Since I am, at the moment, totally sickened by this chapter and
this entire book, I've just transcribed the notes I took on the
chapter.
Perhaps, once I've cooled down (if that's at all possible), I
will update this section with a more insightful and clever
summentary. But for now, you're lucky to get even this out of me.
Harry and Ginny are now dating, which is the talk of the school.
Everyone's gossiping, especially the girls, but Harry finds he
doesn't mind as much as he normally would because - with Ginny by
his side - what could be wrong with the world?
(Certainly not a homicidal maniac out to get you and your little
friends too...)
Though Harry seems to be fine with it, the ever present Weasley
jealousy rears it's red-head...Ginny is annoyed by all the
gossip. Romilda Vane was spreading rumors about Harry having a
Hippogriff tattoo. Ginny corrected her - by spreading her own
rumor...it's not a Hippogriff, it's a Horntail.
Ron threatens to take back his approval of their relationship
when Ginny adds that she told Vane Ron had a Pygmy Puff tattoo.
Ginny says that doesn't matter, she doesn't need his approval to
date Harry. (But as evidenced several times throughout the book,
Harry does.)
Ginny's in Fifth Year so with OWLs coming, the new couple's time
together is cut short.
Hermione confronts Harry about the HBP book. He's annoyed with
her for bringing it up. He hasn't risked going back to retrieve
it and his marks are suffering greatly because of it.
Hermione shows him a picture of Eileen Prince. (Her intense
research on the matter, despite her heavy workload, would
normally have touched, or at least, amazed Harry. Previously,
he's shown his awe of her dedication to him and/or her time
management skills when situations like this occur. Here, he's
just irritated.)
He doesn't believe the HBP could be a girl. Hermine takes offense
that Harry doesn't think a girl could be clever enough to be the
HBP - which, in turn, offends Harry that Hermione would think
that of him.
Harry runs into Trelawney on his way to meet Dumbledore.
Trelawney was trying to hide her sherry in the R of R, but heard
someone whooping in celebration...everything went black after
that and she was thrown out of the room.
She starts to tell Harry about her interview with Dumbledore for
the position. She reveals that Snape was caught listening at the
door while she made the Prophesy.
Harry storms up to Dumbldore's office to confront him. Dumbledore
preempts him by saying he's found a Horcrux and they're going
after it tonight.
Harry tries to control his anger, but loses the battle. Harry
questions Dumbledore's trust in Snape, yet again.
Dumbledore defends Snape, yet again. Snape was working for LV,
but felt remorse when Lily and James died...basically, Dumbledore
trusts him => end of discussion.
Harry adds that Dumbledore's leaving the school without a thought
about what Snape and Malfoy are up to - Malfoy's been successful
with whatever repair he was making.
Dumbledore's angry Harry thinks he doesn't protect the
school/students while he's away...there's "extra protection."
Harry goes to get his Invisibility Cloak. He sets Hermione and
Ron the tasks of watching Malfoy and Snape, taking the Felix
potion for themselves, and saying goodbye to Ginny for him. He
adds that they should try rustling up the DA to help.
Hermione tries to protest at least the potion, but he stops her
saying he needs to know they're okay.
Harry asks what people will think when they see Dumbledore
leaving - Dumbledore replies that he makes them think he's having
a drink at the Three Broomsticks or the Hog's Head.
They greet Rosmerta, who is throwing a patron out of the bar.
Dumbledore tells her that he's going to the Hog's Head. They
leave her but do not go to the Hog's Head.
Dumbledore guides Harry's apparition because Harry doesn't have a
license. They apparate to the cave in which little Tom Riddle
hurt two other orphans while he was a boy.
this entire book, I've just transcribed the notes I took on the
chapter.
Perhaps, once I've cooled down (if that's at all possible), I
will update this section with a more insightful and clever
summentary. But for now, you're lucky to get even this out of me.
Harry and Ginny are now dating, which is the talk of the school.
Everyone's gossiping, especially the girls, but Harry finds he
doesn't mind as much as he normally would because - with Ginny by
his side - what could be wrong with the world?
(Certainly not a homicidal maniac out to get you and your little
friends too...)
