Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 7
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Chapter 7 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Will of Albus Dumbledore
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[edit] Synopsis
Harry is awakened by Ron Weasley after Harry witnessed, as if dreaming, Voldemort's search for Gregorovitch, an unknown but slightly familiar name. Today is Harry's seventeenth birthday, the legal age to perform unmonitored magic. Excitedly, he successfully casts some spells to test whether the Ministry's "Trace" still monitors him. At breakfast, he receives many presents from friends and mentors. The Weasleys give him a gold watch, a wizard's traditional seventeenth birthday gift. Mrs. Weasley explains that this one is used, it once belonged to her late brother, Fabian Prewett. Harry gives her a grateful and understanding hug. Later, Ginny Weasley ushers Harry into her bedroom. She does not have a present but wants to give Harry something to remember her by, in case he meets someone else. Harry replies that dating opportunities will be very slim; she kisses him and he begins kissing her back, but they are abruptly interrupted by Ron. He and Ron leave the room as Ginny turns away, apparently crying. Upset, Ron warns Harry not to give Ginny any false hope about renewing their romance. Harry, realizing Ginny's future is unencumbered whereas his only concerns Voldemort, promises it will not happen again.
At the birthday party, newlyweds Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks congratulate Harry, although Lupin seems rather sad while Tonks looks radiantly happy. Halfway through the festivities, Arthur Weasley's Patronus arrives announcing that Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour is accompanying him to the Burrow. Lupin and Tonks leave abruptly upon hearing this, puzzling many. Scrimgeour arrives and, perfunctorily wishing Harry a Happy Birthday, asks to speak privately to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Albus Dumbledore's will bequeaths them several items. Harry is surprised it took so long to reveal the will, but Hermione says the Ministry surely wanted to thoroughly examine Dumbledore's estate, and obviously took the maximum time allowed by law to test willed property for any Dark magic. Ron receives a Deluminator, a magical object that captures and releases light. Queried by Scrimgeour as to why Dumbledore would leave him such a rare instrument, Ron admits that he did not think Dumbledore was particularly fond of him; Hermione, to counter Scrimgeour's suspicions, disputes this, saying he is being too modest. She is given a book, The Tales of Beedle The Bard, which seems to be an early edition written in runes. Asked why Dumbledore would leave her this, she is unable to answer. Harry inherits the Quidditch Snitch he caught during his first-ever Quidditch match at Hogwarts. Hermione mentions the Snitch's "flesh memory"; it remembers the first person that touches it, a property used to resolve games where two Seekers seem to grab the Snitch simultaneously. Nothing happens when Harry picks it up, to Scrimgeour's apparent disappointment: he had seemingly been expecting it to open and reveal something hidden inside. There is a second bequest for Harry: the sword of Godric Gryffindor. However, Scrimgeour claims the sword is a "vital historical artifact," and the Ministry is unwilling to relinquish it to Harry. A heated argument erupts between Harry and Scrimgeour, alarming Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Scrimgeour, offended, leaves.
Later that evening, the Trio examine their objects. Harry remembers catching the Snitch in his mouth; placed to his lips, a cryptic inscription appears on it in Dumbledore's writing: "I open at the close." None can decipher its meaning. Both Harry and Hermione have no idea what The Tales of Beedle the Bard is. Ron, astonished, tells them it is a famous book of wizarding nursery stories. Hermione reminds Ron that she and Harry were raised by Muggles and never heard Wizarding stories like "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump." Ron, on hearing that a Muggle fairy tale is named "Cinderella", asks if it is disease. Unable to determine what their bequests mean, the Trio head off to bed.
[edit] Analysis
Harry testing to see if the Ministry of Magic's Trace for underage magic has expired is inconclusive. The Trace does automatically disappear when a witch or wizard comes of age, but the Ministry is unable to detect underage magic in a Wizarding household where the adults are constantly casting spells. In Wizard homes, it is the parents' responsibility to monitor their children for improper use. Although the Trace on Harry does disappear on schedule, if Voldemort's followers within the Ministry had somehow kept it active, Harry would likely be unaware, and it could have revealed the Trio's location once they left the Burrow and began their mission. There may, however, be something else that can reveal their presence to Voldemort.
While Voldemort's dark cloud increasingly threatens the wizarding world, Harry's birthday party offers a happy, if momentary, respite, as well as some insight into several characters. Lupin and Tonks' differing emotional expressions at the gathering seems a bit odd and could be interpreted several ways, but Tonks' radiant happiness suggests she is pregnant. That this comes at a very difficult and dangerous time is likely deeply distressing to Lupin, who already had troubling doubts about his suitability as a husband. He may be harboring similar fears regarding fatherhood and is worried that he and Tonks may not survive the war, leaving their only child an orphan.
