Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 9
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Chapter 9 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: A Place to Hide
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Panic erupts over the shocking announcement. Some guests disapparate, showing that the protective charms surrounding The Burrow have been broken. The rest stand armed with their wands, ready to face the Death Eaters. Amid the crowded scene, Hermione, Ron and Harry disapparate to Tottenham Court Road. They enter a dark alley and change their clothes, Hermione having already packed everything they needed for their mission into her purse (which has been enchanted to fit spellbooks, clothes, money, camping gear, etc.). The Trio, with Harry under the Invisibility Cloak, enter a shabby all-night café along the road, trying to get some rest. Ron suggests going to the Leaky Cauldron but Hermione immediately vetoes that idea as being too dangerous and that Voldemort will be watching there. Instead, she advises disapparating to the countryside so they can send a message to the Order.
When two workmen enter the café and take seats near the Trio, Ron and Hermione lower their voices. As the workmen draw their wands, Harry, under his Invisibility Cloak, recognizes them as Death Eaters. He Stuns one, although he misses the second Death Eater: the spell ricochets off the window and hits the waitress. Meanwhile, the remaining Death Eater has bound Ron, and blown up the table behind Harry. Hermione Petrifies him. Inspecting the Death Eaters, Harry recognizes the big blond one he Stunned from the battle at the Astronomy Tower the previous year. Ron identifies him as Thorfinn Rowle. The Petrified one is Dolohov. Harry first encountered him at the battle in the Ministry.
The Trio are reluctant to kill the Death Eaters, so Harry suggests wiping their memories so they are unable to remember finding Ron and Hermione. (Harry was under the Invisibility Cloak the entire time.) Harry also suggests repairing the diner so it appears as if nothing happened. Hermione performs a Memory Charm on the Death Eaters and the waitress, while Harry and Ron fix the physical damage. Hermione wonders how they were found so quickly and asks if Harry could still be carrying the Ministry Trace to detect underage magic. Ron insists that it breaks at age 17 by law, although Hermione suggests a new one could have been put on by a Death Eater. Ron says none have been near Harry since he turned 17. After some discussion, Harry suggests going to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, the house Sirius left to Harry and the former Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Overriding the others' objections, Harry says that only Severus Snape can enter, and anywhere else they go could have many Death Eaters.
The Trio disapparate to Grimmauld Place. Upon entering, they are startled by Mad-Eye Moody's voice, and the Tongue-tying Curse left for Snape briefly affects them. A dusty, rotting Albus Dumbledore form appears in the entryway. Harry yells out that they did not kill Dumbledore, and the figure dissolves back into dust. Hermione checks and finds nobody else in the house; they go up the stairs to the drawing room.
Harry's scar is burning again, only this time he feels Voldemort's rage. Hermione is upset—it was this channel that allowed Voldemort to lure Harry to the Ministry two years ago, where Sirius was killed. Ron, meanwhile, wants to know if Harry can see the Weasley family, if that is who Voldemort is angry at. A silver Patronus arrives, and Arthur Weasley's voice announces, "Family safe, do not reply, we are being watched." Ron and Hermione collapse in relief; Harry, concerned about Ginny, is also relieved. Suddenly feeling sick from the pain in his scar, Harry dashes for the bathroom. Sprawled on the tile floor, he "sees" the large blond Death Eater from the café being tortured for failing to capture Harry and the others. He is sickened by what he witnesses, including a petrified-looking Draco Malfoy, who Voldemort forces to do the actual torturing.
[edit] Analysis
Only Hermione's meticulous planning and quick actions saves the Trio, allowing them to escape quickly. Everything they need for their quest was already packed in her beaded bag. The location Hermione Disapparated them to was a spontaneous choice, although, initially, it appears to be a poor decision because Death Eaters found them so quickly, and it is unlikely they were there by coincidence. If Harry no longer carries the Ministry trace, nor does it appear from the text that he used any magic when the Trio first arrived in Tottenham Court Road, just how, then, did the Death Eaters immediately detect the Trio's location? Apparating to Grimmauld Place also seems risky; not only is its location known to Severus Snape, a Secret Keeper who has returned to Voldemort's service, but he would likely suspect that Harry might flee there.
There are signs that the stress caused by their escape is affecting Hermione. She says, and Ron and Harry agree, that they would rather be in Grimmauld Place where they could be attacked only by one Death Eater, Snape, than out on the street where there are many. She seems to have forgotten that as Snape became a Secret Keeper for the Headquarters' location at Dumbledore's death, he can now reveal Grimmauld Place's location to as many Death Eaters as he chooses to. As such, if the Trio are known to be at Grimmauld Place, any number of Death Eaters could appear at the door.
