The Hog's Head » Characters

The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

Travis Prinzi — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:55:24 +0000

Chapter 18 of our Deathly Hallows Read-Through is brought to you by Red Rocker.

Like other great novels, Deathly Hallows is about how human beings try to love one another. Chapter 18 shows different kinds of love: the love Harry and Hermione have for each other and which makes itself known in every word they speak to one another. The problematic love of Albus Dumbledore for one Gellert Grindelwald. And more importantly, for one Harry Potter

This is how matters stand at the start of chapter 18.

Harry has lost his parents, his godfather, and his mentor to Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Dumbledore has set him on a mission to destroy the remaining horcruxes, but has not given him a clear idea of where they are or how he is to destroy them.. Ron has walked out on him. His last good idea of where the Sword of Gyriffindor might be has backfired in a grotesque ambush. And his wand – his right arm – has been rendered impotent. As in broken and bent, hanging together by a strand of phoenix feather. So useless that he has to borrow a girl’s wand to protect himself.

And just when he thinks things can get no worse, he finds the copy of Skeeter’s book and learns facts about Dumbledore which make him doubt everything he thought he knew about him.

Some inner certainty had crashed won inside him; it was exactly as he had felt after Ron left. He had trusted Dumbledore, believed him the embodiment of goodness and wisdom. All was ashes: how much more could he lose? Ron, Dumbledore, the phoenix wand…

All of this is a prelude to a conversation between Harry and Hermione which summarizes the major elements of the conversation we have been having about Dumbledore for a long time at this site. Here it is, in abridged form:
Hermione: Remember, Harry. This is Rita Skeeter’s version of events.

Harry: The letter confirms how Dumbledore felt towards Muggle domination
Hermione: But he was really young.

Harry: No younger than we are now.

Hermione: But he was under a lot of stress; his mother had died, he was alone.
Harry: He had his brother. And his sister, whom he was keeping locked up.
Hermione: The Dumbledore we know wouldn’t have done that.

Harry: The Dumbledore we thought we knew wouldn’t have tried to conquer Muggles.
Herminone: He changed Harry. Maybe he was like that at 17. He spent the rest of his life fighting the Dark Arts and standing up for Muggles.

And then:
Hermione: The real reason you’re upset is because he didn’t tell you all this himself.
Harry: He asked me to risk my life over an over, without every explaining anything. He just asked me to trust him, without telling me the whole truth.
Hermione: He loved you.
Harry: This mess he left me with isn’t love.

The conversation ends with Harry’s silent thought: he hates himself for wishing that what Hermione says was true, for wishing that Dumbledore really did care for him.

What I love about this conversation is how they move from what is the obvious problem, to what is the underlying problem. Dumbledore is not the epitome of goodness and wisdom and that enrages Harry, but what really bothers him is that he had to find this out from Rita Skeeter. Dumbleodre didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth. And this means that Dumbleodore didn’t care about him. That is the worm at the core of the apple: Harry fears that Dumbledore never really loved him.

I am in agreement with the literary critic from Newsweek who wrote that Deathly Hallows is about growing up and realizing that our grownups aren’t perfect, but learning it’s possible to love them despite that. I think Harry masters that lesson in Chapter 35, King’s Cross. He sees that Dumbledore is flawed, but he forgives him for it, and loves him. Back in Chapter 18, he is still the wounded child, enraged over his sense of betrayal and abandonment by a father figure whose love is so tricky that it hardly seems like love at all.

I’m not sure, btw that Harry ever gets his wish about Dumbledore. Certainly in Chapter 35 Dumbledore is full of approval and admiration because of what Harry has done. Who wouldn’t be? Does he care for Harry? I don’t know that anyone except Dumbledore – and maybe his maker – knows the answer to that question.

The other thing I love about the conversation in Chapter 18 is how Harry and Hermione look after one another. Harry is shocked at what just happened, angry at Hermione for zapping his wand – his right arm – and angry at Dumbledore. But his primary concern is still not to hurt her, to protect her from the awful knowledge of the end of Bathilda Bagshot, and to protect her from his anger at her. It is a very mature, very caring reaction. And she, for her part, tries to comfort him, to explain away Dumbledore’s seeming lack of trust, and to give Harry the one thing he craves: the assurance that Dumbledore did care for him. Again, very mature, very caring.

For all my railings against Ron’s lack of worthiness and Hermione’s ultimate relegation to a sex role stereotype, I’ve come to see that the love that these three have for one another is the cement that holds the books together. What hurts me about the endless hanging about in tents is not so much the loss of structure and purpose, but the loss of the certainty of their friendship. When that friendship is restored, I am as happy as Harry is in Chapter 35, when he finally realizes that he did earn Dumbledore’s approval – if not his love.

