Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 19
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Chapter 19 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Silver Doe
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Harry has trouble sleeping, imagining footsteps and voices in the wind, and gets up during Hermione's watch. He suggests packing and leaving early. Hermione agrees, reinforcing what Harry imagined, and even thinking she saw somebody once or twice. With a motionless Sneakoscope however, any imminent danger seems unlikely, though they Disapparate under the Invisibility Cloak just to be safe.
They arrive in the Forest of Dean at an old campground Hermione once visited with her parents. The snow and bitter cold keeps them inside the tent the first day. Harry takes the watch; he senses this night is different. In the twilight hours of impenetrable darkness, a bright silver light appears drifting soundlessly through the trees. It glides toward Harry until, unable to call for Hermione, he gets a clear view. A silver-white doe steps out, gazes at him, then turns and walks away. Harry follows it deeper into the forest until it halts in an apparently deserted area, then vanishes into the darkness. Using Hermione's wand, Harry casts a light. A frozen pond, hidden by darkness, becomes visible in the light—the Sword of Gryffindor is lying on the pond's bottom.
After several failed attempts to get the Sword without getting wet, Harry remembers Dumbledore's words when he last retrieved it; only a true Gryffindor could have pulled the Sword out of the Sorting Hat. Stripping down to his underwear, he breaks the ice and jumps in. Diving down, he grabs the hilt and pulls upward. But the Locket, sensing danger, tightens around his neck, strangling him. Kicking and fighting, Harry is unable to loosen the chain's chokehold. Suddenly, someone grabs him, cuts him free, and drags him from the pond. Dazed and shivering, Harry looks up and sees a drenched Ron.
Ron denies casting the doe Patronus – believing it was Harry's, until Harry reminds him that his is a stag. To test the Sword's authenticity, they decide to destroy the Locket. Because Ron actually retrieved the Sword, Harry feels he should slay the Locket. Setting it on a nearby stone, Harry says "Open" in Parseltongue. It opens and two eyes on the Locket's sides stare back—Tom Riddle's eyes. A voice insults Ron, attempting to prey on his fears and insecurities, but when this fails, distorted Harry and Hermione heads appear, hurling taunts and ridicule at Ron, then they kiss. The real Harry yells to stab the Locket, and, seeing red glints in Ron's eyes as he draws back the blade, he hurls himself aside. Ron destroys the Locket and Voldemort's soul shard.
Harry consoles a guilt-ridden Ron, reassuring him that Hermione missed him and that there is nothing between her and Harry. Reconciled, they head to the camp. Harry is welcomed back while Ron is pummeled by Hermione's furious fists. Harry halts their fight, but a shouting match continues. Ron claims he tried to return immediately after leaving but was apprehended by Snatchers, Ministry-hired bounty hunters searching for Muggle-borns and blood traitors. By the time Ron escaped, Harry and Hermione had already moved. Ron explains that the Deluminator detects conversations about the person holding it. When he heard Harry and Hermione speak his name, the first time they had spoken it since his departure, he was able to determine their whereabouts. It was Ron they heard at their last camp, but they left before he could find them. The Deluminator brought him to where the doe Patronus and Harry were. They then tell Hermione about the doe, the Sword, and destroying the Locket Horcrux. Ron gives Harry a wand he 'snatched' from a Snatcher to replace his broken one that Ron overheard them talking about. Hermione threatens Ron one last time, and the three finally get some sleep
[edit] Analysis
While this chapter is a pivotal turning point in each Trio member's emotional development, Ron undergoes the most significant change. Dumbledore, aware Ron needed extra guidance, left him the Deluminator to help him find his way back should he become separated from the others. Ron's return highlights how significant his role in the Trio truly is, and it marks a distinct milestone in his maturation. From here on, he becomes a more assertive, independent, and contributing member, rather than a passive follower whose insecurity allowed him to take a back seat to Harry, Hermione, and also his older brothers. Ron, unknowingly, has served an important function within the group: Harry and Hermione are talented and resourceful wizards, but, being Muggle-raised, they lack significant knowledge about the general wizarding world. Ron has often guided them by filling in these gaps. It is unlikely Harry and Hermione could succeed without Ron supplying these missing pieces. His humorous, easy-going nature also helps bond the Trio and counter-balances Harry and Hermione's more intense and somewhat dour personalities. Ron also proves he is a true Gryffindor by overcoming his fears and doubts about the mission and returning to a dangerous situation to search for and help his friends. He also demonstrates immense bravery by rescuing Harry from the freezing pond. Harry expresses his gratitude by insisting that Ron destroy the Locket Horcrux; although, at least initially, and when the Horcrux is fighting for its life, Ron may be uncertain that this is a favour. While Hermione is furious at Ron for leaving, his brief absence actually proves useful. Upon his return, he provides vital information about Voldemort and the war, warns them that the Dark Lord's name is now "tabooed", and explains what Snatchers are. By being too elusive and cut off from their allies, the Trio have made their quest more difficult and dangerous. From here on, they will utilize information gathered from various allies.