Though Harry seems to be fine with it, the ever present Weasley
jealousy rears it's red-head...Ginny is annoyed by all the
gossip. Romilda Vane was spreading rumors about Harry having a
Hippogriff tattoo. Ginny corrected her - by spreading her own
rumor...it's not a Hippogriff, it's a Horntail.
Ron threatens to take back his approval of their relationship
when Ginny adds that she told Vane Ron had a Pygmy Puff tattoo.
Ginny says that doesn't matter, she doesn't need his approval to
date Harry. (But as evidenced several times throughout the book,
Harry does.)
Ginny's in Fifth Year so with OWLs coming, the new couple's time
together is cut short.
Hermione confronts Harry about the HBP book. He's annoyed with
her for bringing it up. He hasn't risked going back to retrieve
it and his marks are suffering greatly because of it.
Hermione shows him a picture of Eileen Prince. (Her intense
research on the matter, despite her heavy workload, would
normally have touched, or at least, amazed Harry. Previously,
he's shown his awe of her dedication to him and/or her time
management skills when situations like this occur. Here, he's
just irritated.)
He doesn't believe the HBP could be a girl. Hermine takes offense
that Harry doesn't think a girl could be clever enough to be the
HBP - which, in turn, offends Harry that Hermione would think
that of him.
Harry runs into Trelawney on his way to meet Dumbledore.
Trelawney was trying to hide her sherry in the R of R, but heard
someone whooping in celebration...everything went black after
that and she was thrown out of the room.
She starts to tell Harry about her interview with Dumbledore for
the position. She reveals that Snape was caught listening at the
door while she made the Prophesy.
Harry storms up to Dumbldore's office to confront him. Dumbledore
preempts him by saying he's found a Horcrux and they're going
after it tonight.
Harry tries to control his anger, but loses the battle. Harry
questions Dumbledore's trust in Snape, yet again.
Dumbledore defends Snape, yet again. Snape was working for LV,
but felt remorse when Lily and James died...basically, Dumbledore
trusts him => end of discussion.
Harry adds that Dumbledore's leaving the school without a thought
about what Snape and Malfoy are up to - Malfoy's been successful
with whatever repair he was making.
Dumbledore's angry Harry thinks he doesn't protect the
school/students while he's away...there's "extra protection."
Harry goes to get his Invisibility Cloak. He sets Hermione and
Ron the tasks of watching Malfoy and Snape, taking the Felix
potion for themselves, and saying goodbye to Ginny for him. He
adds that they should try rustling up the DA to help.
Hermione tries to protest at least the potion, but he stops her
saying he needs to know they're okay.
- "Don't look at me like that, Hermione, I'll see you later."
- Page 552
Harry asks what people will think when they see Dumbledore
leaving - Dumbledore replies that he makes them think he's having
a drink at the Three Broomsticks or the Hog's Head.
They greet Rosmerta, who is throwing a patron out of the bar.
Dumbledore tells her that he's going to the Hog's Head. They
leave her but do not go to the Hog's Head.
Dumbledore guides Harry's apparition because Harry doesn't have a
license. They apparate to the cave in which little Tom Riddle
hurt two other orphans while he was a boy.
| Chapter 26: The Cave |
Arriving at and scurrying down the craggy cliff, Dumbledore and
Harry must plunge into the icy waters to reach the interior cave.
Dumbledore senses magic within the cave – he doesn’t tell Harry
how to sense magic, because clearly that’s not important and
wouldn’t be helpful for the future saviour of the Wizarding
World...no, why would Harry need to be able to sense dark magic?
It’s not like there’s an evil Dark Lord trying to kill him or
anything...
Dumbledore senses such powerful magic, and they’re only in the
antechamber. They’ve passed the natural challenges and now they
are left to contend with Voldemort’s obstacles.
Dumbledore locates the door after much wandering and sensing
(again, there is no explanation of how or what he is doing). He
realizes the door requires payment when his first attempt to open
it fails. The payment is blood – his blood. Harry, Dumbledore
tells him, is far too important to weaken himself by spilling his
blood.
Dumbledore seems almost disappointed in LV for the “crudeness” of
the sacrifice. For such a powerful wizard, LV still misses the
point that there are some things worse than physical pain or
death.
