Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 10
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Chapter 10 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Kreacher's Tale
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[edit] Synopsis
Harry awakens in the early hours, pondering the daunting task Albus Dumbledore gave him and the tales about Albus's young life. Bored, he explores the mansion. On the second landing, the room previously used by Ron and Harry has been searched, presumably by Death Eaters. Sirius Black's room on the next floor has also been searched, and, amid the mess, Harry finds stray sheets of paper, including a handwritten letter from his mother to Sirius thanking him for the broomstick he gave Harry for his first birthday. There is also a photo that shows baby Harry riding the broomstick, although Lily's image has been torn away. The letter's second page is missing, but the first one mentions Bathilda Bagshot, a famous wizard historian who often visits, and that Dumbledore borrowed James Potter's Invisibility Cloak. The letter ends halfway through Lily's sentence saying that she is, surprised that Dumbledore... Harry searches unsuccessfully for the second page.
Hermione enters, and Harry shows her what he found. He immediately wants to go to Godric's Hollow to meet Bathilda Bagshot and ask about his parents and the Dumbledore family, but Hermione discourages this. As they head down the stairs, Harry notices a sign on a room with Regulus Black's full name; it matches the initials R.A.B. on the note found inside the fake Locket Horcrux. Convinced it must be the same person, Hermione calls Ron. She opens the locked door, and they hunt for Slytherin's Locket, but find nothing. Hermione suddenly remembers seeing a locket in the drawing room when it was being cleaned during their previous stay. Harry recalls that no one was able to open it, and it was tossed it away, along with the soporific music box and Wartcap powder. Harry suspects that Kreacher, the Black family House-elf who was continually retrieving discarded items, may have hidden it in his kitchen cupboard. They rush to the kitchen, but the Locket is not there.
Harry summons Kreacher, who says that Mundungus Fletcher stole the Locket and also tells them about his old master, Regulus Black. When Voldemort required a House-elf, Regulus gave him Kreacher. Voldemort took him to a lake and forced him to drink a potion that made him think horrible thoughts. Voldemort put a locket into the empty basin and refilled it with more potion. Kreacher, abandoned and in misery, crawled to the lake's shore to drink and was pulled under the surface. However, Kreacher returned to his master as he had been ordered to.
Regulus, who finally rejected Voldemort's beliefs, apparently learned that the Locket was a Horcrux and had Kreacher take him to where it was hidden. He ordered Kreacher to force him to drink all the potion, and, once the basin was emptied, replace the real Locket with a fake one. Kreacher was then to take and destroy the real Locket. Regulus drank all the potion in the basin, then went to the water's edge to drink and was pulled under by Inferi. Kreacher took the Locket, but was unable to destroy it. Because Regulus had ordered Kreacher never to reveal anything to his family, Kreacher alone knew Regulus' fate. And here, Kreacher, distraught over failing his master, bursts into sobs.
Harry, though he remains upset at the role Kreacher played in Sirius' death, is bothered more by Voldemort exploiting Kreacher. Hermione says House-elves are used to brutal treatment, so he never resented how Voldemort abused him. Also, from Kreacher's perspective, Sirius betrayed the Black family by leaving home. The Trio's next step is finding the Locket. Harry wins Kreacher's allegiance by telling him that their mission is to destroy the Locket, as Regulus wanted. When he gives Kreacher the substitute locket left in the basin, Kreacher is so overcome by being given a Black family heirloom that it takes over half an hour for him to calm down. Harry then orders the elf to fetch Mundungus. Kreacher Disapparates to find him.
[edit] Analysis
This chapter is particularly revealing regarding the Trio's Horcrux quest, although Harry's relationship to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, the house he inherited from Sirius Black, should also be examined. While the house provides the Trio a safe haven, and Harry was happy here during his brief visits with Sirius, he does not consider it home, nor does he now find it comforting; instead, its murky, decaying interior is filled with sad reminders of Harry's lost godfather who endured his own unhappy childhood there. Like the fugitive Sirius, who was long confined inside while hiding from the Ministry, Harry finds the residence to be as much a grim prison as it is a protective refuge. Even its name reflects its bleakness. The Trio must also contend with Kreacher, the belligerent House-elf Harry also inherited, and the fanatical Mrs. Black's screaming portrait. As depressing as Grimmauld Place might be, however, for now, it is secure and comfortable. And apparating there has also yielded a fortuitous, if unexpected, result: a clue leading to a Horcrux.
Although many readers correctly guessed his identity, one of the most intriguing mysteries in the series, who is R.A.B., is finally definitively solved. Regulus Arcturus Black is arguably the most important unseen character in the series. Like Draco Malfoy, Regulus quickly learned that being a Death Eater required far more unpleasantness than he had ever imagined or was capable of providing. And once recruited, there is no leaving the Dark Lord's service alive. Unable to escape with his life, Regulus instead devised the plan to steal what he clearly believed to be Voldemort's single Horcrux, knowing he would be killed in the process, but dying in the belief that he had outwitted the Dark Lord.
