Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 31
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Chapter 31 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Battle of Hogwarts
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[edit] Synopsis
The enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall is dark with twinkling stars; the tables below are filled with students in dressing gowns or traveling cloaks. Every Hogwarts being, living or dead, is listening to Professor McGonagall giving instructions from atop the raised platform at the end of the room. Pomfrey, Filch, and the prefects will evacuate students from the school before the battle begins, although the older students can remain and fight. The Order and the professors have agreed upon a battle plan and divide into groups to man the towers and grounds. Everyone is tense with expectation over the approaching battle. Harry anxiously searches the room for Ron and Hermione while Voldemort's loud commanding voice, seemingly from nowhere, announces Harry Potter must surrender by midnight. Pointing at Harry, Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin, yells for someone to grab him. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw students jump up and aim their wands at Slytherin's table. McGonagall then orders Pansy and the other Slytherins, regardless of age, to leave the Hall first, followed by the other Houses, although many older students from the other three Houses remain behind. As students and teachers begin breaking into groups, McGonagall approaches Harry and reminds him that he is supposed to be looking for something. Swept up the marble staircase with the defenders, Harry breaks away down an empty corridor, but he is beginning to panic: he has no idea where to look for the Horcrux.
Harry races through the hallways, although without Ron and Hermione, he feels at a loss. Looking at the Marauder's Map, he is unable to locate their names. Harry has a thought: Voldemort had warned the Carrows that he would try to break into Ravenclaw Tower. This convinces Harry that the Horcrux is indeed linked to that House, and it must be the diadem, but he wonders how Voldemort found an object lost centuries ago. He has a sudden brainwave. Everyone says the diadem has not been seen in living memory. That does not, however, rule out ghosts. Harry finds Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, and asks who the Ravenclaw ghost is. Nick, somewhat affronted at not being asked to help, sends him to the Grey Lady. She tells Harry that in life she was Rowena Ravenclaw’s daughter, Helena. Jealous of her mother's fame, she stole the diadem and ran away. She hid it in a hollow tree in an Albanian forest. On her deathbed, her mother sent a Baron who was in love with Helena to find her, but she spurned him and refused to go back. He became violent and fatally stabbed her, then killed himself in remorse. Harry realizes it was the Bloody Baron. Remembering that Voldemort spent his exile in Albania, Harry asks the Gray Lady if she shared her story with anyone else. She sadly admits she once told a student who had seemed so charming and understanding. Harry mutters that she is not the first person Tom Riddle manipulated, and surmises he found the diadem and created a Horcrux from it. He later hid it at Hogwarts in a place he believed no one else knew existed.
After talking with the Gray Lady, Harry runs into Hagrid, who has returned from his cave with Grawp and Fang after hearing Voldemort's voice. As they run through the halls, the first casualties are already appearing. A shattered stone gargoyle reminds Harry of the Ravenclaw statue at the Lovegood house. Another image appears to him: an old wizard's bust on which Harry once placed a tatty wig and a battered tiara in a room that few people other than Harry and Voldemort ever knew existed. Harry suddenly realizes where the diadem is—it is the same "battered tiara" that he had used to mark the hiding place of his Potions book in the Room of Requirement. As Harry races to it, he passes Professor Sprout and Neville lugging pots of Mandrakes to the battle. Hagrid takes off after Fang when the boarhound takes fright at an exploding urn. Harry passes Aberforth, who says it was stupid not to keep some Slytherin students as hostages. Harry says his brother would never have done that. He finally finds Ron and Hermione, who are carrying dirty, yellow, curved objects. Hermione says Ron had the brilliant idea to open the Chamber of Secrets and retrieve Basilisk fangs that can destroy Horcruxes. Ron shows him the mangled Cup Horcrux that he insisted Hermione destroy. Harry is amazed but wonders how they were able to open the Chamber without knowing Parseltongue. Ron says he remembered what Harry spoke when he opened the Locket Horcrux, although he had to try several times before it worked. Harry tells them about the diadem.