Deathly Hallows Chapter 3

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

The Dursleys Depart

There’s just one word for this chapter. Awkward.

For one thing, Harry and the Dursleys actually have to converse. This is not something we’re used to, nor are they.

I think the main reason we even have this chapter is exposition for those who never read the first six books—or have forgotten the main storyline. I’m clued into this when Harry reminds us about seeing Dumbledore’s eye in the mirror the chapter before. Just in case we forgot that in the time it took to turn the page.

Vernon can’t make up his mind whether or not to accept the Order’s offer of protection. I can’t say I blame Vernon for being suspicious. Every encounter he’s had with wizards has involved them doing something nasty to him, his house, or his family.

Harry is torn between exasperation and amusement at Vernon’s dilemma. Those Muggles. So amusing when they are forced into relocation camps! Still, this is probably the most positive Harry’s ever been about his Muggle relatives. Even if Vernon’s eyes are still piggy and small and Aunt Petunia’s voice is shrill and squealing.

Harry’s favorite moment is when Vernon hurts his back trying to lift an unexpectedly heavy suitcase. Those Muggles! They are so amusing when they injure themselves!

There are plenty of timeline clues in this chapter and the one before. It’s four days before Harry’s birthday. Vernon has been changing his mind for the past four weeks, after Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley visited “a few days” after Harry arrived. This puts Dumbledore’s funeral about five weeks before July 31st. Shout out to timeline fans!

I’m still really curious why Harry bothered to come back to the Dursleys’ at all. I know Dumbledore asked them to let him, but I don’t see why that means he had to. Wouldn’t it have been simpler to move him to a safe house directly from Hogwarts? With all the people leaving the funeral, no one would have been able to track him if he portkeyed or side-Apparated.

The only thing I can think is that it took all this time to set up the protective wards. Which doesn’t make sense to me since it later takes Hermione about two minutes to do that sort of thing.

Also, I don’t really buy that Voldemort would go after the Dursleys. If he spent any time in Harry’s head (as he did in OotP), he’d know that Harry hates his relatives. Tom hated his relatives, too, so it’s something he could really understand. Plus, they’re Muggles. No one ever tells Muggles anything.

Harry tells Vernon that Voldemort tortured and killed Harry’s parents. Harry’s projecting a little here. Voldemort didn’t’ torture his parents. He only killed them. It’s a small distinction, I know.

Luckily, Dudley ends the argument by taking the offer for protection. Relieved, Harry goes back upstairs to remind us that Hedwig exists. She ignores him, reminding us that she hates Harry (it’s in the book!).

Now I’m wondering why Harry didn’t just let her go with Ron after the funeral—or send her to Ron at any time in the past five weeks. Surely that would be better than keeping her in a cage so she can stare at him resentfully?

Daedelus Diggle greets the Dursleys as “Harry Potter’s relatives.” Harry suspects that the Dursleys find this greeting annoying. I don’t blame them. Who would want to be addressed like that? “Hello, I’d like to introduce you to the new Secretary of State, Bill’s wife!” Yet again, the Dursleys are ridiculed for acting like normal human beings.

Daeleus Diggle tells us that they can’t use magic because the Ministry might think it was Harry doing it and arrest him. Just keep that in the back of your mind. It might come in handy later on when we take a look at the “Trace.” Then again, with this book, it might be utterly meaningless.

Vernon reacts with alarm when he learns that Daedelus can’t drive. Those Muggles! So amusing with their expectations of conventional skill sets!

Then we have a long and very awkward passage where Dudley must first realize (this takes a few paragraphs) that Harry isn’t coming with them, and then have Hestia realize that the Dursleys don’t realize that Harry is the Chosen One and then have Harry use the phrase “waste of space” so that Dudley can refute that. Man! That took forever, but we finally have the pay-off for Harry saving Dudley’s life back in OotP.

No pun intended, but this is one dud of a payoff. I guess it’s asking too much for something more, but “you’re not a waste of space” is more hmmm than ha! It’s like we just wandered into an episode of The Office. Maybe that’s it. JKR is channeling Ricky Gervais in this chapter.

I’m wondering… is Dudley actually mentally challenged? If so, that’s a pretty tricky twist by JKR. You know, she charmed us into laughing at Dudley for six books, only to reveal in the last one that Dudley is seriously handicapped and Harry just never realized it. That’s rather sad and touching now that I think about it.