Fantasy’s Best Pets, Familiars & Animal Companions

revgeorge — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:30:22 +0000

On a similar vein as Matthew’s post on fictional mentors, The Torch online has an article on the best pets, familiars, and animal companions in the fantasy genre. The article, though, restricts itself to only those pets, familiars, and animals that have a real world counterpart. But two Harry Potter pets make the list. If you’d like to comment on this article, feel free to not restrict yourself to only real world animals but on any pet, familiar, or animal companion found in fantasy stories. Enjoy!

Who’s the Hero? Harry or Dumbledore?

revgeorge — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:50:37 +0000

On her blog Quoth the Maven, Janet Batchler has some great comments regarding who is the hero of Harry Potter: Harry Potter or Dumbledore. She’s responding to a story here arguing that Dumbledore is the real hero of the HP series not Harry. Check out both and see what you think.

Ch. 14: The Thief

revgeorge — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:54:46 +0000

Quick Synopsis: After an abortive attempt to return to Grimmauld Place, the Trio instead end up in a forest. Yaxley was able to hold on long enough to get within the protective charms on the house, but Hermione shakes him off and goes to where the Quidditch Cup was held in Goblet of Fire. Ron is splinched and has a gaping wound in his arm and is in danger of bleeding to death. Tense moments pass until first aid is applied. Ron appears to be okay, but the Trio decide to stay put for a spell. The Trio have the Locket Horcrux but only have vauge ideas on how to destroy it. Caution and watchfulness become the order of the day. Hermione puts up several protective spells and Harry suggests he and she take turns watching. As he takes the first watch, Harry begins heading into the doldrums again which leaves him open to seeing another vision from Voldemort’s head. The Dark Lord has finally found Gregorovitch and learns that the object he seeks was stolen years ago by the curly haired, wild, merry youth. The vision ends with Gregorovitch’s death and Harry is left to ponder what he has seen.

This chapter seems like a transitional one. It’s fairly short and not much goes on compared to other chapters. But it is the beginning of the wilderness wanderings of the Trio, otherwise known as all that camping stuff. It deepens the spiritual turmoil Harry has been undergoing ever since he read Skeeter’s article on Dumbledore at the start of the book. His dark night of the soul as St. John of the Cross calls it or the long dark tea time of the soul as Douglas Adams calls it. Harry is back in full mope mode after the success of retrieving the Locketcrux. He has no direction. He continually questions Dumbledore and his plans or lack of them. After his vision, he also is left wondering what Voldemort is pursuing. However, Harry does worry about Kreacher and feels genuine affection for him.

Ron is terribly wounded and appears to have lost a lot of blood from the splinching. I would think the blood loss would make him even more susceptible to hunger later on and also the effects of the Locketcrux. Ron also shows some of his unintentional intuitiveness in this chapter. He feels, rightly, that the name of Voldemort has been turned into a jinx/tracking device. He also is the first to sense the living nature of the Locketcrux. Plus, Ron is agonizing over the fate of the Cattermoles. A bit of foreshadowing of his concern for the house-elves in the end?

Hermione is both well prepared and totally unprepared for the exile the Trio are thrown into in this chapter. She has Dittany on hand for first aid. She has a tent stuffed into her bag. But somehow she has no food at all. Not even a candy bar, because she expected to be back at Grimmauld Place after the Ministry raid. But she’s got a huge tent stuffed in her bag? Sounds like a plot device, not having food, for how else are we to believe that Hermione, who thinks of everything, overlooks something as important as food. Plus, as a Muggle-born, one would think Hermione would be best qualified to live in both worlds of magic and the mundane. But it seems as if when a Muggle becomes a wizard or witch, they immediately forget the things Muggles do to compensate for not having magic. So, she remembers the rule about using magic to produce food but can’t remember to throw some MRE’s or emergency ration bars in her bag ‘o many things?

Other thoughts on the chapter:

Anyone besides me getting a bit tired of Harry always immediately believing anything he sees in his Voldemort visions and Hermione immediately discounting everything he sees?

I thought a bit of foreshadowing was going on when Harry notes such a look of tenderness on Hermione’s face toward Ron that he believes he’s surprised her in the act of kissing Ron.