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione race to the Room of Requirement through the escalating battle. There they find Ginny, Tonks, and Mrs. Longbottom, Neville's grandmother, who has sealed off the tunnel after Aberforth left the inn. Tonks leaves to find her husband, and Mrs. Longbottom goes to fight alongside Neville. Harry asks Ginny to step into the corridor, but orders her to come back inside later. When Ron says he wants to warn the house elves, an overjoyed Hermione flings herself into Ron's arms, kissing him. He kisses her back, their unspoken feelings finally shared. Harry has them step outside so the room can be changed, then thinks hard to himself: I need the place where everything is hidden. After the third run along the corridor, an entrance appears. Inside the large labyrinthine room, they search separately for the stone bust with the diadem. Harry spots it but is stopped by Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Using the Disillusionment Charm, they had been waiting outside when Harry re-entered the room, and followed him and the others in. A fierce duel erupts; a stray curse knocks the diadem into a refuse pile, and both Hermione and Ron are nearly hit by Crabbe's killing curses, although Draco yells at him to leave Harry alive for the Dark Lord. In the confusion, Malfoy drops his borrowed wand, Harry disarms Goyle, and Crabbe unleashes an uncontrollable fire, setting the room ablaze. Crabbe is lost amongst the flames, but the the trio escapes unscathed on broomsticks that Harry finds. They save Malfoy and Goyle as they fly from the room. Harry, seeing the diadem being tossed about by the fire, grabs it, only then making a direct flight path for the door.
Outside, they collapse on the hallway floor. As Harry looks, bemused, at the diadem in his hands, it emits a thin shriek and falls apart. Hermione says that Crabbe must have conjured Fiendfyre, one of the few things that can destroy a Horcrux.
Shouts and noises fill the hall; Death Eaters have penetrated the castle. Suddenly, Percy and Fred appear, dueling two Death Eaters, one of whom is Pius Thicknesse, in the hallway. The wall is blasted open from the outside, and Fred is killed in the explosion.
[edit] Analysis
If readers were holding out hope that some Slytherins, other than Slughorn, would join forces against Voldemort, they are now disappointed. Although it would seem likely that at least a few Slytherins, particularly the half-bloods, must oppose Voldemort and his Death Eaters, they are denied that opportunity; when Slytherin House, led by Pansy Parkinson, aims their wands at Harry, McGonagall elects to send the entire House away, probably to avert a violent, and possibly lethal, confrontation with the other Houses who will defend Harry. Any Slytherins that have doubts about the wisdom of siding with Voldemort against Harry are submerged in the crowd. If they choose to fight Voldemort, they will do so from outside the school.
On the brink of battle, several characters undergo some significant realizations about themselves. For most of his life, Harry has felt isolated and suffered from a need to "go it alone", often refusing others' assistance or accepting it only when pressured or as a last resort. Not only is Harry bolstered by his old friends and allies returning to Hogwarts, ready to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but as he races through the hallways, he yearns for Ron and Hermione's help and companionship. Harry has made great strides in learning to trust and rely on others.
Hermione is overjoyed when Ron wants to warn House-elves of the imminent danger. His growing maturity has led to his concern for others' well being, not just his own or his immediate family's. He now recognizes that Hermione's efforts on the Elves behalf has been valid and that these creatures deserve the same respect and consideration as other magical folk. Ron also shows his natural intelligence when, during the intense battle, he realizes that Basilisk fangs can destroy Horcruxes, something Harry must have forgotten about despite having destroyed Riddle's Diary with one. Remembering the words Harry spoke in Parseltongue, Ron opens the Chamber of Secrets and retrieves the fangs. Hermione's genuine admiration for his cleverness, quick thinking, and leadership further enhances her feelings for him. These acts open the door to Ron and Hermione's hidden feelings for one another, although their happiness is quickly marred by tragedy.
That tragedy is Fred's untimely death, and not only does it cause intense pain and sorrow to those who loved him, it also tests their strength and courage. Racked with grief, Harry and the Weasley family must suppress their anguish and focus solely on the ensuing battle if they are to defeat Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Percy is particularly distraught, having just reunited with his estranged family. Hopefully he can find solace in having reconciled with Fred before he died, but for now, he diverts his grief and rage at the enemy to avenge his lost brother. Readers will recall that earlier in the book, George's ear was severed during the flight from the Dursleys' house. This may have foreshadowed him losing a larger part of himself, that part being Fred.