It would also help explain why Petunia overreacts so whenever Dudley does anything at all.

The chapter ends with an odd moment between Petunia and Harry—a hint that maybe she’ll miss Harry? That she does feel something for him? Or that she wants to clear up that misunderstanding about who the “awful boy” was? We’ll never know, because she walks out the door and that’s the last we’ll ever see of the Dursleys.

Fan Service:
Dursleys go into hiding! Imagine the hijinks and hilarity to follow!
Dudley finally thanks Harry for saving his life two years later.

Fan Slappage:
The Dursleys are not eaten by dragons for abusing Harry all these years.

DVD Extras:
INT. DAY – THE DURSLEYS’ CAR

The DURSLEYS, HESTIA, and DAEDELUS are all scrunched into the rear seat of the car. Behind them, bluescreen footage shows a seaside road that they are currently driving on. CHEERFUL, BOUNCY MUSIC plays. Vernon, brow furrowed, glances from Daedelus to the driver of the car—a grey tabby cat.

VERNON
Explain to me again why a cat is driving the car?

DAEDELUS
That is Professor McGonagall. She kindly volunteered to chauffeur.

VERNON
But she’s a cat!

HESTIA
Actually, she’s an animagus—

VERNON
I don’t care if she’s an Anabaptist! I don’t want a cat driving my car!

DUDLEY
(pointing) Ha ha. Kitty!

PETUNIA
Perhaps we shouldn’t complain, Vernon. She’s doing very well.

VERNON
But she’s a cat!

PETUNIA
I know, but you’re making her nervous.

VERNON
How can you tell?

PETUNIA
Her tail is twitching.

The car suddenly starts swerving.

HESTIA
Professor! Keep your eyes on the roooooooooaaaaaa---

EXT. DAY –WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER

As the passengers SCREAM, the car drives off the road and over the cliff. It falls down onto the beach and bursts into flames.

The music swells as a chorus brightly sings:

CHORUS
MCGONAGALL, THE DRIVING CAT!

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It's funny that Voldemort does go after the Dursleys, because it sort of undermines the whole concept. Like, we know he goes after them only so that we can set up the whole "Snape's a traitor, seriously guys, he is!" in the beginning, but that just begs the question of why put him there at all since he's safer at the Weasleys.

The actual reason he's there canonically I think *is* the thing with Snape--Dumbledore set Harry up so that Snape could prove to Voldemort that he was a spy, even though Snape's spy cover was already blown by this point *and* he'd already proved his loyalty by killing Dumbledore. I don't remember the Mundungus as a spy ever coming in useful again.

But then there's the bigger question of why Voldemort doesn't ever go after anybody Harry's close to if that's the plan here. Why not ever go after Ginny? Or more obviously, why not go after Hermione, the brains behind anything Harry does? I guess you could make a case for Voldemort not lowering himself to respect a Muggleborn, but that's a big stretch even for Voldemort.

Nice that Harry's subtly incorporated Neville's story into his own. Just in case anybody might have started feeling more sympathy for Neville.

If you're going to start asking why Harry kept Hedwig around to glare at him it might lead you to wonder why he didn't let her fly safely to the Weasleys on their own.

Dudley does seem pretty dim here, doesn't he? Like borderline retarded. Setting us up for Crabbe and Goyle, I guess. Not that what someone looks like on the outside in any way can predict what their personality will be.

Nothing like a well-timed Toonces joke! Extra points for working in an anabaptist reference!

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

I think maybe the reason Harry didn't send Hedwig off to Ron is that Ron and Hermione seem to have been staying there with the Dursleys with Harry, as they threatened to do at the end of HBP. And of course he had conveniently broken up with Ginny. (*That* must have made for a wonderful month at Privet Dr.)

[eir-de-scania.livejournal.com]

I think the main reason we even have this chapter is exposition for those who never read the first six books—or have forgotten the main storyline.
***Probably a request from the publishers, they tend to insist on recaps in series. Or JKR have seen those in other series and thought that is how it's done.

