Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Order of the Phoenix/Chapter 21
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Chapter 21 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The Eye of the Snake
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[edit] Synopsis
Hermione pleads with Hagrid the next day to only teach something safe, but he only responds that nobody in their right minds would rather study Knarls than Chimeras. Hermione hastens to reassure Harry and Ron that she does not believe he has a Chimera waiting for them. Hagrid still refuses to say what is causing his injuries. Hagrid's return receives a mixed reception: Fred, George and Lee Jordan rush to the head table and shake hands while Parvati Patil and Lavender seem somewhat dismayed. Harry understands; Professor Grubbly-Plank's "interesting" lessons do not seem to involve the risk of getting one's head torn off.
In Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid leads the students into the Forest, where he shows them strange, horse-like creatures covered with scaly skin and sporting leathery wings. They are the same ones Harry saw pulling the carriages at the beginning of school. Hagrid asks how many students can actually see them. Harry, Neville, and a stringy Slytherin raise their hands. Hagrid says the creatures are Thestrals. Hermione, when asked, explains they are only visible to people who have seen death. Harry understands now why he can see them and Ron cannot; he witnessed Cedric Diggory's murder during the Triwizard Tournament the previous year. Hagrid's lesson is interrupted by Professor Umbridge, who arrives to inspect his teaching. Umbridge's presence unnerves Hagrid, and with her watching, interrupting, and generally treating Hagrid as subhuman, Hagrid delivers what may be his worst lesson. The Slytherins doing their best to interfere further unnerves Hagrid. Umbridge departs, saying that he can expect his evaluation in ten days.
Banned from Quidditch, Harry has little to look forward to except Dumbledore's Army, and that will not happen over Christmas break. This prospective idleness vexes Harry until he asks Ron how he is returning to the Burrow. Ron then mentions that he forgot to tell Harry that he is invited for Christmas.
Entering the Room of Requirement before the final D.A. meeting prior to the break, Harry sees that Dobby has decorated it extravagantly and embarrassingly. Harry removes most decorations, but mistletoe bunches are still hanging when Luna Lovegood and the other students arrive. Harry has them practice the Impediment jinx and Stunning. At class end, Harry praises everyone's performance and says they will start the big stuff in the new year. Cho Chang, lingering behind, tells Harry she still misses Cedric and wonders if he had known what Harry is teaching, would he still be alive? Harry says he did know it, otherwise he would never had made it to the maze's center in the tournament's Third Task. Cho compliments Harry as being a good teacher, and maneuvering him under the mistletoe, kisses him.
Returning to the common room, Harry tells Ron and Hermione what happened, saying it would be nicer if Cho was not always crying. Hermione explains all the emotional turmoil Cho is undergoing, but Ron says that is impossible, "One person couldn't feel all that at once, they'd explode." Hermione responds that just because he has the emotional range of a teaspoon does not mean everyone does. Hermione says, "I suppose it could have been worse," when Harry describes his efforts to comfort Cho. Asked if he is going to keep seeing her, Harry does not answer. When asked who she is writing to, Hermione says it is to Viktor Krum, causing Ron to lapse into disgruntled silence; very little else is said until everyone is in bed. Harry, musing as he falls asleep, thinks that Hogwarts should teach how to understand girls.
Harry dreams he is a snake slithering down a long hallway. A man is hiding under a silvery cloak. The man draws his wand as Harry attacks him with his venomous fangs. Harry awakes in a panic, shouting, sweating, and his scar burning intensely, convinced the dream was real and that the attacked man was Mr. Weasley. Neville summons Professor McGonagall who takes Harry and Ron to Dumbledore's office.
[edit] Analysis
Harry and Cho's relationship is starting off badly. Although Cho likes Harry, she is still grieving Cedric Diggory's death while coping with other problems. Harry, dealing with his own difficulties and lacking romantic experience, is simply unequipped to handle Cho's fragile emotional state, despite Hermione's advice; he is uncertain if it is wise to continue seeing her. Ron is also undergoing relationship problems after learning that Hermione is writing to Viktor Krum. Ron's unresolved feelings for Hermione are causing him to experience jealousy, although he is confused over how he actually does feel or even why.
Meanwhile, Harry's dreams are becoming more real and intense. Not only is he convinced that what he saw was actually happening, requiring that he act quickly to save Mr. Weasley, but he sees it from his own point-of-view and feels the emotion as it unfolds, leaving him extremely disturbed.