Harry again shows his reluctance to use more powerful defensive spells against his enemies; Ron and Hermione are similarly reluctant. When Harry was attacked leaving Privet Drive, he cast Expelliarmus, a non-lethal disarming spell, to avoid harming Stan Shunpike, who he believed was acting under the Imperius Curse. Lupin later criticized Harry for his refusal to employ stronger magic in life-threatening situations and dismissed Harry's argument that he was protecting an innocent person. Harry was also reluctant to use the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix Lestrange at the Battle in the Ministry (in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), resulting in its weakened effect. However, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry unhesitatingly cast an unknown spell (Sectumsempra) to counter Draco Malfoy's sudden attack, nearly killing Draco as a result. Although horrified by the outcome, Harry, fueled by anger, intended to inflict harm on Draco, resulting in its detrimental effect, although it was not his intention to kill him. Here in the café, Harry continues this pattern by Stunning the Death Eaters, and Hermione similarly uses the non-lethal, full body bind jinx. The Trio's decision to spare the Death Eaters' lives at the café is also questionable. Outwardly, this seems merciful, but it shows they may still be unprepared to serve in the Order of the Phoenix, unable to cope with warfare's extreme demands. Dangerous times often call for desperate measures that would never be considered under normal circumstances, including killing your enemies to protect yourself, defend your allies, and accomplish a mission. The Trio may be unable to handle Dumbledore's difficult quest, although in this particular instance, their restraint probably saved the waitress, accidentally hit by a ricocheting spell, from serious injury or even death. Ironically, the Trio's humanitarian act may only have spared the two Death Eaters long enough to suffer a more horrendous fate. Harry later watches through Voldemort's eyes as at least one Death Eater is severely tortured for failing the Dark Lord.
Also, it is interesting that Rowle was tortured for letting Harry escape. Rowle never saw Harry, only his wand flash. However, Dolohov did see Harry, when he was Petrified; granted, that was before Hermione altered his memory, but we already know that Voldemort has a rare skill with memories, and Hermione, as good a witch as she is, had never cast a memory charm before. Why was Rowle tortured, but not Dolohov? While there is no answer, it seems evident that Voldemort frequently reacts with irrational rage, rather than calm reason, striking out (often fatally) at whoever is nearby, as well as the person who has failed him. It is also possible that Rowle was tortured for failing to capture any of the Trio (not just Harry) and that Dolohov was punished at a time Harry was not tuned in to Voldemort's thoughts. Alternately, it is possible that Dolohov, a veteran Death Eater from Voldemort's first rise to power, and thus knowing Voldemort's propensities, had deliberately hung back to allow Rowle to deliver the bad news and receive the resulting outburst.
Draco Malfoy's terrified expression as Voldemort forces him to torture the Death Eater is particularly revealing to Harry, forcing him to see Draco differently. Draco is genuinely repulsed and sickened by inflicting harm on another, just as he was when Voldemort ordered him to murder Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a task he was unable to perform and which was ultimately executed by Snape. It would appear that Draco can never overcome his fear and revulsion to violence, and now realizes that being a Death Eater entails far more than he ever imagined. Despite Draco's bullying arrogance and cruel personality, he lacks his family's truly evil nature. This will likely endanger Draco's life even further if Voldemort considers him too weak and fearful a servant, although that is probably why Voldemort recruited him, wanting to punish Lucius Malfoy for his failures.
Harry is also repulsed by violence, and, despite Lupin's earlier admonishment, Harry continually attempts to avoid killing as a defense, even against those trying to murder him and his friends. Murder damages a soul, and we have learned that Dumbledore went to some lengths to keep Draco's soul intact. Can Harry, the series' hero, be sentenced to have his soul so damaged? It may be that Harry, Hermione, and Ron, to retain their souls' integrity, must complete the series without killing anyone. By the same token, when a good character is seen apparently killing an evil one, it will be to defend a third party; presumably, it being a defensive act will nullify or prevent the soul being damaged.
[edit] Questions
- Why did the Trio immediately Disapparate from the wedding reception when Death Eaters were approaching, rather than standing and fighting? Was this the wiser choice?
- Why would Harry choose to hide at Grimmauld Place, whose location Snape, a Secret Keeper, can reveal to Voldemort and other Death Eaters?
- Why did the Trio spare the Death Eaters' lives in the café? What does this say about tbe Trio's characters and how they react when faced with life or death warfare?
- Should the Trio have killed the Death Eaters? Did not killing them make any difference?
- How did Arthur Weasley know to send his Patronus to Grimmauld Place to update the Trio?
- If the Ministry Trace is no longer on Harry, how might the Death Eaters have found the Trio so fast?
- Why would Draco Malfoy, now a Death Eater and Voldemort's servant, appear petrified in Harry's vision?
[edit] Greater Picture
Escaping to Grimmauld Place is riskier than Hermione and Harry seem to think. As mentioned, Snape could have told Death Eaters about the house and how to enter it. In fact, the Trio will notice that it may have been searched by Death Eaters, and they will soon learn that Death Eaters are keeping Grimmauld Place under constant surveillance, even though the house's exact location remains unseen to them, indicating they have not been instructed on how to enter it. For now, the Trio seems assured they will remain safe and undetected there.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were tracked by Hermione uttering Voldemort's name, which will be revealed later to be tabooed. Voldemort knows most people fear his name and has probably cultivated the belief that bad consequences result by speaking it. Following his return to power, the only ones who now dare to utter his name are those fighting him, specifically the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry, in particular; knowing that, Voldemort cast a spell on his name—anyone speaking it immediately alerts Death Eaters. Ironically, it is Hermione, who most feared speaking Voldemort's name, who does so in Tottenham Court, alerting the Death Eaters. Also, whether the effect of breaking protective spells, that we see later in this book, is already in place, is unknown.
Harry's reluctance to engage in killing, even during a war, will continue, and, throughout the book, he will never kill anyone. He has even been reluctant to use the Cruciatus curse on his enemies, although this will change under a specific circumstance. And on that occasion, unlike when he attacked Draco the previous year with the Sectumsempra spell, Harry will suffer no regrets or guilt afterwards, and he was motivated to defend someone close to him.