Harry’s favorite moment is when Vernon hurts his back trying to lift an unexpectedly heavy suitcase. Those Muggles! They are so amusing when they injure themselves!
***Wizarding humour. Just be grateful the books are labelled "children's books" or JKR would have dressed them in drag, with enormous fake boobs. Most Brits find that hilarious.

There are plenty of timeline clues in this chapter and the one before.
***Forget them. Just forget them. If it makes sense it's just by accident. Our Jo does not, I repeat not, make timelines.

Vernon reacts with alarm when he learns that Daedelus can’t drive. Those Muggles! So amusing with their expectations of conventional skill sets!
***Poor Verne probably thought they would go by broomsticks.

[beatnikspinster.livejournal.com]

Those Muggles. So amusing when they are forced into relocation camps!

Thank you! That's one of the creepiest things about these books. So much hubris about the glorious anti-discrimination statement made by the blood status war, but the books actually invent a division between people to generate hatred, resentment, and condescension that wouldn't have otherwise existed without them. *boggles*

(And that's aside from the house elves and centaurs and goblins and all the ugly subtext they make.)

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

- “I’m still really curious why Harry bothered to come back to the Dursleys’ at all. I know Dumbledore asked them to let him, but I don’t see why that means he had to.”

You think? YOU THINK? Do you want to know the worst thing about Deathly Hallows? (Well, one of the worst.) It was filled with pointless, insubstantial fluff. What was the point of this chapter? WHAT? I remember a friend predicting that Harry and Petunia would be reconciled as she handed over vital belongings of his parents, destined to play a pivotal role in the book, and also told him more about his background. I thought it unrealistic that he’d salvage a relationship with the Dursleys, but he might get a clipped “Good Luck” after she filled missing pieces of the jigsaw. What did we get? Dudley succumbed to Harry worship, Daedelus and Hestia balked that the Senior Dursleys didn't do the same, then the family left - forever. A complete fizzling out of characters who should have had a better part (or any part)to play.

You’re 1,000% right, Harry should have gone straight back to the Burrow. The Dursleys, as they apparently had no further part to play in the story, could refuse to leave their house and be killed by a thwarted Voldemort. A Dark Mark over Privet Drive is a pet theory of mine. I do understand why he’d kill them – Petunia, however unwillingly, had kept Harry safe from him. Also a falsely accused Harry as a fugitive from muggle justice, would kill two birds with one stone. Harry couldn’t as easily hide from him in the muggle world. And you only have to know Harry in passing to know what a self-indulgent martyr he is - so heap on the guilt. (And hope he doesn't just shrug it off in the way he did Sirius)


- I agree 100% with Sistermagpie. Why not go after Hermione during that long weekend she stays with her parents every year? It doesn’t have to be about respect, just that she’s the easy target. Or kill her parents, making it publically known that they died because of her link with The Chosen One. (Pardon me if I'm unconvinced of the efficiency of any 'protection' that had been arranged for them) Even Hermione would take it as a body blow, and the golden Trio would grind to a halt immediately. Ron and Ginny would be too difficult to get to at first, but once the Ministry had fallen, Ginny was at a school run by Death Eaters, for crying out loud! In fact, why take Luna off the train and not do a search for other useful bargaining tools? Where was Ginny, hiding on the luggage rack?


- “Now I’m wondering why Harry didn’t just let [Hedwig] go with Ron after the funeral—or send her to Ron at any time in the past five weeks.”

So she can DIE! Mwah ha ha ha!! Seriously, though, it was bad enough Harry went back to Privet Drive, so obviously he should have let Ron take Hedwig at the end of Book 6. Her nonsensical death was a true highlight though, so I’ll let this 3627453th example of his idiocy pass. (I’m killing myself laughing, just thinking about it. Hee!)


- “I’m wondering… is Dudley actually mentally challenged? If so, that’s a pretty tricky twist by JKR. You know, she charmed us into laughing at Dudley for six books, only to reveal in the last one that Dudley is seriously handicapped and Harry just never realized it. That’s rather sad and touching now that I think about it.”
I think we all know that this beyond JKR. I think she was aiming for ‘comedy thick’. Dudley is the muggle Crabbe, destined for pratfalls, bullying, being fat and other such elements of comic relief. However, because he realised Harry’s innate nobility and goldenpolyjuicepotionness in the nick of time, he was spared being horribly burned to death in unquenchable flames of plot contrivance.