A different facet to Hermione's personality is exposed in response to Ron's return. For the first time in her life, she is so overcome with hurt and anger that she loses control, and, unable to think rationally, reacts without logic or forethought. Only Harry's intervention prevents her from inflicting physical harm on Ron. Although furious that he deserted the mission, Hermione was likely feeling abandoned and betrayed by someone she cares deeply about. Although her actual feelings for Ron remain unreconciled, this may be a significant step toward her realizing her true emotions. This outburst may also show that Hermione is learning to act more intuitively and freely without always waiting until she feels she knows all the answers before taking action. Ron, meanwhile, literally comes face-to-face with his own unresolved feelings for Hermione when he witnesses the kissing Harry and Hermione images the Locket projects as it attempts to protect itself. Harry, who apparently understands Ron's true feelings better than Ron, quickly reassures his friend that there is nothing between him and Hermione.
Harry not only shows another side to his innate courage, but also his growing ability to trust others. Despite not knowing if friend or foe sent the doe Patronus, and after the nearly disastrous encounter with the bogus Bathilda Bagshot, Harry takes yet another leap of faith by following the doe in the hope that this time it was sent to help. However, youthful curiosity may have helped to over-ride caution, and Harry avoids consulting Hermione, knowing she would be far more suspicious and leery following their near-fatal experience in Godric's Hollow. It is confirmed, however, that the silver doe was indeed dispatched to help; the question now is, who sent it and why?
An adult reading this chapter may also note that Ron mentions nothing about having told Bill and Fleur where he was going, or even that he was leaving, when he departed Shell Cottage. This rather leads one to wonder what Bill and Fleur thought when they found his room empty. We do see that Ron had taken the time to pack a rather large knapsack for the trip, rather than just setting out after the light from the Deluminator as he implies in his story; we can only hope, for Bill and Fleur's sake, that at the same time he remembered to at least leave them a note, although they may not have been too surprised by his leaving, knowing Ron had been on a mission with Harry and Hermione.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why did Harry and Hermione's conversation about Ron's wand prove to be so important?
- How did Ron's shameful desertion actually help the Trio? What made him return? Why is Hermione so angry at him?
- Why does Harry want Ron, rather than himself, to destroy the Locket Horcrux? How does Ron react to this?
[edit] Extra Study
- Who could have sent the doe Patronus? Why?
- How did Gryffindor's Sword get in the pond? Who might have been responsible for putting it there and why?
- If someone intended for Harry to find the sword, why was it left in such a dangerous place where he was almost killed?
- Why was the Locket strangling Harry?
- Why would the Locket project an image of Harry and Hermione kissing?
- In Harry's third year, just before Sirius Black slashed Ron's bed curtains, Harry had a curious dream in which he was pursuing a glowing silver creature through a forest. Could there be any relation between that dream and the silver doe in this chapter? Explain that relationship.
- James Potter's (Harry's father) Animagus form was a stag and Harry's Patronus is a silver stag. Could these have any relationship to the doe Patronus? Explain.
[edit] Greater Picture
Ron will also bring back information about "Potter Watch", an underground wizard news radio program that airs updates about Harry and the war against Voldemort.
We learn later that the doe was Severus Snape's Patronus. Carefully examining the text shows that Hermione had her beaded bag open when she told Harry where they had stopped. Phineas Nigellus's portrait inside it overheard Hermione and reported that to Snape. Snape thus knows that Harry and Hermione are in the Forest of Dean, though not exactly where; the Forest of Dean is a largish place, several wooded sections totaling about 40 square miles. (It is located a few miles west of Gloucester in the south-west of England.) It is open to question how Snape found Harry, given the protective spells Hermione had set around them. This must, of course, be supposition, but we already know that many spells are limited by distance, Apparation being one; it is likely that once he was within a few miles of Harry, Snape could use Legilimency to see what Harry was seeing, and thus determine where he was. This would be easier for Snape because he had previously spent time in Harry's mind. Snape may also have planned to send the Patronus over many successive nights in the hope that Harry would eventually see it and follow it to where the sword was hidden, though in this instance it was evidently only their first or second night there. Also, it will be seen in a later chapter that more than one Patronus can be cast at a time, and there may have been multiple ones roaming the forest searching for Harry.
One interesting note. It will be learned later that if a wizard captures another wizard's wand, that wand's allegiance can be transferred to the new owner. Ron provides Harry with a wand he took from a Snatcher, making it possible that Ron is actually that wand's new master. However, it is still possible for Harry to use it, although likely with less effectiveness than if he had been the one who forcibly obtained it. Harry will later seize and wield Draco Malfoy's wand, finding that it performs well for him. Harry capturing Draco's wand will also play a significant role in Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort, who has stolen the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb.
