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Suggest pagesMuggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 13
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Chapter 13 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Muggle-Born Registration Commission
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Dolores Umbridge immediately assumes that Hermione, as she appears to be Mafalda Hopkirk, was sent by Travers to record the hearings she is holding. She tells the Minister that with Mafalda recording, they can start right away, which is good, there are ten today, and one of them the wife of a Ministry employee. Harry watches as Hermione descends in the elevator with Umbridge. When Thicknesse asks what brings "Albert" to the first floor, Harry says that he needs a word with Arthur Weasley, who he was told was on that floor.
On his own, now, Harry dons the Invisibility Cloak, stooping to hide his feet, and prowls the halls searching for Umbridge's office. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had meticulously planned how to get into the Ministry, but they failed to consider the possibility of getting separated. Now Hermione is stuck in what will probably be a full day of court proceedings while Ron is trying to stop it raining in Yaxley's office. Bemused, Harry stumbles into an open area where he sees pink sheets of paper flying around from desk to desk. The pages are being assembled into pamphlets. Examining one under the Cloak, he finds that the pamphlets are anti-"Mudblood" propaganda. A witch makes a rude comment about their boss, indicating a door. Harry sees Moody's magical eye, affixed to the door and pointing fixedly upwards. Under it is a brass plaque reading Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, and beneath that, another reading Head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission.
Although busy with their pamphlets, the office staff would surely notice a door opening on its own. Harry sets a Decoy Detonator free; it explodes on the far side of the room emitting a large, black smoke cloud. While everyone is looking for the smoke source, Harry enters Umbridge's office, finding it exactly like her Hogwarts office, with the horribly cute kitten plates on the wall and the lace doilies on the desks. Looking through the small telescope on the inside of the door, he sees everyone is gathered around the Decoy Detonator's remains; he wrenches the telescope from the door, removes Moody's eye, and pockets it. He tries Summoning the Locket, without success.
Searching Umbridge's office, he finds a file on Arthur Weasley, who is listed as a pure-blood, but is likely to be contacted by "Undesireable Number One", Harry himself. Arthur is also being Tracked. The search is otherwise fruitless, but taking one last look around the office, Harry sees Dumbledore looking at him from a small mirror. Upon closer inspection, the mirror is actually a book: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore by Rita Skeeter. Flipping it open, he sees is a picture of two teenagers, but before reading the caption, the office door opens. Pius Thicknesse enters and writes a note to Umbridge; Harry exits, unseen under the Cloak, passing the pamphlet witches who are still investigating the Decoy Detonator, and returns to the lift. He must now find Ron, get down to the courtrooms, and collect Hermione; it seems unlikely the Locket is here. Luckily, as the lift reaches the second floor, Ron steps in; before they can exchange more than greetings, though, the lift stops again and Arthur Weasley and a blonde witch get on, deep in conversation. Arthur shoots Harry a distasteful look, but gives Ron advice about a spell that might work on Yaxley's office. On the next floor, Ron and the blonde witch get off, but Harry is blocked by Percy Weasley getting on, and is unable to follow. Percy, looking up from his reading, suddenly realizing his father is there, and gets out on the next floor. Harry tries to follow, but is blocked by Mr. Weasley, who makes accusations that he planted information about Dirk Cresswell. When Harry tells Arthur that he is being Tracked, Arthur considers it a threat. Arthur exits on the Atrium level, and Harry puts the Invisibility Cloak back on. He will have to extricate Hermione while Ron is stopping the rain.
Heading to the courtrooms, Harry recognizes the unnatural chill created by Dementors; the creatures are guarding Muggle-born witches and wizards waiting outside the courtroom. A wizard is led from the courtrooms by two Dementors. Mary Cattermole is then called in by Umbridge, and Harry follows her. Inside, two Dementors are held at bay by a cat Patronus, and Umbridge, Hermione (as Mafalda), and Yaxley, are examining Cattermole, demanding to know whose wand she stole. As Umbridge leans forward, the Locket around her neck swings out. Taking a chance, Hermione asks about it; Umbridge claims the S initial is for Selwyn, a very old Wizarding family she is honoured to be related to. This is too much for Harry, who Stuns Umbridge, and, before he can react, Yaxley. Prompted by Hermione, Harry casts a Patronus, just in time to save Mary Cattermole. He tries, twice, to release the chains on Mary, while Hermione creates a duplicate Locket to replace the real one. Escorted by Harry and Hermione's Patronuses, the three leave the courtrooms. Gathering the other Muggle-borns, Harry says the new official position is to disguise themselves and leave the country if possible, at the very least stay away from the Ministry; they can exit from the Atrium.
