deathtocapslock | Deathly Hallows Chapter 25 (Reply)

Shell Cottage

We pause for a few days as Harry listens to the sound of the sea and contemplates the enormity of his decision not to prevent Voldemort from obtaining the Elder Wand.

Harry can’t remember ever choosing not to act in his life before. He must have forgotten all those time he chose not to practice Occlumency. Also, the time he chose not to try and figure what the screaming egg meant—even though everyone and Hermione kept pestering him about it.

JKR has Ron second-guessing Harry in an attempt to make Harry’s decision seem more important than it actually was. Harry can’t help but wonder if Ron is right and it was “outright madness” not to try to keep Voldemort from opening Dumbledore’s tomb.

Okay. I’ll play along, Harry. How exactly were you planning on stopping him? You’ve been stuck in hiding for months. You were dead tired and emotionally drained. Hermione was in a bathrobe for goodness sake. You were on the other side of the country.

So, you thought you’d just skip into Hogwarts—where Voldemort was fresh and deadly, and had at least three Death Eaters for back-up and do… what, exactly? Accio Dumbedore’s body?

Might I remind you that Snape wiped your butt last time you dueled?

Hermione sensibly reminds Harry that the Wand is Evil, and any plan to keep Voldemort from getting the wand would have meant breaking into Dumbledore’s tomb themselves. Which only results in Harry getting mad at Dumbledore all over again.

And leads into an argument about whether or not Dumbledore is actually dead. Of course he is. JKR told Salman Rushdie that he was. Shall we move on?

Fleur comes to deliver the message that Griphook is ready to talk. She’s irritated at Griphook for making her deliver that message. Also, her silver hair is flying around. I wonder if it that’s a Veela thing. Maybe their hair is like cat’s tails. When they get irritated, it waves around.

Griphook is in the tiniest bedroom (which Hermione and Luna share) and he’s drawn the curtains, which gives the room a red glow. Obvious demonic symbolism here as Harry prepares to make a deal with the ~~devil~~, er ~~Shylock~~, er… goblin.

Griphook says that he’ll help Harry in return for… payment. Harry, naturally enough, offers gold (which he has a bunch of in his vault). This insults Griphook who declares that he has plenty of gold himself, thank you very much. He wants the Sword of Gryffindor, which Harry refuses to give him.

So then Ron blunders even worse by offering treasure from Bellatrix’s vault—at which Griphook declares that he is not a thief. (Just an accomplice.)

And… now they’re all arguing about whether the Sword belongs to wizards or to goblins.

According to Griphook, the Sword originally belonged to Ragnuk the First, and was “taken” from him by Godric Gryffindor. Which could mean stolen, or it could mean that they dueled, or there was a war, or any number of things.

So… in trying to relate understand this (Reading Strategy 4.1 monitor and adjust comprehension using background knowledge), I think about such controversies as the Kennewick Man where Native Americans sued for the return of an ancient skeleton found on Federal land. In terms of shedding light on Harry’s situation, I conclude that it’s far too complicated to try and argue this conflict through on historical grounds, and they should come up with a different process.

jim_smith would point out that, by offering to help Harry in return for the sword, Griphook is acknowledging that he doesn’t already own the sword, so this entire argument about who does own it is moot.

At this point, Harry breaks off negotiations with Griphook in order to confer with Ron and Hermione. For the content of that discussion, I can do no better than to refer you to Jim Smith’s summary of this chapter:
Jim Smith pitches in for his brother who was killed by a poison duck (don’t ask).

It’s very long, and the part you’d want starts about midway through. The easiest way to find it is to do a page search for "Princess Leia slave costume." That will get you to the paragraph before the one you want to start on. Read through the dialogue and enjoy. ; )

So, the upshot is that Harry decides that he will give the Sword to Griphook (not that Harry has any special right to the Sword. Legally, it belongs to Hogwarts. Magically, it belongs to Ron). However, Harry needs the sword to destroy the Horcrux they find, plus the one they still don’t have a clue about, and possibly the one last encountered in Bathilda’s body, so he’ll leave out the part where he doesn’t hand it over immediately—but holds onto it. Possibly for years.

I haven’t spoken to any six-year-olds who read this book, but I’m pretty sure that all of them would be able to figure out that this is a Very Bad Idea. And Wrong, too.

