Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 4
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Chapter 4 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Seven Potters
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[edit] Synopsis
After the Dursleys leave Number 4, Privet Drive, Harry gathers his belongings, including the caged Hedwig, his Firebolt, and his rucksack and waits for Order of the Phoenix members to arrive. Sooner than expected, a rather large group, including Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, appear in the back garden. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody says that they are flying out on broomsticks, Thestrals, and a flying motorbike; six members will be disguised as Harry Potter with Polyjuice Potion to trick any nearby Death Eaters. They have few alternatives, since Privet Drive is now being monitored for any Apparation, Portkeys, or Floo Network use. This monitoring, ostensibly for Harry's safety, is being done by the Ministry of Magic, which is becoming increasingly controlled by Lord Voldemort.
The six Harry decoys include Ron, Hermione, Fred and George Weasley, Fleur Delacour, and Mundungus Fletcher. The real Harry is to go with Hagrid in a sidecar bodged on to Sirius Black's motorbike to Ted Tonks's house, where they will be transported to The Burrow via a Portkey. The remaining six pairs, one defender and one Harry each, will travel separately to various safe-houses, all finally transferring to The Burrow.
Almost immediately after clearing the garden, Death Eaters attack them. Hedwig is struck by a Killing Curse aimed at the real Harry. Hagrid's attempts to dodge the four Death Eaters chasing them result in the sidecar breaking free; Harry stops it falling and is rescued by Hagrid, but he loses everything except his rucksack. He destroys the falling sidecar to disable a Death Eater, then notices that one of the two remaining Death Eaters is Stan Shunpike, evidently under the Imperius curse. Not wanting to kill an innocent person, Harry attempts to disarm him, whereupon the remaining Death Eater yells, "It's the real one!" and falls back.
Near the Tonks' home, the Death Eaters, including Voldemort, surround them again. Hagrid leaps off the motorbike to tackle a Dark wizard a few feet from Harry. Voldemort, using Lucius Malfoy's wand, casts a lethal curse at Harry, but golden flames spontaneously erupt from Harry's wand, destroying Malfoy's without Harry casting a spell. Voldemort, incensed, demands a wand from Selwyn, another Death Eater, but he and the other Death Eaters suddenly vanish. Unable to stop the motorbike, Harry crashes into a muddy pond.
[edit] Analysis
Hedwig's death, while sad, actually serves several purposes.
First, it shows how ruthlessly evil Death Eaters actually are. There is a wide-spread joke in England that, if the Germans had wanted to invade England unopposed, they should have sent in paratroopers, each cradling a cute little puppy in his arms; no true Englishman would harm a pet. Death Eaters indiscriminately firing curses that kill pets clearly indicates their inhumanity.
Second, it builds suspense. Hedwig's cage is clutched between Harry's knees in the sidecar; the curse that killed Hedwig missed Harry by mere inches.
Third, it eliminates an encumbrance. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry decided to leave Hogwarts to search for Voldemort's Horcruxes; as he is about to embark on a dangerous adventure, he would either have to put Hedwig in someone else's care, or try to care for her while he is traveling. His Firebolt, unfortunate as its loss may be, was also a burden, although it tied him to his late godfather, Sirius Black, who gave it to him during his third year at Hogwarts.
Finally, it can be argued that Hedwig's death represents an end to Harry's childhood. Harry, having lost more and more innocence with Cedric Diggory, Sirius, and Dumbledore's deaths, is now an adult in the wizarding world. Hedwig provided Harry comfort and security, but when she is brutally killed, Harry loses one of the few remaining things tied to his childhood; he realizes just how fragile those ties are.
It is also interesting to note Voldemort's appearance in this chapter. In the previous six books, Voldemort only appeared to Harry four times, each time near the book's end. That he appears to Harry this early shows how much power Voldemort has gained in the Wizarding world, and puts us, and Harry, on notice that there are ever fewer places that he will be safe.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- How could the Death Eaters recognize the real Harry Potter from the decoys?
- Why do Voldemort and the Death Eaters suddenly vanish?
- Why did Harry use such a mild curse on Stan Shunpike, who probably would have killed him?
[edit] Further Study
- When Harry was to be moved to a safer location, Mundungus seemed apprehensive about the plan and in participating in it. What are some possible reasons for his reaction?
- Why could Harry's wand destroy Voldemort's borrowed wand without Harry casting a spell with it?
- Harry's departure from the Dursleys was a closely guarded secret. How could the Death Eaters have found out?
- Voldemort has generally remained hidden from the wizarding population. Why does he now openly show himself during the pursuit?
[edit] Greater Picture
Hedwig's death may be a precursor to what happens later in the book. It has been suggested that having Harry lose his beloved pet and best friend is one manner in which the author hardens Harry's heart so he is able to continue his fight against Voldemort.
Harry's wand casting a spell of its own volition is never fully explained. Dumbledore, in the Waystation, says that in the duel in the cemetery, Harry's wand and Voldemort's had recognized each other as having a common source (the phoenix Fawkes' tail feathers) for their cores, and recognized Harry and Voldemort as kin by their blood (and possibly also the soul shard). Harry was the stronger wizard at that encounter, as he was prepared to die while Voldemort feared death. Dumbledore surmises that because of this, Harry's wand imbibed power from Voldemort's, and against that power, Voldemort's own power, plus Harry's courage, "what chance did that poor stick of Lucius Malfoy's stand?" While this is arguably no explanation for the wand acting on its own, it is all the explanation we ever receive in the series. We can speculate that wands have some very limited sentience, as we have been told many times that "the wand chooses the wizard;" we see this again in the wand working well, or not, depending on how it was transferred from one wizard to another. It is possible that the wand, in its own limited way being aware of Harry's "kin" and enemy Voldemort attacking, had acted on its own to remove the opposing wand. All we are actually told is that Harry and Voldemort have entered an area of magic and wandlore where none have ventured before.
One possibility is that it was not Harry who cast that spell, but rather that part of him that was Voldemort. The part within Harry, which Voldemort himself does not know about, could be protecting itself. Against that, however, we must point out that rather than Harry acting without intent, it seems to be the wand acting without Harry's input. Quoting: "his wand acted of its own accord. He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet..." (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, UK / Canadian edition p. 56) One supposes that if the author had intended to indicate that it was Voldemort's soul fragment doing this, Harry would have felt his hand moving of its own volition, rather than feeling the wand pull his hand around. However, there is insufficient evidence to be certain of her intent.