- DVD Extras – I approve, as long as McGonagall jumps free at the last moment. We don’t want to deprive Harry of his moment of chivalry near the end of the book.

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

Harry tells Vernon that Voldemort tortured and killed Harry’s parents. Harry’s projecting a little here. Voldemort didn’t’ torture his parents. He only killed them. It’s a small distinction, I know.

Harry's either Muggle-baiting, or engaging in a little wishful thinking, as in, "Boy, won't it be cool when I can torture a Death Eater back?"

...and then have Harry use the phrase “waste of space” so that Dudley can refute that.

Keep in mind that Dudley doesn't know for sure if Harry is a waste of space or not. Dudley only sees Harry in the summers, when Harry mostly stays in his room with his resentful owl to remind him of home, like a... well, like a waste of space.

I’m wondering… is Dudley actually mentally challenged?

Nah, it's just how JKR writes those big lugs who are inferior to Harry -- Crabbe, Goyle, Dudley, ah, Hagrid. Most of them even forgot how to talk in DH, Harry is that amazing in comparison.

Ha ha. Kitty!

;D

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

I know Dumbledore asked them to let him, but I don’t see why that means he had to.
You are kidding, right? Of course, that's why. For reference check the rest of DH or the whole series, really. Examples: Everybody thought Snape was a very shady character, but they trusted him because Dumbles said so. There is no earthly reason why the weird legacies the trio inherit from Dumbles would make any sense at all - but dumbles did it, so there MUST be some deep reason behind it and although that never gets explained in any way, the assumption still never is negated.

The only thing I can think is that it took all this time to set up the protective wards.
In fact, there might have been an easy explanation for the whole humdrum which even would have been consistent with the whole "the government are idiots" policy of the books: why not write it off as something idiotic and dangerous they HAD to do because of bureaucratic reasons? McGonagall saying: "Harry, it really would be much better for you to go straight into hiding in one of the order's safehouses, but the Ministry insists on you spending your time with your relatives until the day you turn 17". Even the idiotic rescue mission would make a lick of sense, showing the Order's attempt to get Harry out of Privet Drive before the ministry approved date to thwart the expected DE attack.

Also, I don’t really buy that Voldemort would go after the Dursleys.
Worse - the possibility of Voldemort going after the Dursleys opens up another glaring plot-hole because it begs the question why he hadn't done it before, thus destroying Harry's blood protection.

Surely that would be better than keeping her in a cage so she can stare at him resentfully?
Don't you get it? The poor little orphan couldn't bear to be separated from his beloved pet, especially not in the unloving environment of his relatives. I mean, that's why her death is so tragic!!!

Ah the chosen-waste-of-space scene! Like straight out of a daily soap with all its emotional depth. In a sense, it's Harry's Cinderella moment - you know, when the whole High school realizes the ugly duckling really was Angelina Jolie in disguise - only here it's not about beauty but about importance!

Good point about the mentally challenged versus stupid Dudley, which makes me wonder in general: holding someone's looks against them is generally thought of as wrong (unless, of course, they are FAT!). But why is it different with their levels of intelligence?

The Dursleys' departure was the first incidence of an unfulfilled storyline. Yep. No meaning, no development (unless you count Dudley's kitsch moment)- just comic (?) relief.

[eir-de-scania.livejournal.com]

No pun intended, but this is one dud of a payoff. I guess it’s asking too much for something more, but “you’re not a waste of space” is more hmmm than ha!
***I actually liked that part. Awkward and hesitant, like a couple of 17-y-o in RL. And perhaps a bit of British understatement as well. ;-)

[sunnyskywalker]

You know what would have been great? If Voldemort did go after the Dursleys, and Harry had to actually contemplate rescuing people he disliked. I mean, not as a split-second decision like with Draco and the Fiendfyre, but actually plan to.

Even failing that, Voldemort should have captured and tortured half the Weasleys. Perhaps giving "covering for delinquent child not in school and not, actually, sick with spattergoit" as an excuse to arrest them all. Why aren't there consequences for anything these kids do? Umbridge should have teamed up with Rita to label Hermione Public Enemy #2 and bring her down, too.

If Harry had Apparated to a safe house right after the funeral, we could have started this book with the actual story. Imagine.