Deathly Hallows, chapter 2

[anehan]

In Memoriam

* The Dursleys are leaving tea cups outside Harry's bedroom door. What are they, house elves?

*Harry has never learned to heal wounds and thinks it's a serious flaw in his magical education. Maybe he ought to have, you know, studied during the six years at Hogwarts instead of letting Hermione do all his work for him. Sorry, Harry, but you have no one else than yourself to blame. Normal people, if they had a lunatic after their blood, would have actually devoted some time for making sure they weren't completely unprepared.

* Harry has never cleaned his trunk before. Gross. Our Harry isn't much for hygiene.

* Finding a fragment of the mirror Sirius had given him, Harry feels a sudden upsurge of bitter memories, stabs of regret and longing. He suffers, I tell you.

* Harry is going to take his photograh album and a stack of letters with him. Good lord, what does he think he's going to do with them. The boy is an idiot.

* And we come to the sickening obituary by Elphias Doge. One more person whom Dumbledore managed to hoodwink into believing he was a noble person.

* Dumbledore never revealed the remotest anti-Muggle tendency. Except when he bullied the Dursleys. But that doesn't count, because the Dursleys totally deserved it.

* Dumbledore became the most brilliant student Hogwarts had ever seen and constantly outshone his friends. Bet he liked that. It would have done good for him to be second-best at something. Instead, everything confirmed him in his belief that he was superior to others and that it was his duty to manipulate others for the greater good.

* According to Doge, Dumbledore never had Ministerial ambitions. True enough. He just wanted to take over the world.

* "Albus Dumbledore was never proud or vain". Ahahahahahaa!

* Dumbledore's losses "endowed him with great humanity and sympathy". Bitch, please. The man is clearly incapable of empathy.

* Doge was right in one thing, though: Dumbledore always worked for the greater good. Too bad his methods and definition of "greater good" were rather questionable.

* Harry had thought he knew Dumbledore quite well. What made him think that? The great openness Dumbledore displayed in his dealings with Harry, perhaps?

* Harry thinks that the idea of a teen-aged Dumbledore was odd, like trying to imagine a stupid Hermione. Much as I love Hermione, I have no problem in imagining her stupid. She isn't half so clever as she likes to think. For example, what good did it do to the DA to brand the traitor's face? It didn't prevent Marietta from squealing.

* The only personal question Harry had asked Dumbledore was the only one he suspected Dumbledore hadn't answered honestly. That's too naïve even for Harry.

* Unpleasant Skeeter may be, but I at least would rather read her book than any more of Doge's pennings. There might ever be a shred of truth in what she writes, if you manage to discount the more lurid details.

* Skeeter calls the Potter-Dumbledore relationship unhealthy, even sinister. Brava! At least someone finally got it right.

* Another chapter in which nothing happens comes to an end. I really need that alcohol to get through this.



Informed Attributes:
Dumbledore is noble. No, really.

Misdirected Answering:
Did you hear what Dumbledore got up to as a teenager? What do you mean, you're not interested?

Nut o' Fun:
Desiccated beetle eyes.

Final score: 3. Nothing happens in this chapter.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

In House Elves, JKR had a 'get out of jail' card (literally!) that she had established brilliantly, and maintained consistently throughout the series. They can override wizards magic/ignore wards/supply food/travel unmonitored etc etc.

Yes, very brilliantly. It made the DEs - most of whom possess house-elves, look even dumber and less dangerous than their other capers. Honestly, if nothing can stop house-elves, then all those pure-blood Dark Wizards from old families should have slaughtered the opposition long since. Or vice-versa DD should have gotten all DEs with his army of Hogwarts house-elves. I prefer to imagine that Dobby could get in because part of his tie with the Malfoy family/ manor remained and so little is known about the exceedingly rare freed elves that Lucius was unaware of it. As to Kreacher going to Hogwarts, DD clearly planned for it and made it possible. Or at least that's what I prefer to think.

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

When I said 'brilliantly', I simply meant that anyone who'd read the previous books would totally accept it if Dobby started saving the day. His ability to do so had been well established early on in the series and constantly re-affirmed throughout. It'd have made sense to use him where possible, rather than coming up with things we'd never seen before.

I wasn't commenting on the fact that these all-powerful House Elves, who don't even need wands, weren't used by Dumbledore or especially the DEs. As you've pointed out, this possiblity wasn't sufficiently closed down by JKR (or at all). But there's a lot of that going on, especially later in the series.

Also, what if wizards can side-along apparate with elves (was that mentioned as impossible? It should have been) into otherwise protected locations. Then Draco could have given Winky a couple of bottles of firewhiskey, claimed that her late master Barty Crouch wanted her to help him (true) and Half-Blood Prince would have been a much shorter book. Still, the DEs follow the lead of their master. Taking Kreacher to the cave, knowing he could apparate and then walking away happy was a perhaps a bit of a mistake....

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

As to that. Lucius never freed Dobby. You have to give an Elf clothes that are for *him*. Lucius didn't *give* Dobby a sock. Lucius threw a sock *away*. Dobby caught it before it landed and declaimed; "Master has given Dobby a sock!" Lucius was so rattled that instead of firing back; "I did nothing of the sort. Now go iron your hands!" he turned on Harry with; "See what you made me do!" and Dobby escaped.

Dobby was a *runaway* slave. Of course he could get back into the Manor. The Malfoys were still his masters (and you will notice that after he was "freed" he still wasn't telling anyone any of their secrets).

[anehan]

That makes sense. I've always wondered how Lucius could have freed Dobby. If taking a piece of clothing would be all it took, the elves masters would have to keep all their clothing under lock and key. Besides, I'm pretty sure the Malfoys for example don't wash their own clothes, and so far we haven't seen any indication that they have human servants for that.

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

Helkamaria, you're right, it can't be taking clothing, though House Elves are more likely to refuse to do the laundry for fear of being free, than steal in order to free themselves.

Maybe it's the intent behind the giving, rather than the action instead? If you hand an item of clothing expecting it back, it's a 'loan' or a 'job of work' not a gift. If you're happy for them to keep and own the item, then it's a gift and they're free. If you're tricked into handing over the item, the fact that you don't want it back (and you accept you've given it to them) takes precedence and they're free.

Heh. Look at us desperately trying to establish House Elf rules that'll fit all known relevant events. We know JKR never made as much effort!

[anehan]

Also, in GoF, Mr Crouch doesn't actually present Winky with clothes, just tells her he is going to do so. Did he actually give Winky clothes? We don't know because Harry leaves the scene at that point.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

When we next see Winky she is wearing a nice little blue suit which was obviously intended just for her. It's filthy, since she is taking no care of it or herself, but she was clearly given clothes of her own.

[tabaquis.livejournal.com]

Do you think he had that thing sitting around to threaten her with? LOL