Even Harry can figure out that it’s wrong. What he can’t figure out is that it’s also stupid.

Ron, naturally, thinks that it’s brilliant.

They return and Harry promises to give Griphook the Sword in payment for his help. Hermione, meanwhile, has the words “We’re LYING!” written all over her face.

Oh, would that were literally true! Wouldn’t it be so great if Griphook had magically cursed the agreement so that pustules broke out all over Harry’s face if he broke his promise? It would go so well with that “I must not tell lies” hand of his.

But, he doesn’t and so the Trio and Griphook start planning their heist. It takes… big surprise… weeks of drawing diagrams and flow charts and to do lists. Hermione notes that their store of Polyjuice potion is very low. There’s only enough to Polyjuice one person.

Okay…. So…. they are doing this for weeks. Hermione knows the recipe for Polyjuice. Any reason they don’t brew up another batch? No, I didn’t think so.

Of course, it would take them so long to brew it that they’d end up breaking in the vault later than June, when the students would be at home and unavailable for the big battle finish—but that’s JKR’s problem. Not theirs.

The more time the Trio spends with Griphook, the less they like him. He’s bloodthirsty, he enjoys the thought of pain for wizards and lesser creatures (so… why was he so impressed about Harry burying Dobby?), and he insists on kosher food.

Harry apologizes to Fleur for all the bother, so that she can remind him that he saved her sister’s life, so that Harry can remind us that Gabrielle was never in any real danger. Fleur. One of the many characters in the series to bow to Harry’s awesomeness for no logical reason.

Maybe he does have Veela blood in him. That would also explain the hair.

Harry assures Fleur that the Trio will soon be vacating her small cottage, whereupon Fleur starts to make Mrs. Weasley noises. “Of course you must not leave, you are safe ‘ere!”

Oh god. It’s like we’ve regressed back to Chapter Six! Please. Please. Don’t go backwards. We’ll never reach the end!

Fortunately, Luna and Dean break up the conversation by bringing in wood. Luna is exhibiting her friend-gathering behavior by telling Dean about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and how her father found a horn for her… and now Hermione is arguing with her about whether it was a Snorckack or an Erumpent horn… God, we’re back in Chapter 20!

Snape! Where are you, Snape? Please come and rescue this story!

Fortunately, this is interrupted by Mr. Ollivander coming down the stairs on his way to Aunt Muriel’s. Fleur gives him her goblin-made tiara to return to Aunt Muriel. The tiara is important because 1) Griphook makes a comment, illustrating the goblin view towards ownership of goblin-made items, and 2) Luna reminds us that her father was working on a replica of the famous Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw.

There is a knock at the door! We get a little character snapshot as people react. Fleur looks frightened. Bill and the Trio draw their wands. Griphook slides under the table like the tiny, swarthy coward that he is.

“Who is it?” Bill calls out. What late night visitor is rapping, rapping on my chamber door?

“It is I!” replies Lupin, who must have been a member of the Hogwarts Melodrama Club. “I am a werewolf, married to Nymphodora Tonks, and you, the Secret-Keeper of Shell Cottage, told me the address and bade me come in an emergency!”

I think it’s a real pity that we’re stuck inside the house and missed all the sweeping arm gestures that must have accompanied that speech.

Once he gets in the door, Lupin turns the melodrama into soap opera. He bursts out that Tonks has had the baby, hugs Harry, and asks him to become “Teddy” Lupin’s godfather.

I have to pause for a moment because it just hurts. I can’t even snark.

…

There’s only one reason in the world why Lupin would name Harry as his son’s godfather. Because this book is about Harry.

Here are the reasons against naming Harry: He’s seventeen. He’s the most wanted wizard in the country. He’s on a secret mission that may take years or decades and can’t be found most of the time. He has absolutely no experience with children. He can’t even take proper care of an owl. People around him die with alarming frequency. He’s impulsive and thoughtless. He’s seventeen.

By the way, how come there are zillions of godfathers in the wizarding world and nary a godmother to be found?

So, Lupin stays and they drink wine and it’s all cozy and wonderful. Harry notices that Griphook doesn’t seem as pleased as everyone else (why the hell would he be?), and slinks off to his bedroom. Harry also notices Bill noticing the goblin leaving.

