Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Half-Blood Prince/Chapter 5
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: An Excess of Phlegm
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Arriving at The Burrow, Dumbledore and Harry are met by Mrs. Weasley. Also present is Tonks, whose colorless and sad appearance shocks Harry; her usually vibrant pink hair is now a mousy grey. Tonks insists she must go and declines a weekend dinner invitation when Lupin and Mad-Eye will be there. As Mrs. Weasley gets Harry something to eat, she asks about Slughorn. Apparently, he started teaching at Hogwarts about the same time as Dumbledore, and he taught Mrs. Weasley. She disapproved of Slughorn's favorites, especially since Arthur Weasley was not among them.
Harry learns that Mr. Weasley has recently been appointed head of the new Office of Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. This promotion will help improve the Weasley finances. When Mr. Weasley arrives home, he discusses the counterfeit devices he has found. Harry is actually interested, but when he attempts to stifle a yawn, Mrs. Weasley sends him to bed in the twins' vacant room. They are now living in a little apartment over their Diagon Alley shop.
The next morning, Harry is awakened by Ron and Hermione, who are concerned about his well-being after the battle at the Ministry. Harry tells them about Horace Slughorn, who is replacing former Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, Professor Umbridge. Ginny slouches in, complaining about her; Harry's curiosity as to who she is referring to is ended when Fleur Delacour enters with his breakfast tray and Mrs. Weasley in her wake. Fleur tells Harry that she and Bill Weasley are marrying next summer, then heads back downstairs. Ron is still rather infatuated by Fleur, but the three women feel she is very full of herself and wonder what Bill sees in her. Ginny derogatory calls her "Phlegm", which upsets Mrs. Weasley, but makes Harry and Hermione laugh.
When Mrs. Weasley departs, Ron confides it is hard getting used to having Fleur around when she jumps out like that. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione agree that Mrs. Weasley is unlikely to get Bill interested in Tonks rather than Fleur. Tonks has been depressed since her cousin, Sirius Black's death. That she blames herself for Sirius' death interests Harry, who is experiencing the same guilt. As a result, Tonks has apparently lost the ability to change her physical appearance.
After Ginny is called to the kitchen, Ron tells Harry that the family and Percy remain estranged, despite Voldemort's return. Ron and Hermione are amazed that Dumbledore wants to give Harry private lessons. Harry reveals the prophecy to them, and Ron and Hermione worry that Harry will have to face Voldemort. Harry is also worried, but on reflection, realizes he has always known he would eventually have to face Voldemort. Privately, he is greatly reassured by Ron and Hermione not abandoning him at the revelation that he is fated to either kill Voldemort or be killed by him.
Shortly, Harry, Ron, and Hermione head to the kitchen where they receive their O.W.L. results. It is revealed that "T" is an actual grade meaning Troll, not Terrible as might be imagined. Harry's grades are:
- Astronomy: Acceptable (A)
- Care of Magical Creatures: Exceeds Expectations (E)
- Charms: E
- Defence Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding (O)
- Divination: Poor (P)
- Herbology: E
- History of Magic: Dreadful (D)
- Potions: E
- Transfiguration: E
These results are good, but Harry's hope to become an Auror have apparently vanished. He needed an 'O' in Potions for Snape to accept him into his advanced Potions course, one of the N.E.W.T. subjects required to become an Auror.
Ron receives similar grades but no 'Outstanding's and is quite pleased that he only failed Divination and History of Magic. Hermione, as expected, receives 10 'O's and one 'E' (in Defence Against the Dark Arts). All three have passed into N.E.W.T. level.
[edit] Analysis
Harry is shocked by Tonks' radically changed appearance. There is no explanation as to what might have happened in the three or four weeks since she was last seen, but she is no longer the cheerful and vibrant person Harry last saw. Some readers may believe, given the amount of Ministry hysteria about Dark Wizards, that Tonks is being controlled by the Imperius curse. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron believe she is suffering from grief and guilt over Sirius' death and may even have been in love with him. However, there may actually be another reason for her depression.
Harry also fears that his professional future is in jeopardy. The only career that interested him is an Auror (Dark Wizard catcher), even though the person who encouraged him was actually a Death Eater in disguise (Barty Crouch, Jr.). Unfortunately, Harry's Potions grade is too low to admit him into Snape's N.E.W.T.-level Potions classes he needs to fulfill the Auror prerequisites. This will deeply trouble Harry and being unable to follow his chosen career path leaves him discouraged and feeling adrift. Harry's tendency to be single-minded has, as yet, prevented him from seriously considering other careers, and he ponders what his options are.
In one of the continuity glitches common in this lengthy series, we see Mrs. Weasley's clock, now with all its nine hands, one for each family member, pointing at Mortal Peril. The astute reader may have noticed that here it is apparently a mantel clock, while in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire it is described as a grandfather clock. Mrs. Weasley claims that nobody else has a clock like that, so presumably someone in the family made it. It is possible that Mrs. Weasley wanted it to be more portable, and had a clock-maker separate the mechanism from the clock case and build a mantel-type case for it. This continuity problem does not hinder our appreciation of the story; it is only mentioned as a side light.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why is Harry worried about his future?
- Why are the Weasleys unhappy about Bill's engagement to Fleur?
[edit] Extra Study
- What might account for Tonks' changed appearance and demeanor?
- Are Ron and Hermione right to be concerned about Harry's well being? If so, why?
- Harry wants to be an Auror, but what other careers would he be good at?
[edit] Greater Picture
Tonks' forlorn emotional state is actually because she is in love with Remus Lupin, who spurns her affection, believing he is unworthy because he is a werewolf and too old for her. Mrs. Weasley comments that in troubled times like these, people "rush into decisions that they'd normally take time over." She is referring to Bill and Fleur's engagement that was made rather hastily, but it could equally apply to Tonks, who wants to pursue a relationship with Lupin. His refusal causes Tonks' increasing depression. As a result, we will see later that Tonks' Patronus has changed into "something large and hairy." It appears to be a dog, leading people to erroneously believe she was in love with Sirius Black. However, we later learn it is actually a wolf.
