The Order of the Phoenix Re-Read: Chapter 23

[slowfox]

Having set the misdirection up at the start with all this weapon business, we're now haring after the idea that Harry's been possessed by Voldemort, and is therefore a threat to whomsoever he might be around. Which means that as long as he's at Grimmauld Place, he's placing Sirius and the Weasleys at risk.

If he should return to Hogwarts, then its Neville, Seamus and Dean whose necks are on the line.

Naturally, then, Harry chooses to return to Privet Drive ;-P

Phineas is irritating:

Harry ignored him. His hand was on the doorknob when Phineas Nigellus said lazily, "I have a message for you from Albus Dumbledore."

Harry dreams again of corridors and doors... What is he seeing in these visions? Is Nagini continuing to prowl around the Ministry? Surely defences would've been tightened after the attack on Arthur, so you'd have thought that Voldemort would suspend investigation for a while, but evidently not.

I wince every time I read this bit:

"Well, that was a bit stupid of you," said Ginny angrily, "seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels."

It's just so... trite. It bypasses completely the possibility that there might be different mechanisms of possession, and that people's mental perceptions of situations could well be vastly different (none of us know exactly how anyone else perceives the world, after all).

Christmas Day, and Kreacher's still missing:

"Come to think of it," said Sirius, emerging from the pantry carrying a large turkey as they closed the cupboard door, "has anyone actually seen Kreacher lately?"

"I haven't seen him since the night we came back here," said Harry. "You were ordering him out of the kitchen."

"Yeah..." said Sirius, frowning. "You know, I think that's the last time I saw him, too... he must be hiding upstairs somewhere."

"He couldn't have left, could he?" said Harry. "I mean, when you said 'out', maybe he thought you meant get out of the house?"

The long term ward for spell damage has some key residents: Lockhart, Bode and, of course, the Longbottoms :-( :-( :-(

His mother tottered away, back up the ward, humming to herself. Neville looked around at the others, his expression defiant, as though daring them to laugh, but Harry did not think he'd ever found anything less funny in his life.

Woe indeed :-(

When you look back at this chapter, the key points seem to be Ginny disabusing Harry of the notion that he might be possessed by Voldemort (continued dreams notwithstanding), Percy's continued estrangement from the Weasley clan, Arthur's injuries taking their time to heal, the gang finding out about Neville's parents and Bode receiving that pot-plant for Christmas. And, almost forgot, Kreacher vanishing from Grimmauld Place.

Comments

[aome]

I read the chapter today with the mass break-out from Azkaban. In the Prophet article, Bellatrix is labelled as the one who tortured the Longbottoms into insanity - which means, like it or not, Neville's secret is out. Poor Neville - that has to be such a sad experience, to visit your mum and dad that way. And for Mrs Longbottom, too.

While Ginny is a little too self-assured of what possession is like, it IS true that Harry did not think to consult her, did not remember that she had experienced it, herself. So, I agree with her irritated "lucky you" response to his claim that he forgot.

Oh, one of the things I forgot to comment on in the previous chapter was Dumbledore's obscure "but in essence divided" remark, where the image of the snake is then split. Do you think he's referring to Voldemort possessing the snake, to the snake representing a horcrux (ie Voldemort's soul, in essence divided)? Something else?

[slowfox]

You're ahead of me in the re-read, then! Literally, I'm reading a single chapter a day - I don't think a book has ever taken me 38 days to finish :-P

Yes, poor Neville - although I'm not usually a Neville fan, I like him in this chapter. As for his gran, well she's a bit mean to him in front of his friends, telling them that he's not in the same league as his parents were... she lost points with me for that.

the snake representing a horcrux

I hadn't thought that we might have such an early indication of the Horcrux. I thought the 'in essence divided' stuff might refer to the nature of Harry and Voldemort's connection - that they weren't one and the same person.

[cynthia_black]

That was my interpretation of the 'in essence divided' bit - Dumbledore wanted to know how close Harry and Voldemort's minds were linked.

[carolanne5]

Ooo, "in essence divided" would indeed fit well with the Horcuxes. At this stage I wonder if Dumbledore knows Voldemort has taken this route or is just considering the possibility?

[aome]

I recall that in DH, he says that he first began to consider the possibility of a horcrux after Harry described the diary. I don't know how certain he is by now, but he's pretty darn certain by the next book, so I would imagine he has a pretty good idea in OotP.

[carolanne5]

It bypasses completely the possibility that there might be different mechanisms of possession, and that people's mental perceptions of situations could well be vastly different (none of us know exactly how anyone else perceives the world, after all)...

Not to mention that she was possessed by a magic object imbuded with an element of Voldemort's soul. Not possessed by the living Voldemort himself.

[cynthia_black]

Phineas is irritating, indeed - d'you suppose he'd been the *only* Slytherin headmaster of Hogwarts?

I think Ginny is definitely too quick to claim she knows what possession is like, but she does at least redress the balance from Harry's total introspection here.

[slowfox]

Nah, there must've been many Slytherin headmasters - ambition 'n all that. It's not wholly a negative quality, necessarily, after all.