The rather morose Draco seen at Malfoy Manor has reverted to his familiar arrogant and bullying persona now that he is back at Hogwarts, lording over his faithful minions, Crabbe and Goyle. Away from his family's influence, Draco adopts a very different façade from the one he displays while in his parents' presence. However, that mask usually crumbles whenever Draco is faced with adversity, as it did when confronting Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower in Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, and being forced to torture a fellow Death Eater earlier in this book. Why he chose to remain in the castle when the other Slytherins departed to join Voldemort is unclear, and his true intentions will remain unknown, though it is hinted that Draco may have been planning to capture Harry and present him to Voldemort. Draco himself may be unaware just what his real motives are, vacillating between fearful indifference and seizing an opportunity to win back the Dark Lord's favor for his family. Draco is a vessel lacking a compass, and, as he may have learned from observing his mentor, Snape, maintaining a neutral position makes it easier to align one's self with either winning side. However, when Draco realized Harry was after the Diadem, he may have wanted to capture him with the hope that he could reprieve the Malfoys from Voldemort's retaliation and to redeem himself to his family.
Interestingly, when Draco and Harry confront one another in the Room of Requirement, Draco demands that Harry return his wand. However, even if Harry was inclined to return it, which he was not, it probably would be practically useless for Draco. When Harry captured the wand at Malfoy Manor, it likely transferred its allegiance from Draco to Harry, its new master. Indeed, Harry found that Draco's wand worked exceptionally well for him.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why did Ron want it to be Hermione who destroyed the Cup Horcrux?
- Did it ever occur to Harry to use Basilisk fangs to destroy the Horcruxes? Why or why not?
- Why is Hermione so ecstatic when Ron wants to warn the House-elves? What does this say about Ron's character?
- Why is Harry unable to locate Ron and Hermione's name on the Marauder's Map?
[edit] Extra Study
- Harry saves Goyle's and Malfoy's lives. Do they now owe him a "life debt" as Peter Pettigrew did? Explain.
- At Malfoy Manor, Draco would not identify Harry to the Death Eaters. Why does he now want to capture him for the Dark Lord?
- How does Malfoy's current behavior and demeanor compare to the way he behaved while at Malfoy Manor? How does it compare to how he acted during his earlier years at Hogwarts? What could account for these differences?
- Will the Room of Requirement be operational again? Explain why or why not this might be.
[edit] Greater Picture
Ron having Hermione destroy the Cup Horcrux shows how deep the bond is between Harry, Ron, and Hermione: since Harry had already destroyed a Horcrux - the Diary - and Ron eliminated another - the Locket - then why should Hermione not destroy the third Horcrux? This is meant to show how Harry, who initially believed he should undertake the quest alone, depends on his friends far more than he ever realized. We will be reminded of this when, although it was Harry who was tasked by Dumbledore to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, in the end, each Horcrux is eventually destroyed by a different person. Although Harry had wanted to search for the Horcruxes alone, Dumbledore always knew, and intended, that Ron and Hermione would accompany him.
Ron wanting to warn the House-elves about the attack is what causes Hermione to kiss him, overjoyed that he finally considers them as beings worthy of protection; as it turns out, however, the usually overlooked creatures are not warned, but they play an important role in the final battle against Voldemort.
Also, Draco Malfoy choosing to stay at Hogwarts rather than leave with the other Slytherins will prove an important factor in the story. First, it is his friend, Crabbe, who - accidentally - destroys the Diadem Horcrux in the Room of Requirement. Then, when Harry revives after being struck by Voldemort's ineffective Killing Curse, it is Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother, who is called upon to verify if Harry is dead. Because Draco is still inside the castle, Narcissa knows that the only way she can enter it, without risking Draco's life in further fighting, is as part of a victorious army, and she lies to Voldemort, thus sparing Harry's life.