The door opens revealing an indoor lake with a green light at the
center. Somehow Dumbledore knows the Horcrux lies at the green
center and to not touch the water.
Harry tries to summon the Horcrux. Something leaps out of the
water. Harry is horrified. Dumbledore again puts his feelers out
and senses that there is a boat and again does not explain how.
So not only is it not important for Harry to know how to find
Horcruxes, or how to destroy them, he also doesn’t need to be
able to sense magical traces. Is Dumbledore trying to get Harry
killed or what?
Harry freaks out because the boat is too small for two sailors.
Dumbledore says this is to prevent many from crossing – only one
wizard at a time – but he figures Harry won’t count because he,
Dumbledore, is just so damn powerful he’ll mask Harry’s presence
(Hubris, much?) and, after all, Harry’s underage and
“unqualified.”
Yeah, and shouldn’t it have been your job this whole year to make
sure Harry was more qualified and could believably take on the
world’s darkest Dark Lord?
Harry sees the dead human bodies in the water. Dumbledore points
out that this is among LV’s weaknesses. Along with
underestimating love, youth and his opponents, LV believes
everyone is afraid of darkness and dead bodies, because he fears
them. Dumbledore tells Harry “it is the unknown we fear...nothing
more.”
Harry wishes he could have said a better goodbye to Hermione and
Ron and he realizes he didn’t see Ginny at all.
Once they reach the center island, they approach “a stone basin
rather like the Pensieve, which was set on top of a pedestal.”
The potion cannot be touched, charmed or transfigured – it must
be drunk. Dumbledore makes Harry promise to force feed him the
Potion no matter what happens. Harry reluctantly agrees.
The first few goblets don’t seem to affect the grandmaster at
all, but about half-way through he suddenly reacts. He cowers,
pleads and begs to stop – he even begs for death! Harry keeps
feeding him the potion, trying to reassure his mentor that all
will be okay with just another mouthful. Just another sip and it
will all be over...
Witnessing this is like witnessing someone being tortured...it's
sick. And, quite frankly, it kind of freaked me out that Harry
was promising that the potion would make Dumbledore feel better.
Clearly, the man is vulnerable. He's been reduced to an almost
child-like state. And here Harry is, trying to get the baby to
eat rat poison by telling him its candy.
I don't know, it just bothered me...a lot. It's grotesque. And
it's about the third time Harry does something grotesque in this
book, and you know what they say about three strikes...
Ten goblets-full later, the potion is gone and Dumbledore asks
for water. Harry desperately tries to conjure it, but LV won’t
allow it. The conjured water disappears before he can get it to
Dumbledore.
He must take it from the lake.
Without thinking, Harry dips his goblet into the lake to bring
Dumbledore some relief. We learn what that something was that
leapt from the lake at Harry’s Summoning Charm. It was an Inferi!
And there are definitely more than one of them in the lake!
They surge onto the outcropping, groping at Harry, trying to drag
him into the lake with them. In his panic, he’s forgotten the
warning Dumbledore told him about using fire to defeat the Inferi.
Suddenly, Dumbledore is back on his feet and strong enough to
conjure a fire that blazes around the outcropping and saves
Harry’s life. They make it back to the boat and, rather luckily,
the Inferi do not follow.
Dumbledore staggers out of the boat; he is so weak it frightens
Harry. He has to all but carry the master magician back around
the Black Lake, but he still cannot find the door. He doesn’t
know what Dumbledore did to find it in the first place.
Dumbledore must tell him where the opening is and, together, they
make it out.
Harry tries to reassure Dumbledore and says he’ll get them back
to the school. Dumbledore says he’s not worried because “I am
with you.”
Harry must plunge into the icy waters to reach the interior cave.
Dumbledore senses magic within the cave – he doesn’t tell Harry
how to sense magic, because clearly that’s not important and
wouldn’t be helpful for the future saviour of the Wizarding
World...no, why would Harry need to be able to sense dark magic?
It’s not like there’s an evil Dark Lord trying to kill him or
anything...
Dumbledore senses such powerful magic, and they’re only in the
antechamber. They’ve passed the natural challenges and now they
are left to contend with Voldemort’s obstacles.