After Lupin finally goes back to his own family, Bill pulls Harry into the kitchen. I like this scene. Bill is being smart. He knows something is up, and he doesn’t try to baby Harry, but he does warn Harry that trying to cheat a goblin is a Very Bad Idea.

I have to laugh when Bill says that nobody can understand goblin ideas of ownership unless they have worked with goblins. According to the goblins, anything they make is only rented to humans for the period of one lifetime.

When I’m lucky, I get paid to write. I’m really far down on the writer’s scale and when I get paid, it’s Work for Hire. That means that whatever I write is paid for with a flat fee. I never get royalties. (Well, I do for plays… but only when I get paid at all, which is rarely.)

But, higher up on the scale, people get paid for what is called First Run Rights. Usually, they are writing for magazines or newspapers. That means that the publishers are allowed to print the article or story once. The writer retains ownership of the writing and is allowed to sell the rights for a second printing to another magazine or newspaper. If the first magazine wants to run the story again, they have to negotiate for that and pay a second fee.

It’s not that hard a concept. I didn’t need to work in publishing for years to understand it. I got it the first time I heard it.

Goblins are basically like writers. They are only selling First Run Ownership. They want to be paid for the Second Run.

Bill finishes up by saying it would be less dangerous to break into Gringott’s than to try and cheat a goblin. In this way, goblins are not like writers, since writers are basically wimps.

As the chapter ends, Harry wryly reflects that he is going to be just as reckless a godfather as Sirius Black was. Yeah, I could have told you that three books ago, Harry.

All we can do is pray that nothing happens to Lupin or Tonks.

Fan Service:
A million fanfics are born as the good ship Duna takes off.
Teddy Ruxpin Lupin is born, along with a million more new fanfics.
A million fangirls squeal as Harry becomes the new Sirius Black (I should have figured that out when Harry saw his reflection in the previous chapter and noted how long his black hair had become—along with the manly stubble on his chin.)

Fan Slappage:
Just when you thought Lupin couldn’t go any lower.
Oh, and apparently Lupin will have sex with a woman.

DVD Extras:
INT: NIGHT—SHELL COTTAGE’S SMALLEST BEDROOM

The door opens in the still room and warm light accompanies a burst of CHEERFUL CHATTER from the floor below. In start contrast, GRIPHOOK the goblin, who has entered, is silent and dour. He closes the door on the happy noise, limps over to the bed, and swings himself up into it.

He lights a lamp and then takes a small metallic device from his pocket. He unfolds it and presses a few buttons. Then he places it up to his ear.

GRIPHOOK
Gustov? Griphook…. Yes. It’s on…. I’m not sure when. These schmucks take forever to plan stuff…. We’ll be bringing the sword with us, so just make sure that you’re prepared….

Hearing a noise, Griphook glances warily around the room, placing one protective hand on his magical device—which is definitely not a cell phone.

GRIPHOOK (cont’d)
No, they’re not telling me what they’re looking for. As long as it isn’t goblin, I don’t give bupkis…. Yeah, right. That kid can’t occlude for beans. I could tell he was lying the whole time…. Oh, I fed him a line of crap about what a mensch he was for burying this elf. (laughing) I know, I know. Can you believe these—

There is a knock at the door.

GRIPHOOK (cont’d)
Hold on a minute….

He hurriedly stuffs the device into his pocket and settles back on the bed.

GRIPHOOK (cont’d)
(weakly)
Come in.

The door opens and BILL WEASLEY enters, holding a wine glass.

BILL
Are you all right? I noticed you slipped out.

GRIPHOOK
My—my legs were hurting. It was a wizard celebration. We goblins find it bad luck to celebrate before the bris.

Bill nods thoughtfully, as he moves closer. Then he holds out his hand expectantly.

GRIPHOOK
What are you…?

BILL
Hand it over, Griphook.

Griphook scowls and pulls the device out of his pocket. He places it on Bill’s palm. Bill puts it into his own pocket.

GRIPHOOK
That’s private property.

BILL
And this is my house. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it.

He moves towards the door. Griphook raises himself up a bit.

GRIPHOOK
We goblins protect what is ours, too!

Bill turns to face him.

BILL
I know. But believe it or not, we’re all on the same side right now. Try to remember that.

He goes out the door, closing it quietly behind him. Griphook mutters defiantly as he settles back on the cushions.