Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Order of the Phoenix/Chapter 37
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Chapter 37 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The Lost Prophecy
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The Portkey delivers Harry to Dumbledore's office, which has been repaired after Dumbledore's spectacular escape. Harry is deeply stunned and angry over Sirius' death and blames himself for falling for Voldemort's deception. Dumbledore soon arrives, to cheers from the portraits in his office, and places Fawkes tenderly on the ashes under his perch. He tells Harry the other students are being tended to by Madam Pomfrey. Tonks was also injured, but she has been taken to St. Mungo's hospital and will recover.
Harry rages at Dumbledore, but when Dumbledore claims responsibility for Sirius' death, Harry is subdued. Dumbledore admits that if he had been more open, Harry would have realized that Voldemort was luring Harry into a trap at the Department of Mysteries. Dumbledore explains to a still seething Harry that the events that gave him his scar, also left a mental connection between Harry and Voldemort. Voldemort discovered this gateway after Arthur Weasley was attacked, and he intruded into Harry's thoughts. Dumbledore says that is why he had insisted Harry study Occlumency and why he remained aloof from Harry all year, fearing that Voldemort would try harder to break into Harry's mind if he suspected there was more than a teacher to student relationship between them, or that Voldemort would gain valuable information through him. Harry tells him that he tried to contact Sirius to see if he was safe; Dumbledore says Kreacher lied, that Sirius was actually tending to Buckbeak, tending an injury inflicted by Kreacher. After Harry warned Snape while in Umbridge's office, Snape checked to see that Sirius was safe; but when Harry did not return from the Forbidden Forest, he alerted the Order, who then went to the Ministry. Snape wanted Sirius to remain at Grimmauld, but Sirius ordered Kreacher to tell Dumbledore what had happened. And Dumbledore learned from Kreacher about the lie that had been told to Harry, and that Kreacher's instructions had originated with the last member of the Black family that Kreacher respected: Narcissa Malfoy. Kreacher could not betray the Order totally, but he could reveal to Narcissa that the one thing that would always bring Harry was a threat to Sirius Black.
Harry is angry that Snape disbelieved him when he told Snape what was happening; Dumbledore says that Snape had to behave that way in Umbridge's presence. Harry argues that Snape had been using Occlumency to soften him up for Voldemort, saying his scar always hurt worse after a lesson. Dumbledore reiterates his complete faith in Snape's loyalty. He regrets not teaching Harry himself, but he feared it could give Voldemort access to his own thoughts. Sadly, he underestimated Snape's deep, lingering resentments towards Harry's father.
Dumbledore explains why the infant Harry was placed with the Dursleys rather than with a wizarding family, although many offered to adopt the orphaned boy. When Lily Potter was killed defending her son, her sacrifice created a magical shield that protected Harry from Voldemort. However, the protection only remains in effect as long as Harry lives in his mother's blood relatives' home—that relative is Aunt Petunia. Dumbledore was convinced that Voldemort would return, and his priority was to keep Harry alive. The Howler Petunia received was a stern reminder from Dumbledore of her obligation to protect Harry.
Dumbledore tells Harry that the reason Voldemort had tried to kill him was because of a prophecy that had been made shortly before Harry's birth. While Voldemort knew of the prophecy, and some of the prophecy itself, he did not know the whole, and had been trying to retrieve it to find out what it said.
Harry tells Dumbledore that the prophecy was destroyed, but Dumbledore says only a copy of the original was lost. He knows the contents because it was to him that the prophecy was first revealed. Sixteen years ago, Dumbledore interviewed Sibyll Trelawney for the Divination position, meeting her at a pub in Hogsmeade. Although she was descended from a gifted Seer, she herself seemed minimally talented. Saying she was not acceptable for the post, Dumbledore was about to leave.