The Weasleys' birthday gift to Harry is far more than a traditional token commemorating his entry into adulthood. Giving Harry her deceased brother's watch shows that Mrs. Weasley loves Harry like a son; Harry understands its significance and is deeply grateful, and he considers the Weasleys as his family. Ginny, meanwhile, is still in love with Harry, but she has nearly abandoned hope that they will ever be together. Ron's concern for his sister's emotional well-being indicates an emerging maturity and that he cares for others, not just himself, although he still has a ways to go before fully reaching adulthood. Ron is also learning about relationships, having read a book the Twins gave him on girls and dating. He has been applying its advice to Hermione, who seems to respond favorably. Ron, who had repeatedly remarked that he needed lessons about girls, is impressed enough with the results that he gives Harry a copy for his birthday, although he asks Harry not to show it to Hermione.
That Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour would personally deliver Dumbledore's bequests to Harry, Ron, and Hermione at The Burrow is not just unusual, but highly suspicious. Except for the Sword of Gryffindor, these are fairly innocuous objects, but having once belonged to an extraordinary wizard makes them exceptional, at least to the Ministry of Magic. Clearly, the Ministry suspects that there is some ulterior motive for Dumbledore leaving these particular items to the Trio, which is why it took them so long to examine Dumbledore's estate. The Ministry's suspicions are probably correct, but there is no way for us or the Ministry to know yet what those motives could be. It is doubtful that Gryffindor's sword belonged to Dumbledore, but he obviously wanted to bring it to Harry's attention, although for what purpose is yet unknown. It may seem odd that Dumbledore left Harry so little considering their close relationship, although it is unknown just what his entire estate entailed or how much was left to Albus' brother, Aberforth. The Ministry is also suspicious that Dumbledore would leave Ron and Hermione anything, suspecting his relationship with either was minimal. However, Dumbledore obviously left the Trio these specific objects for a reason, and additional bequests to Harry would have overridden those items' particular significance. Although the Trio realizes that Dumbledore is communicating posthumously, they are clueless as to what his cryptic message means. By speaking to Harry from beyond the grave, Dumbledore shows that death is not always a finite ending. Those who have died can continue to affect the living in many ways—through memories, their personal legacy, and so on. However, in the wizarding world, the dead can play a more substantial and interactive role, as has been seen not only by the ghosts, but in other ways, such as through the living portraits, the spirit echoes, memories in a Pensieve, etc. It is understandable why Harry continually hopes magic will reunite him with his parents. In this case, Dumbledore has left a cryptic trail for Harry to follow, although just where that trail begins and where it will eventually lead is still unknown.
The fact that the Golden Snitch from Harry's first Quidditch game had been caught in an unusual way seems to play a significant part in this chapter, seven books later. One must wonder whether the plot arc for the series was developed with this level of detail before pen was ever set on paper, or whether the availability of the Snitch and its unconventional means of initial contact with Harry was fortuitous.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why is Ron upset that Harry kisses Ginny?
- Other than marking Harry's seventeenth birthday with a traditional gift, why would Mrs. Weasley give Harry her late brother's watch? What is Harry's reaction and why?
- Why would Lupin and Tonks abruptly leave the party before Scrimgeour arrives?
- Why did the Ministry wait so long to reveal Dumbledore's will?
[edit] Extra Study
- What might be the significance of each bequest that Dumbledore left the Trio?
- Considering Dumbledore's affection for Harry, why wouldn't he leave him more in his will?
- Why would Dumbledore leave Gryffindor's Sword to Harry, an object that probably never belonged to him?
- Why does the Ministry withhold Gryffindor's Sword from Harry? Is it really because it did not belong to Dumbledore as they claim, or is there another reason?
- Ron, who has always been slower to develop emotionally than Harry or Hermione, shows signs that he is maturing into adulthood. Give examples of this.
- Why would Lupin appear sad while Tonks looks happy?
- What might the inscription, "I open at the close," that is engraved on the Snitch actually mean?
- Why would Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour personally deliver Dumbledore's bequests to the Trio?
[edit] Greater Picture
Each object Dumbledore left the Trio proves vital to their mission to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. The Deluminator that Ron received was called a "put-outer" in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Initially, its only purpose seems to be to extinguish and later reilluminate lights. However, it also detects other peoples' conversations about its owner and guides the holder to their location. After Ron leaves Harry and Hermione, the Deluminator will lead him back to them.
Hermione's bequest is a well-known book of wizard fairy tales containing a story about the Deathly Hallows, which are three magical objects; someone, probably Dumbledore, marked the fable, "The Tale of the Three Brothers," with the Deathly Hallows' symbol. One Hallow will prove vital to combating Voldemort, who is also seeking it.
The Snitch contains another Hallow, and its inscription's meaning, "I open at the close," is revealed near the book's conclusion when Harry realizes that 'the close' means death.
Although it is never known if Dumbledore ever actually owned Gryffindor's Sword, his leaving it to Harry in his will is a clue that the Trio will need it to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. We already know that Basilisk venom will destroy a Horcrux; as the only known source of that is in the Chamber of Secrets deep under Hogwarts, it is not immediately certain how useful that information will be for us. We will later find out that Gryffindor's Sword was used to destroy a Horcrux, and perhaps Dumbledore intends that the sword be available to Harry to destroy the other Horcruxes. In fact, two of the remaining four Horcruxes will be destroyed by this sword.
