dumbledore mean by this?

• Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred and their father’s arrival, George stirred. “How do you feel, Georgie?” whispered Mrs. Weasley. George’s fingers groped for the side of his head. “Saintlike,” he murmured. “What’s wrong with him?” croaked Fred, looking terrified. “Is his mind affected?” “Saintlike,” repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. “You see . . . I’m holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?”
• “Ron was great,” said Tonks warmly, relinquishing her hold on Lupin. “Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to the head, and when you’re aiming at a moving target from a flying broom —” “You did?” said Hermione, gazing up at Ron with her arms still around his neck. “Always the tone of surprise,” he said a little grumpily, breaking free. “Are we the last back?”

Q4 - Did Ron kill someone?

• Lupin nodded. With a wave to the others, Kingsley walked away into the darkness toward the gate. Harry thought he heard the faintest pop as Kingsley Disapparated just beyond the Burrow’s boundaries.

Q5 - Confirmation Kingsley’s got a small butt?

• Mrs. Weasley ran forward, but the hug Bill bestowed upon her was perfunctory. Looking directly at his father, he said, “Mad-Eye’s dead.”

Q6 - What are your thoughts on Mad-Eye’s death?

• She glared around at them all, tear tracks still etched on her beautiful face, silently daring any of them to contradict her. Nobody did. The only sound to break the silence was that of Hagrid hiccuping from behind his handkerchief. Harry glanced at Hagrid, who had just risked his own life to save Harry’s — Hagrid, whom he loved, whom he trusted, who had once been tricked into giving Voldemort crucial information in exchange for a dragon’s egg. . . . “No,” Harry said aloud, and they all looked at him, surprised: The firewhisky seemed to have amplified his voice. “I mean . . . if somebody made a mistake,” Harry went on, “and let something slip, I know they didn’t mean to do it. It’s not their fault,” he repeated, again a little louder than he would usually have spoken. “We’ve got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don’t think anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort.”

Q7 - Is Harry foolish to be saying this?

• The rest of them now dropped into chairs, all except for Harry, who remained standing. The suddenness and completeness of death was with them like a presence. “I’ve got to go too,” said Harry. Ten pairs of startled eyes looked at him. “Don’t be silly, Harry,” said Mrs. Weasley. “What are you talking about?”

Q8 - Is Harry and idiot?

• “No,” said Harry. “The bike was falling, I couldn’t have told you where Voldemort was, but my wand spun in my hand and found him and shot a spell at him, and it wasn’t even a spell I recognized. I’ve never made gold flames appear before.”

Q9 - What spell did Harry perform?

• And then, out of nowhere, the pain in his scar peaked. As he clutched his forehead and closed his eyes, a voice screamed inside his head. “You told me the problem would be solved by using another’s wand!” And into his mind burst the vision of an emaciated old man lying in rags upon a stone floor, screaming, a horrible, drawn-out scream, a scream of unendurable agony. . . . “No! No! I beg you, I beg you. . . .” “You lied to Lord Voldemort, Ollivander!” “I did not. . . . I swear I did not. . . .” “You sought to help Potter, to help him escape me!” “I swear I did not. . . . I believed a different wand would work. . . .” “Explain, then, what happened. Lucius’s wand is destroyed!” “I cannot understand. . . . The connection . . . exists only . . . between your two wands. . . .” “Lies!” “Please . . . I beg you. . . .” And Harry saw the white hand raise its wand and felt Voldemort’s surge of vicious anger, saw the frail old man on the floor writhe in agony — “Harry?” It was over as quickly as it had come:

Q10 - What is going on here? Is Olivander lying?

• “But it was supposed to have stopped! Your scar — it wasn’t supposed to do this anymore! You mustn’t let that connection open up again — Dumbledore wanted you to close your mind!” When he did not reply, she gripped his arm. “Harry, he’s taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and half the Wizarding world! Don’t let him inside your head too!”

Q11 - Did Voldemort want Harry to see this?