Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Chapter 5
We’re going to have to pace ourselves…
Chapter 5: Fallen Warrior
Damn. Poor Mad-Eye. That’s going to be a serious blow to the good guys. Hey, it just occurred to me, who’s in charge of the Order of the Phoenix now? Lupin, I guess? Anyway, after his disappearance, Mundungus remains on the top of my suspect list.
And, oy. George. George losing an ear is a little too close to Xander losing his eye in Buffy season 7. No one likes to see the comic relief get hurt.
Lupin has become quite the grim bad-ass now, huh? I’m assuming it was putting Tonks in danger that made him uncharacteristically harsh. I’m not quite buying that it was Expelliarmus that gave Harry away. For one thing, everyone in the DA knows that spell, and I have to believe it was used to good effect at the Ministry in OOTP — I should really check that. Secondly, wouldn’t any of the kids have declined to kill Stan Shunpike? I don’t think the quality of mercy is uniquely Harry’s. If the Death Eaters were relying on that for identification, they just got lucky. While I can’t quite condone Lupin’s dour treatment of Harry (and his low blow about James), I do think Harry’s a little too generous in granting his unconditional trust to the assembled survivors at the Burrow, but then I can’t imagine who among them would have betrayed him. I shall be most put out if it turns out to have been an inadvertent slip by Hagrid: that particular bit of slapstick is getting old.
Let me just ask this: why did Harry even bother to go to Privet Drive? It seems that the Order is more than capable of raising very effective protective charms around any dwelling, so why didn’t Harry go directly to the Burrow after school? Or, at the very least, why didn’t he go sooner? And what exactly is his plan now that he’s there? Does he think that Mrs. Weasley will graciously accept the idea that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are going to go off adventuring? Could they possibly be planning to go back to Hogwarts? Wouldn’t a small army of Death Eaters be waiting on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters or at Hogsmeade? At any rate, I am glad that Harry seems to agree with me that the Burrow isn’t as safe as everyone thinks it is.
Harry’s vision of Voldemort and poor old Ollivander at the end of the chapter is perhaps a wee bit convenient, no? I, too, thought that particular connection had closed, particularly as it never came up in Half-Blood Prince. You’ve got the benefit of the doubt, Rowling, but I’ve got my eye on you…
No spoilers for later chapters in the comments! Raise a glass to old Mad-Eye.
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I agree that the whole thing seems a teeeeeeeny bit contrived for the purposes of a big battle at the beginning of the book. And while I could always believe that protective charms created by Dumbledore could thwart Voldemort, it’s hard for me to believe that anyone else’s could. I mean, if they could, why not put protective charms around every house in England?
I am going to try to enjoy the story, though, and not get too bogged down in plausibility issues, though.
George losing an ear is a little too close to Xander losing his eye in Buffy season 7.
I was totally thinking of that.
For the significance of Expelliarmus, go back to the showdown at the end of GoF. I had your same confusion until I checked the right reference, and then I bought it more.
Harry promised Dumbledore that he would go back to Privet Drive again before his 17th birthday, didn’t he?
Yeah, I remember the fight in the graveyard, and the role that Expelliarmus played there. But my point was just that other wizards than Harry have used Expelliarmus since, and in the presence of Death Eaters. It’s really not Harry’s “signature move” in any meaningful sense.
And, yes, Dumbledore did want Harry to go back to Privet Drive, but as I understood it it was because of the protection his mother’s family gave him. It doesn’t seem, now, like the standard protections they can put on a dwelling are all that shabby.
I agree it was kind of shaky for a reason to identify Harry as the real Harry, but they had to guess at something. I think it’s really more a way to make a point about Harry’s character and how the Death Eaters perceive him (and his contrast to them), but as a plot device it didn’t entirely work.