Meeting Ron at the lifts, Mary Cattermole runs to hug him, believing he is her husband, Reg. Ron warns them that the Ministry knows they are there and work crews are closing off the fireplaces. Harry says they can still escape if they hurry. At the Atrium, Harry orders the crews to stop, though one wizard protests. Harry threateningly asks if he wants his family tree examined the way Dirk Cresswell's was. Muggle-borns are sent in pairs through the remaining fireplaces, but the real Reg Cattermole appears from the lifts. Amidst his and Mary Cattermole's confusion, Yaxley appears, demanding that the fireplaces be sealed. Pointing to the wizard who questioned him, Harry says he was allowing Muggle-borns to escape. As the commotion builds, Ron and Mary Cattermole escape; as the truth dawns on Yaxley, he fires a curse at Harry exiting through the fireplace with Hermione. Arriving in the bathroom, Harry sees Yaxley appear in the cubicle behind him. Grabbing Hermione and Ron, Harry Disapparates. He briefly sees Grimmauld Place's front door, then hears a bang, and they are Apparating away.
[edit] Analysis
Once inside the Ministry, the Trio can see how extensively Voldemort's corruption and perversion has spread, and the extreme measures being implemented to separate the "racially impure" from "pure-blooded" wizard society. Anyone not directly serving Voldemort is controlled through his minions, mostly with threats and violence. It appears there is little resistance, and as Voldemort gains more power, many wizards fear for themselves or their loved ones who could be branded as "undesirables" and be incarcerated. There are still many in the general Wizarding population who are simply ignorant about what is happening, while others are fearful and/or uncertain what to believe or who to trust. Voldemort deliberately created this confusion by quietly and gradually seizing control of the Ministry and other key institutions while spreading anti-Muggle-born propaganda. He remains unseen—though his return has now been public knowledge for a year, by staying concealed he allows rumour to do his work, spreading fear and doubt. We will see later that Voldemort is reported as being in several places at once. Meanwhile, the thoroughly corrupt and reprehensible Dolores Umbridge revels in her position as Head of the Muggle-born Registration Committee. Bloated with power, she has dedicated herself to purging "impurities" from the Wizarding world, much as she did while at Hogwarts, and readily abuses her authority to persecute those deemed unworthy. From what can be seen at the hearing Umbridge is presiding over, it appears that all Muggle-borns and suspected blood traitors are being rounded up, probably to be sent to a wizard-style concentration camp for deportation, or worse, extermination.
Although the Trio successfully retrieved the Locket Horcrux, their lacking a back-up plan in the event they became separated while inside the Ministry is surprising. Randomly selecting individuals to impersonate without knowing their identities, rank, or considering that they may be called upon to perform their Ministry duties was also a careless and risky move. Hermione, especially, appears to have been rather lax in failing to anticipate this, considering her usual diligent attention to details and analyzing all likely scenarios. The Trio also were extremely lucky that Umbridge had the Locket with her on that particular day, an event that seems to have taken both Harry and Hermione somewhat by surprise. Given that, their mission's purpose into the Ministry was perhaps to try and determine where Umbridge might actually keep the Locket: for instance, to locate Umbridge's residence and then attempt to retrieve the Locket from there. It also seems that this information could have been discovered by one person alone using the Invisibility Cloak rather than all three entering the Ministry in their Polyjuice Potion disguises. If that was the plan, it is curious then that Harry never searched for Umbridge's home address while he was in her office. Being that they still lacked vital information as to the Locket's whereabouts when they infiltrated the Ministry, it is also curious as to why they put their plan into action on that particular day, although Harry seemed propelled more by an urgent need to act, rather than being completely prepared. It is also unclear how the Trio positively identified the "toad woman" as being Dolores Umbridge before they planned their assault, although, fortunately, they were correct.