Dumbledore stops speaking, and, producing the Pensieve, extracts a memory from his mind and places it therein. Sibyll Trelawney's veiled image rises, and in the harsh voice Harry heard once before, says, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Dumbledore says there were two boys who fit the prophecy: Harry and Neville Longbottom, born days apart. Both Harry's and Neville's parents, who were Order of the Phoenix members, defied Voldemort three times. Dumbledore believes Voldemort attacked Harry because he is a half-blood like himself, and therefore possibly more dangerous; Neville is a pureblood. By deliberately choosing Harry, Voldemort "marked" him as his equal, leaving behind the scar on Harry's forehead. Dumbledore goes on to say that Voldemort had only heard the first half of the prophecy. The second part predicted that the marked child would have powers that the Dark Lord could never know, and that one must die at the hand of the other, for both cannot live while the other survives. Dumbledore tells Harry that the power he possesses and Voldemort does not is love. It was love that protected Harry from Voldemort's killing curse while ripping the Dark Lord's soul from his body. He also confirms that the prophecy means that either Voldemort or Harry must kill the other.
Finally, as Harry is leaving the office, Dumbledore explains why he had not chosen Harry to be a Prefect: "I must confess . . . that I rather thought . . . you had enough responsibility to be going on with."
[edit] Analysis
Harry is roiling in turmoil—simultaneously experiencing rage, grief, and guilt. Although Dumbledore explains why he withheld vital information and reveals the entire prophecy, it does little to console Harry. He now understands his ties to the Dursleys, and although his relationship with Petunia will never change, he now realizes that it is she, through their blood connection, who stands between him and Voldemort. And although Petunia has no love for her nephew, she continues to fulfill her obligation to protect him; Harry knows he must continue to endure living in her home until he comes of age. And now Harry has a new burden to bear: either he or Voldemort must die.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why didn't Dumbledore teach Harry Occlumency himself?
- Why does Harry have to return to the Dursleys each summer?
- Why did Voldemort "mark" Harry as his equal rather than Neville Longbottom?
- How is love used as a powerful force against Voldemort, and why is the Dark Lord incapable of possessing it?
[edit] Extra Study
- The prophecy never mentioned Harry's name. Two boys fit Trelawney's description, and either could have been marked by Voldemort: Harry or Neville Longbottom. Therefore, is it possible that Neville, who might have been chosen by Voldemort, could also have retrieved the orb from the Department of Mysteries? Explain why he could or could not.
- How might Harry and Neville's relationship change now that Harry knows that Neville could have been "The Chosen One."
- What might have been the result if Dumbledore had instructed Harry in Occlumency, rather than Snape teaching him?
- Why does Aunt Petunia continue to protect Harry, even though she does not love him?
[edit] Greater Picture
It is interesting that, when Harry is yelling at Dumbledore, he says that Dumbledore cannot possibly know the pain that he is suffering. Harry feels as though the death of Sirius is his fault, as he had let Voldemort into his mind, and fallen for the ruse that lured him into the Department of Mysteries. In fact, Dumbledore does know how Harry feels, more so than many others would. As discussed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore's sister Ariana was killed during a three-way duel between Dumbledore, his brother Aberforth, and Grindelwald. While he does not know whose spell actually killed her, there is no doubt in Dumbledore's mind that he is responsible for the death of his sister. Indications are that he carries this regret and remorse with him for the rest of his life, and Harry muses that what Dumbledore desires the most and sees in the Mirror of Erised is his family, including his sister and mother, whole and together again. This pain is also seen at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Dumbledore drinks the potion in the Cave, though we do not learn the reasons behind it it until Aberforth's explanation in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Dumbledore says Voldemort wanted the orb because he never heard the entire prophecy; while the Hog's Head, where the prophecy was made, is known for its eavesdropping population, Voldemort's informant apparently only heard the prophecy's first half. In a later book, Harry learns that when Trelawney returned from her prophecy-induced trance, Severus Snape was present. Harry leaps to the conclusion that Snape was Voldemort's informant. Dumbledore, confronted by Harry, does not dispute this, and in fact it is confirmed much later. However, if he was present at the end of the prophecy, why does Dumbledore say that he had only heard the first part? If we look at the prophecy itself, and the earlier one, we will see that Trelawney's prophecies seem to repeat the first part at the conclusion; so someone hearing the end of the prophecy would hear a repetition of the prophecy's beginning.
