Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 12
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Chapter 12 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Magic is Might
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
August passes, and, each day, several mysterious strangers, always different, lurk outside Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. On September 1st, the day students return to Hogwarts, at least half a dozen men in long, dark cloaks appear, watching outside the house. The Trio, meanwhile, has been taking turns spying on the Ministry of Magic under the Invisibility Cloak to learn its operations and routines. Returning under his Cloak, Harry Apparates onto Grimmauld's front stoop, landing badly, and worries that his elbow was momentarily exposed. A nearby lurker seems to have glimpsed something, then appears uncertain and relaxes. Safely inside, Harry heads to the kitchen, which is nearly unrecognizable due to Kreacher's cleaning efforts. Proudly wearing the Black heirloom locket Harry gave him, Kreacher fusses over him, promising dinner will be ready soon. Ron and Hermione, sitting at the kitchen table, are poring over copious notes and hand-drawn maps. Harry hands them a Daily Prophet he pinched, warning them it contains bad news. The headline reads: SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER. Picturing Snape in Dumbledore's office, Hermione suddenly jumps up and runs from the kitchen.
The article reports that Alecto and Amycus Carrow have been appointed as the new Muggle Studies and Dark Arts instructors. Harry recognizes the Carrows' photos: they are the Death Eaters who were atop the Astronomy Tower the night Dumbledore was murdered. Ron and Harry believe the other teachers will remain at the school only to protect the students, although Harry also thinks they probably have little choice—with the Ministry and Voldemort behind Snape, it is either stay at Hogwarts or be sent to Azkaban. Harry mentions the more than usual Death Eaters outside; it is almost as if they are expecting them to march off, lugging their trunks, to King's Cross station to catch the Hogwarts Express. As Kreacher serves hot soup, Harry comments that at least they now know where Severus Snape is.
Hermione returns lugging Phineas Nigellus Black's empty portrait; she somehow stuffs it into her beaded carrying bag. If Snape sends Phineas from his Hogwarts' portrait to Grimmauld Place, she explains, he will be unable to see or hear anything from inside the bag. When Harry mentions he saw, "a bloke in navy-blue robes," at the Ministry that day, Ron off-handedly remarks that Magical Maintenance wears navy blue robes. Hermione chastises him for not revealing that sooner, although Ron, whose father works at the Ministry, has already provided much helpful information. Hermione stresses that every minute Ministry detail is important: the staff, layout, routines, uniforms, and so on; their lives may depend on it. Harry interrupts to say that they should do it tomorrow, they know enough, and it is too dangerous to wait any longer, although both Ron and Hermione look frightened. Harry says Umbridge may have already chucked out the Locket. They have been watching for four weeks, and it is unlikely they will learn more—it is time to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic.
Harry suddenly excuses himself to go to the bathroom, but pain is shooting through his scar. Grasping the wash basin, he sees himself gliding down a twilit street lined with gabled houses in some unknown European village. A door cracks opens and a high-pitched voice asks for Gregorovitch. A foreign woman insists he has moved. A wand raises, followed by a green flash. Hermione's urgent voice interrupts his vision, and, slumped on the floor, Harry gets up and unlocks the door. Despite Harry claiming nothing is wrong, Ron and Hermione insist they heard him cry out. Harry admits he saw Voldemort murdering a woman and her family. Hermione is upset that Harry refuses to block out Voldemort using Occlumency, but Harry believes knowing his actions is useful. Voldemort is hunting Gregorovitch, the foreign wand maker who crafted Viktor Krum's wand. Ron wonders why he wants another wand maker, considering he has Ollivander locked up. Harry speculates that Voldemort may believe that Gregorovitch can explain why his wand failed against Harry's. Late into the night, they review their plan to invade the Ministry.
The next morning over coffee and hot rolls, Hermione reviews what they need: robes, tokens, Polyjuice Potion, Invisibility Cloak, Decoy Detonators, Puking Pastilles, Nosebleed Nougats, Extendable Ears . . . Kreacher promises steak and kidney pie when they return. In turns, they Disapparate under the Invisibility Cloak, arriving in an alleyway near the Ministry. As the first Ministry workers begin arriving, Hermione stuns one, a woman named Mafalda Hopkirk. After plucking a few hairs off the unconscious woman, Hermione drinks the Polyjuice Potion. After some trickery, Ron and Harry also find employees to impersonate. Ron becomes a maintenance worker named Reg Cattermole, although Harry does not yet know his own identity. Entering an underground public restroom with other employees, they insert tokens into cubicle doors and step into toilets that flush them dry into the Ministry of Magic's Atrium.
The Atrium has changed since Harry's last visit. It is darker, and the central golden fountain has been replaced by a frightening statue with a witch and wizard seated upon ornately carved thrones depicting writhing nude and ugly-faced men, women, and children. Harry is bumped by a man calling him Runcorn. His subservient tone indicates that Runcorn is a high official. A Death Eater named Yaxley approaches Ron (as Cattermole) and orders him to attend to the rain in his office. Before striding off, Yaxley makes threats about Cattermole's wife who is appearing before the Muggle-Born Registration Commission that day. In a lift (elevator) Hermione whispers hints to Ron for fixing the indoor-weather problem before he heads to Yaxley's office on Level Two. The lift moves again and stops at Level One. The doors slide open, and a squat, toad-like witch wearing a velvet bow in her hair steps in.