More is also learned about Regulus' and Kreacher's characters, their relationship with each other, to Voldemort, and what motivated them. Until now, the fanatically faithful Black family House-elf has been seen only as a rather nasty and unpleasant servant who is forced by circumstance to serve Harry, and who, if possible, would probably use any means to expose him to Voldemort. Not only does Kreacher's story explain how Regulus recovered the Locket Horcrux, but it also spotlights the callous ill-treatment the wizarding world inflicts upon enslaved House-elves, and what little regard there is for their well-being or personal rights. Harry remains conflicted over Kreacher, angry that he betrayed Sirius to Voldemort, but also sympathetic to how the House-elf was exploited by the Dark Lord. Hermione explains that House-elves expect to be mistreated, and Harry comes to understand that they are hapless pawns, often abused and misused at their master's discretion. The name "Kreacher" implies that he and other House-elves are considered as little more than domesticated animals, albeit intelligent talking ones. Although he appears to be a despicable, inconsolable (and half-mad) wretch, Kreacher's character has been shaped by the maltreatment heaped on him over the years, and by the strain of his being prevented from revealing anything about Regulus' death, probably coupled with remorse for being involved in it, and having been unable to follow his Master's final orders. Like many wizards, Sirius also treated the House-elf poorly, although their mutual loathing was a factor. Under Harry's continued kind, gentle treatment, however, it is possible that Kreacher could be transformed.
As something of a side light, here, we should note Kreacher's return to his master. After being pulled under the lake by the Inferi, Kreacher had "come back". He does not explain, he simply says he had returned to his master. It is a fair supposition that he had used the House-elf form of Apparation to do so, and perhaps it is just something that he naturally does and therefore has no name for it. We already have seen that House-elves can Apparate within Hogwarts, where Apparation is normally prevented by the school's protective charms. We can assume that Voldemort has prevented Apparation in the Horcrux cave to force any would-be thieves into running the gantlet of the lake and the Inferi, but equally clearly he has failed to prevent House-elves from Apparating in the cave. Whether this is an oversight on Voldemort's part, which would support his discounting non-Human magic, or whether it is simply impossible for human spell-casters to prevent elf Apparation, we do not know.
Lily's letter to Sirius Black is a typical thank-you note and unlikely contained anything important to Death Eaters. That makes it even more intriguing as to why only its second half is missing; what remains provides useful information for Harry, however. Lily mentions the elderly Bathilda Bagshot, a famous wizard historian, who Lily apparently knew well, and who knows much about the Dumbledore clan. Harry immediately wants to go to Godric's Hollow, not only to meet Bathilda and learn more about Dumbledore and his family from her, but also to see his birthplace. Hermione vetoes this, arguing that it is unrelated to their mission, too dangerous, and she suspects Voldemort may have set a trap there. Hermione instead encourages Harry to trust his own feelings and memories about Dumbledore, rather than believing malicious rumors and unsubstantiated innuendos spread by Ron's Aunt Muriel, Rita Skeeter, and others.
The letter also reveals that Dumbledore borrowed James' Invisibility Cloak, although for what purpose is still unknown. This is designed to remind us that Dumbledore had this Cloak in his possession when James died, and perhaps to pique the reader's curiosity as to why he might have wanted it. The letter is also significant in that it is probably the first time Harry has seen his mother's handwriting or read her own words. For Harry, who has tended to identify with his father more than his mother, it awakens new-found feelings that tie him closer to her.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Harry wants to meet with Bathilda Bagshot to learn more about Dumbledore. Who else might have been interested in talking to Bathilda about him and why?
- Why does Hermione tell Harry to rely on his own memories about Dumbledore, rather than what others have to say?
- How has Kreacher's behavior toward Harry changed? What might account for this?
- Why didn't Kreacher destroy the Locket Horcrux? Given what is known about Horcruxes and Elf magic, could he have destroyed it?
- Why is Harry both judgmental and sympathetic to Kreacher? What is Hermione's explanation and do Ron and Harry agree?
[edit] Extra Study
- Why would only the second page of Lily's letter's and her image from the photo be missing? Who might have taken them and why?
- What could Harry learn about his parents and Dumbledore from talking to Bathilda Bagshot? Would her revelations be any more truthful, accurate, or unbiased than anyone else's?
- Why does Hermione advise Harry against going to Godric's Hollow or talking to Bathilda Bagshot? Should Harry listen to her advice? Explain.
- Harry suspects Death Eaters searched Grimmauld Place. Why might that assumption be wrong? Who might have searched it and why?
- How did Regulus Black know that the Locket was a Horcrux? Why was he willing to forfeit his life to destroy it?
- Kreacher says the potion he was forced to drink made him think horrible thoughts. What might those thoughts have been?
[edit] Greater Picture
The missing half of Lily's letter is significant, although not in the way readers might expect. It will be revealed that it and the photo were taken by Snape, who apparently took them for personal reasons rather than because it contained any vital information relating to Voldemort or Dumbledore.
Kreacher being able to easily Apparate in and out of Voldemort's highly secure sea cave demonstrates how elf magic differs from Wizards. This ability, which we have seen several times in Hogwarts now, will be seen again in a later chapter when Dobby rescues the imprisoned Trio and several others by Apparating into a magically protected area.
Also, Hermione's fears about Godric's Hollow will prove to be well-founded, although it will later be her idea to go there.
