Current mood:	awake
Entry tags:	deathly hallows

Deathly Hallows: The Reread (Chapters 19 and 20)
WARNING: Since this is a collection of comments from my rereading the book, expect there to be many spoilers in the sections on early chapters for developments that come in later ones; there is really no other way to discuss foreshadowing or the "real" purpose of something that occurs early on and is explained later. Do not read if you are still going through the book for the first time and do NOT want spoilers.

Chapters One and Two
Chapters Three and Four
Chapters Five and Six
Chapters Seven and Eight
Chapters Nine and Ten
Chapters Eleven and Twelve
Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen
Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen
Chapters Seventeen and Eighteen


Chapter Nineteen: The Silver Doe

Hermione next takes them to the Forest of Dean; Rowling grew up at the edge of this forest. When Harry sees the silver doe that is Snape's Patronus, "He felt that he had been waiting for her to come." The doe leads him to the pool with the sword where Snape has put it, on Dumbledore's orders, because it must be retrieved while someone is performing a valorous deed.

We get a reminder of the items he's been carrying with him: his broken wand, his mother's letter, a shard of Sirius's mirror, the old Snitch.

Just as Ron was in the lake in Harry's fourth year and rescued by Harry, Harry is in the water this time and rescued by Ron. Also, whereas the Grindylows tried to stop him in the lake, the Horcrux tries to stop him now, perhaps sensing that the sword can destroy it.

Amusing: The first thing Ron says is, "Are you mental?"

Harry has a sudden realization both that Ron should use the sword to destroy the Horcrux and that it can be opened with Parseltongue; it is important that Ron listens to him do this, so that he can open the Chamber later.

Ron goes on about how it affected him worse than the others because it magnified thoughts he'd already been having. Harry tells him that he's got to destroy it, it has to be Ron; this makes sense, since this has become Ron's demon now. It's up to him to slay it.

The taunting from the locket is horrible, the intimation that Molly doesn't love him, that Hermione prefers Harry, that he's a big nothing. Clearly the episode in HBP where Harry pretended to give Ron the Lucky potion was just leading up to this: Ron truly killing the kind of toxic fears and insecurities that were holding him back, rather than being fooled by his best friend. For a split second before stabbing the locket, Ron's eyes glow red, as if he might stab Harry with the sword instead, but Ron is able to override Riddle's influence and complete the task.

This is a lovely exchange that shows that Ron may actually feel that he is Harry's equal now, rather than inferior to him:

"You've sort of made up for it tonight," said Harry. "Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life."

"That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled.

"Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was," said Harry. "I've been trying to tell you that for years."

Their hug says it all--they are friends, now and forever and all is forgiven. Harry's also very tactful about giving Ron and Hermione their moment: Harry backed into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron's rucksack, and attempted to blend in with the canvas. He wasn't to know that she would start punching Ron! (She verges here on some Bellatrix-style hysteria.)

Nice imagery: ...Hermione threw herself down into a chair with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely that she would unravel them for several years.

Ron introduces them to the concept of Snatchers, which is reminiscent of the people in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series who were kidnapping children on the cusp of adolescence. He goes on to explain that he found them with help from the Deluminator. After Hermione said his name it activated (a parallel to the Taboo against saying Voldemort's name?) and after he put out the lights in his room with it another light appeared, entered his chest, warmed his heart, and then led him to Hermione. (It's a very romantic sort of homing device--it leads you to the missing part of your heart, or so it seems.)

Harry and Ron both tell about the silver doe and the sword and locket (leaving out the bit about its being a HarmonyCrux). The question becomes: who does the silver doe Patronus belong to?

The chapter ends with a bit of humor:

"About the best you could hope for, I think," murmured Harry.

"Yeah," said Ron. "Could've been worse. Remember those birds she set on me?"

"I still haven't ruled it out," came Hermione's muffled voice from beneath her blankets, but Harry saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pajamas out of his rucksack.

Chapter Twenty: Xenophilius Lovegood

Just to note: The name "Xenophilius" means "lover of the strange or foreign".

Ron and Harry get caught up with what they've each been doing and Ron wonders how Harry and Hermione learned of the Taboo, since they've stopped saying "the name". Harry considers it to be a bad habit they'd slipped into and starts to say, "Voldemort," but Ron stops him and explains the jinx.

Ron wonders whether Dumbledore sent his Patronus somehow and then they get onto the topic of his bequests; while the Deluminator seems to have been inspired (although ron also thinks it means Dumbledore knew he'd leave Harry) it's still unclear to them what purposes the Snitch and book may serve.

The blackthorn wand doesn't work very well for Harry. Some information about blackthorn found here:

Blackthorn wood is hard and tough, like that of most species in the Rose family. It has light yellow sapwood and a brown heartwood. The size of the timber is of course rather small and so it can only be used to make small artifacts. The wood takes very well to polishing. It has mainly been used for walking sticks, tent pegs and teeth for hay-rakes. The sharp thorns were used for centuries as awls, which are pointed tools to mark surfaces or make small holes, for example in leather work.

Blackthorn was the traditional wood for the Wands of community healers, such a tribal medicine people, wise women, etc. It was also used to make the traditional Irish shillelagh or cudgel, used in fighting sports.
...
The vibrational Blackthorn remedy of Mother Nature's Celtic Tree remedies has the following indications:

Keyword: Nurturing

Blackthorn can help you when your emotions, soul or spirit have suffered damage, either from traumatic events or through the imposure of dogmatic mono-cultures (of mind, soul and spirit) and non-organic conditioning upon you. Use it to help you to find the time and space for regeneration.

Blackthorn is also an excellent teacher if you are stuck in habits that don't feel right any longer. Let it guide you towards trusting the natural wild, intuitive and spontaneous forces, which flow in you and around you.

An great remedy for 'airy-fairy' people, who want to balance their talents with the energising and earthing qualities of Blackthorn.

The spirit of the tree will benefit all those who are involved in the healing, nurturing and social professions for two reasons: The ecological, regenerating intelligence of the tree and its ability to set boundaries. By being protective of ourselves we are more able to create a nurturing environment which many others can benefit from.

It will also assist anyone who would like to develop their organic nurturing abilities, both for the sake of the children we bring up, as well as for our planet.

For people who always fear the worst and are plagued by unpleasant thoughts.

Aids in long term prospects.

For people who 'explode' or 'loose their cool' easily.
...
...Blackthorn was closely associated with the community healers, seers and wise people of the old Nature religions and therefore with Black Magic.

Ron has brought a small wireless with him and they get to hear some "underground" radio. Hermione suddenly announces a need to go see Luna's father. She's been reading Rita's book, which has a photo of the letter Dumbledore wrote to Grindelwald; in it, the A of his first name is actually a triangle with a circle in it, divided by a vertical line. The symbol is also in the Tales of Beedle the Bard. The two of them outvote Harry and it's decided--they're going to see Xeno Lovegood.

When they find the Lovegood home, Ron declares that it looks like a chess rook, which was the role Hermione played in the giant chess game in the first book. (A reminder, perhaps, that Luna is Hermione's doppelganger, the one Rowling called "the anti-Hermione"?)

Xeno turns out to be more than a little eccentric, understandably. He hesitates to let Harry in, then agrees. Ron's such a good friend to Luna now! "Luna's got ten times his guts!" Probably, but her father is concerned about her.

When they look out of the window in the direction of the Burrow again, Harry can't help think of how Ginny is.

Xeno returns and Harry tells him that they are there to ask about the symbol he wore to the wedding, and we finally get the reason for the book's title: "Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?"

Chapters 21 and 22