[edit] Analysis
In this chapter and the next, readers can see how fear and suspicion have permeated the wizarding world and the way in which Voldemort exploits that to seize control. By gradually infiltrating wizard institutions such as the Ministry of Magic, falsifying scientific research, and manipulating the media (The Daily Prophet) to disseminate propaganda, Voldemort was able to implement his plan to eliminate blood traitors and Muggle-borns like Hermione, who are accused of acquiring their magic by having stolen it from other wizards. Many Death Eaters and other Voldemort sympathizers (mostly Slytherins) already worked at the Ministry, making its takeover relatively easy. As a result, new laws and regulations are constantly being enacted, and all wizards must now register to prove their magical lineage; any known or suspected Muggle-borns are interrogated and separated from their families, their eventual fates uncertain. Intimidation, coercion, spying, and threat tactics are also employed to suppress opposition, while corrupt, ambitious bureaucrats like Dolores Umbridge, although not Death Eaters, willingly help spearhead the Dark Lord's evil rise to power to benefit themselves. Meanwhile, Voldemort deliberately remains elusive to create doubt and confusion among the general wizarding population and to avoid giving his enemies a specific target to rally against. Even Hogwarts has fallen victim, and every wizard child must now attend only that school. This will enable Death Eaters to indoctrinate impressionable young minds to Voldemort's depraved beliefs, as well as provide a convenient mechanism to identify and cull Muggle-borns.
It also appears that Voldemort's grandiose scheme may include conquering the Muggle realm, if the new statue in the Ministry of Magic atrium is any indication. The monument, like the previously destroyed "Fountain of Magical Brethren," appears to represent the Ministry's new public mission. The figures, a magical family seated on thrones made of struggling Muggles, reveals how much control Voldemort has gained over the Wizarding realm and how little, if any, concern he and the Ministry now has for Muggles' welfare. Indeed, the statue can be interpreted as Wizards conquering and suppressing Muggles.
Any reader doubting that one individual can attain the power to convert an entire state to their perverted political design need only to draw parallels between Voldemort's Muggle-born persecution and Adolph Hitler's extermination of six million Jews and other so-called "undesirables" in Nazi Germany during the mid-20th century. Both movements were driven by a maniacal but charismatic dictator who, exploiting the masses' anxieties and prejudices, advocated an elitist, ruling class and purging their order of "racially impure" citizens who were blamed for causing most social, political, and economic ills.
When Hermione learns that Snape is the new Hogwarts Headmaster, she immediately stuffs Phineas' portrait into her bag to prevent him from spying on them and relaying any information to Snape via his other portrait in the Headmaster's office, although he has had ample time to have already done that. At this point, Phineas' allegiance is unclear, and although he has always appeared loyal to Dumbledore in the past, that is no guide to the current situation. It is likely that Phineas' loyalty will have changed with the new Headmaster, as the portraits, we heard earlier, are supposed to be loyal to "the Headmaster of Hogwarts", which Snape now is. It is also possible, though less likely, that Phineas' loyalty to Dumbledore was false; Phineas certainly seemed, on occasion, reluctant to take instructions from Dumbledore. Indeed, if Phineas is Dumbledore's ally, it would seem that he should have relayed helpful information from Dumbledore's Hogwarts portrait to the Trio at Grimmauld Place, although that apparently has not occurred. Dumbledore seems to have deliberately withheld information from the Trio that would aid their mission, and his portrait may be doing the same, although just why is unclear.
Phineas may have already informed Snape that the Trio are in residence at Grimmauld Place. However, if he has, that information does not appear to have been relayed to Voldemort. Even though Death Eaters are constantly watching outside, they seem uncertain as to whether the Trio is actually within, though perhaps what they are actually unsure of is where exactly the house is.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- What accounts for Kreacher's changed behavior towards the Trio? Can he now be trusted?
- What does the new statue in the Ministry of Magic atrium represent?
[edit] Further Study
- Hermione wants Harry to block Voldemort's thoughts by using Occlumency, while Harry wants to keep the channel open. Which is the better choice and why?
- How do you think the Trio expect to recover the Locket after entering the Ministry? Where is Umbridge likely to keep the Locket?
- In addition to recovering the Locket, what additional information can the Trio gather while at the Ministry that would be useful for their mission?
- What comparisons can be made to Voldemort's persecution of Muggle-born wizards and historical events from mid-20th century Europe?
[edit] Greater Picture
As we know, Harry's apparent utter inability (or stubborn refusal) to learn Occlumency was a contributing factor in the events leading to his godfather Sirius' death. However, it is this same failure, we believe, which now allows Harry to view some events occurring in Voldemort's life; Harry already senses their value to the Trio's mission, despite the physical pain it causes, and he is therefore resistant to Hermione's repeated pleas that he practice Occlumency to block them. Later, it is revealed that Voldemort will largely lose control over his skill at Legilimency and Occlumency, at least as far as Harry is concerned. After possessing Harry's mind once before and finding it a disturbing experience, Voldemort never attempts to enter it again; Harry, however, will eventually be able to penetrate Voldemort's mind almost at will and, apparently, without Voldemort's knowledge. By reading Voldemort's thoughts, Harry later uncovers vital information that will help destroy the Horcruxes.
Although Hermione stuffs Phineas Nigellus' portrait into her magical bag to prevent him spying on the Trio, she fails to consider that he may still be able to hear them. When Hermione accidentally leaves the bag open in a later chapter, Phineas overhears some vital information that he relays to Severus Snape, although this will actually aid the Trio. Phineas will also provide the Trio with helpful updates regarding Hogwarts, although it remains unknown which side, if any, Phineas is actually on.