Hagrid has deliberately ignored Hermione's advice to only teach "safe" Ministry-approved lessons, although it probably matters little what lessons he does teach or how well or how badly he teaches them. We can see clearly now that Umbridge is a racist, and she is obviously intent on eliminating him solely based on his half-Giant heritage. Hagrid, though, is hurting his own cause. Whether this is childish obstinacy, or simple failure to comprehend how precarious his situation is, remains unclear. However, as we have seen, not all students would be unhappy if he left. Slytherins, of course, would favor his dismissal purely from spite, but others also fear his lessons, which oftentimes feature dangerous creatures and sometimes result in minor injuries.
It has been noted that Harry should have been able to see the Thestrals as he rode in the horseless carriage from the castle to the train at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; after all, he had just seen Cedric Diggory killed. There are actually several answers, including one in the context of the books, and one in the context of the author's plans. Rowling states that immediately after Harry witnessed Cedric Diggory's death, he was still in shock and had not completely internalized what had happened. Cedric's death is not entirely real to him yet, and it is only after he broods over the summer that he finally accepts that Cedric is dead. Only when he fully believes that he has witnessed death, is he able to see the Thestrals. Readers have asked, did he not see death earlier, such as when Lord Voldemort killed his parents? The answer is no, he did not. Being a baby, he was unable to comprehend that night's tragic events. Also, his father was actually killed in another part of the house, while his mother's death probably happened beyond his view in his crib. While it could be argued that Harry saw Voldemort die by his own rebounding killing curse, Voldemort is not really dead, nor would baby Harry understand what he saw. Harry also did not see Professor Quirrell die at the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He lost consciousness before Quirrell actually died. The author has also stated that having the Thestrals visible to Harry just before the book's end would have left a rather uncomfortable puzzle for the readers: what are these creatures, are they Dark? So she said she made the conscious decision to leave them invisible until the next book.
The above is a paraphrase of the author's own comments on the matter. However, critics can argue that this was actually one of several inconsistencies throughout the books. Rowling may have simply made a literary mistake regarding Harry being unable to see the Thestrals at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and she concocted an explanation to fit the facts once the error became apparent.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why does Hermione encourage Hagrid to teach something "safe" in his class? Would her advice make any difference?
- How does Hagrid react when Umbridge arrives to inspect his class?
- What does Dobby do to the Room of Requirement? What is Harry's reaction? Why?
- What are the horse-like creatures? Who can see them and why?
- What is Ron's reaction to Hermione writing a letter to Viktor Krum? Why?
- Why does Cho cry so much? What does Hermione think of Harry's efforts to comfort Cho?
[edit] Further Study
- Why are some students less enthused than others about Hagrid's return to Hogwarts?
- How has the nature of Harry's dream changed, and why is he convinced this one is real?
- We are told that Harry does not return to Gryffindor tower until half an hour after the DA meeting has ended. What takes him so long?
[edit] Greater Picture
Harry's dream is somehow much more realistic than the ones he has experienced regarding that hallway to date. He will soon become convinced that Voldemort is possessing him. Dumbledore will seem unsurprised when Harry recounts the night's events, and he offers little explanation about what might be happening, leaving Harry even more confused, upset, and angrier at Dumbledore. Eventually, we will learn that this is, in fact, an artifact of the linkage between Voldemort the soul shard left in Harry by Voldemort's murder attempt. This is the point at which Voldemort learns that the linkage exists. Shortly, he will start to try to use this linkage to influence Harry's actions. This attempt will be sporadic and ineffective until after Voldemort's discussion with Rookwood, which Harry will also see as a dream. Voldemort will then start systematically using this link to coerce Harry to retrieve something for him.
It is actually concern that Voldemort may be using the mental link between himself and Harry, that is preventing Dumbledore from speaking to Harry. It is only at the end of this book that Dumbledore will reveal that he was trying to avoid letting Voldemort know that the relationship between himself and Harry was anything more than the usual Headmaster to student relationship.
As mentioned, we quite clearly see Umbridge's bias against Hagrid at this point, and can see that it is typical of prejudice: Umbridge arrives at Hagrid's class with preconceptions, and discovers exactly what she expects to discover while "examining" him. We will later learn that she is prejudiced against all non-Human races, having authored anti-Werewolf legislation; her dislike of Hagrid, based on nothing more substantial than his ancestry, will be only one aspect of her dislike of those who are not fully-human Wizards. This prejudice will result in Hagrid shortly being put on probation, and near the end of the year Umbridge will bring several Aurors with her as she attempts to sack Hagrid. In the meanwhile, she will repeatedly examine his classes, causing his already-weak confidence to crumble further.