Indeed, Hermione's entire plan seems unworthy, opting for a dangerously elaborate and overly complicated scheme when a simpler strategy might have been safer and more effective. Rather than infiltrating the highly-secure Ministry, the Trio may also have been able to intercept Umbridge (perhaps using the Imperius Curse) before she entered or just after she left the Ministry. Also, once determing that Umbridge wears the Locket to work, one person alone could have used the Invisibility Cloak to sneak into her office, stun her, perform a memory charm, and then remove and replace the real Locket with a substitute, just as Hermione did. Like the Trio's reluctance to use extreme defensive tactics against their enemies, their unsophisticated plan and their rather erratic performance reflects their general inexperience and still growing maturity; they may be unready to be full-fledged Order of the Phoenix members. And though it is unlikely the Order would ever have allowed the Trio to undertake such a dangerous mission, Dumbledore apparently felt only they could accomplish this. However misbegotten, chaotic, and nearly disastrous the Ministry caper may have been, it was ultimately successful and fortuitously resulted in many innocent victims being rescued. It also shows that the Trio works well together and can quickly adapt to changing circumstances.
Retrieving Moody's magical eye from Umbridge's door was also a risky and impetuous decision by Harry, but his emotions overruled his logic, and he was simply unable to leave any part of Moody in Umbridge's possession. This also provides a necessary closure for Harry, allowing him to later bury at least a small portion of Moody. One gathers that the eye's loss from the outer side of Umbridge's door will not hinder her spying on her subordinates; the eye, staring fixedly, seems to only provide camouflage for the small telescope inside the office door.
Harry glimpsing Dumbledore's image in what he momentarily believed was a mirror in Umbridge's office may be a subtle reference to the familiar-looking blue eye he has been seeing in the mirror-shard, although it is unknown yet whose eye this actually is. The original magic mirror, before it was broken, was described as about the size of a small book. It is probably the combination of the size, plus Harry's half-belief that the eye in the mirror-shard is Dumbledore's, that leads him to briefly mistake the book for a mirror.
Rowling's description that Umbridge's cutesy kitten decor appears just as it did at Hogwarts may be a subtle clue that, despite Umbridge's traumatic experience with the Centaurs, readers can expect to see the same vile woman as in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why did Harry remove Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye from Umbridge's office? Did this help or endanger the Trio's mission?
- How will Harry's taking the Eye affect Umbridge's job?
- Why is Arthur Weasley being tracked? Why or why not might he have suspected this before Harry told him?
- Why does Umbridge wear the Locket?
[edit] Extra Study
- Why did the Trio fail to have a back-up plan in the event they became separated while inside the Ministry? What plan could they have had?
- Hermione's plan to infiltrate the Ministry was dangerous. Devise your own plan to retrieve the Locket.
- If Umbridge had not worn the Locket on that particular day, what would the Trio have done? Would they likely have had another chance to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic using the same plan? Explain.
- How were Voldemort and his Death Eaters able to gain control of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, and other Wizarding institutions so quickly and easily? Why has there been so little resistance?
- Why does Voldemort remain unseen to the general public, even though it is widely known that he is alive and controls the Ministry and other institutions?
- What might happen to Muggle-born wizards after being rounded up by the Ministry? How does this compare to historical events in mid-20th century Europe?
[edit] Greater Picture
Over the next several chapters, the Trio realizes they are being affected by the Locket Horcrux as they take turns wearing it around their necks; it preys on them physically, mentally, and emotionally. The Horcrux may actually be somewhat sentient, so much so that as Ron puts his ear to the Locket, he is able to detect something akin to a "heartbeat" pulsing within it. When Harry is trying to retrieve Gryffindor's Sword to destroy the Locket with, the Horcrux, sensing danger, defends itself by attempting to strangle him. Unlike the Trio, Dolores Umbridge seems unaffected by wearing the Locket, possibly because the Locket senses she poses no threat to its existence, and she may be more closely aligned to its dark nature.
The Trio's foray into the Ministry of Magic, while ultimately successful, was nearly disastrous because they failed to consider all scenarios and lacked a back-up plan in such an event. In a later chapter, they will infiltrate another high-security Wizarding institution: Gringotts Bank. That mission will also be successful, but they will again fail to have a back-up plan, and, when things go awry, they must quickly improvise an alternate escape route.
The two youths whose photo Harry briefly glimpsed in Rita Skeeter's book are the teen-aged Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. Harry will see the photo again in a later chapter and read not only the caption but the associated chapter of Skeeter's muck-raking book.