Dumbledore locates the door after much wandering and sensing
(again, there is no explanation of how or what he is doing). He
realizes the door requires payment when his first attempt to open
it fails. The payment is blood – his blood. Harry, Dumbledore
tells him, is far too important to weaken himself by spilling his
blood.
Dumbledore seems almost disappointed in LV for the “crudeness” of
the sacrifice. For such a powerful wizard, LV still misses the
point that there are some things worse than physical pain or
death.
The door opens revealing an indoor lake with a green light at the
center. Somehow Dumbledore knows the Horcrux lies at the green
center and to not touch the water.
Harry tries to summon the Horcrux. Something leaps out of the
water. Harry is horrified. Dumbledore again puts his feelers out
and senses that there is a boat and again does not explain how.
So not only is it not important for Harry to know how to find
Horcruxes, or how to destroy them, he also doesn’t need to be
able to sense magical traces. Is Dumbledore trying to get Harry
killed or what?
Harry freaks out because the boat is too small for two sailors.
Dumbledore says this is to prevent many from crossing – only one
wizard at a time – but he figures Harry won’t count because he,
Dumbledore, is just so damn powerful he’ll mask Harry’s presence
(Hubris, much?) and, after all, Harry’s underage and
“unqualified.”
Yeah, and shouldn’t it have been your job this whole year to make
sure Harry was more qualified and could believably take on the
world’s darkest Dark Lord?
Harry sees the dead human bodies in the water. Dumbledore points
out that this is among LV’s weaknesses. Along with
underestimating love, youth and his opponents, LV believes
everyone is afraid of darkness and dead bodies, because he fears
them. Dumbledore tells Harry “it is the unknown we fear...nothing
more.”
Harry wishes he could have said a better goodbye to Hermione and
Ron and he realizes he didn’t see Ginny at all.
Once they reach the center island, they approach “a stone basin
rather like the Pensieve, which was set on top of a pedestal.”
The potion cannot be touched, charmed or transfigured – it must
be drunk. Dumbledore makes Harry promise to force feed him the
Potion no matter what happens. Harry reluctantly agrees.
The first few goblets don’t seem to affect the grandmaster at
all, but about half-way through he suddenly reacts. He cowers,
pleads and begs to stop – he even begs for death! Harry keeps
feeding him the potion, trying to reassure his mentor that all
will be okay with just another mouthful. Just another sip and it
will all be over...
Witnessing this is like witnessing someone being tortured...it's
sick. And, quite frankly, it kind of freaked me out that Harry
was promising that the potion would make Dumbledore feel better.
Clearly, the man is vulnerable. He's been reduced to an almost
child-like state. And here Harry is, trying to get the baby to
eat rat poison by telling him its candy.
I don't know, it just bothered me...a lot. It's grotesque. And
it's about the third time Harry does something grotesque in this
book, and you know what they say about three strikes...
Ten goblets-full later, the potion is gone and Dumbledore asks
for water. Harry desperately tries to conjure it, but LV won’t
allow it. The conjured water disappears before he can get it to
Dumbledore.
He must take it from the lake.
Without thinking, Harry dips his goblet into the lake to bring
Dumbledore some relief. We learn what that something was that
leapt from the lake at Harry’s Summoning Charm. It was an Inferi!
And there are definitely more than one of them in the lake!
They surge onto the outcropping, groping at Harry, trying to drag
him into the lake with them. In his panic, he’s forgotten the
warning Dumbledore told him about using fire to defeat the Inferi.
Suddenly, Dumbledore is back on his feet and strong enough to
conjure a fire that blazes around the outcropping and saves
Harry’s life. They make it back to the boat and, rather luckily,
the Inferi do not follow.
Dumbledore staggers out of the boat; he is so weak it frightens
Harry. He has to all but carry the master magician back around
the Black Lake, but he still cannot find the door. He doesn’t
know what Dumbledore did to find it in the first place.
Dumbledore must tell him where the opening is and, together, they
make it out.
Harry tries to reassure Dumbledore and says he’ll get them back
to the school. Dumbledore says he’s not worried because “I am
with you.”
| Chapter 25: The Seer Overheard |
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