Thoughts on Harry’s vision: Anything to Grindelwald being described as like a bird sitting on the windowsill and then leaping off with a “crow” of laughter? I know some people have had a problem with wand lore and the story of the Hallows in this book, thinking it’s been added in too late to the story and being used as a deus ex machina, but I don’t really see it that way. First off, it’s not as if Rowling introduces two totally unfamiliar items as Hallows. The Invisibility Cloak has been around from the start and the Resurrection Stone was seen last book as the ring. For what it’s worth, we weren’t even really introduced to Horcruxes until Book 6, and if, as Rowling claims, Deathly Hallows is just Part 2 of Half-Blood Prince, then it makes perfect sense that one be about Horcruxes and one be about the Hallows, for that becomes the question for Harry. Does he pursue Hallows or Horcruxes?

Anyway, I solicit your thoughts on this chapter. What stands out for you? What do you think either works well in this chapter or doesn’t? How does it play in the overall structure and plot of the book? Especially what are your thoughts on Harry’s vision into Voldemort’s activities? Finally, any significance to Gregorovitch being described as looking like a “trussed up Father Christmas?”

Immortality: On the Way?

revgeorge — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:48:11 +0000

Saw an interesting article from The Telegraph in the UK the other day wherein a scientist postulates that in about twenty years human beings could become immortal. This would come about through accelerating technology such as nanotechnology and a better understanding of how the human body works.

What do you think? In Harry Potter we discuss the desire of Voldemort to overcome and conquer death while the true master of death, Harry, realizes that death can’t be avoided. We’ve been discussing vampires this week on the site, and there is certainly undertones of human mortality and immortality going on in the vampire mythos.

Mull over the article and feel free to share your thoughts on the subject.

Chapter 8: Conversations at a Wedding

Travis Prinzi — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:33:42 +0000

Chapter 8 is brought to you by guest-blogger Red Rocker!

The camera loves the wedding scene. It roams from one small group to another, picking up a conversation here, an argument there, a quick glimpse of a girl dancing by herself over there, a young man finding a seat at a table by an old man, getting him to talk about the past, an old woman settling down beside them to provide a derisive counterpoint to the discussion. Chapter 8 reads like it was written for the camera – but perhaps that’s the nature of weddings, to be episodic, transient, giving glimpses of many lives brought together in a brief moment of juxtaposition, until they go their separate ways again.

So we see the Weasley twins acting out their patented shtick – and because we have already read the book to the end, it breaks our hearts when Fred talks about his own wedding. We see Krum ogling Hermione and – unforgivably – Ginny, and we hear him drop a tidbit of information about Grindelwald. We hear Luna greet the disguised Harry, easily seeing through the effects of the polyjuice. We see Ron’s brief moment of shock as he sees a dolled up Hermione and watch the two of them warily working toward their long-overdue union. And then Harry pulls up a seat beside Doge, Aunt Muriel plops herself between them and the camera settles down to the main event.

I’m writing this as I’m reading the commentary on the post on Chapter 2, when Harry is first confronted by the wizarding world’s contradictory takes on Dumbledore. Dave has just written that “Dumbledore has to be “recovered” because his death, combined with Harry’s memories and the public descriptions, has scattered his identity.”

This time around, we – through Harry – get the public descriptions in counterpoint: Muriel attacks, while Doge defends. What I found most entertaining was their respective emotional tones: Doge is distraught at the truths Muriel is delivering between gulps of champagne. She, on the other hand, is enjoying herself mightily. The story she tells is the tale of Ariana – the sister who was locked away from the world by her family. It horrifies Harry because of the similar fate he suffered as a child, and because he can’t reconcile his knowledge of Dumbledore with someone who could let that happen. And then the final blow: the revelation that Dumbledore’s family lived at Godric’s Hollow. Harry doesn’t know why this affects him so strongly. All he knows is that Dumbledore’s failure to tell him they had this in common was “tantamount to a lie”. This is the moment, I think, when he realizes how little he knew Dumbledore.

Think about this. You know a man for six years. You’re not equals, and you don’t spend all that much time together, but you share some pretty hairy experiences. You witness two deaths together. The man is your mentor and someone whom you would and do follow to the literal ends of the earth. And at the end of the day, after he dies, you find out that he never told you that he comes from the same town where you were born. He denied you this small fact which anyone would have shared with you without thought. How would you feel?

We have argued endlessly at this site about Dumbledore’s nature. Whether he lied by omission or commission. Whether he used people, and used Harry. Whether he was compassionate and generous, or deceptive and manipulative. His defenders explain his actions as motivated by the best of motives. His detractors view his actions as motivated by the view that the end justifies the means. But whichever stance you take on why he acts as he does, it is hard to argue against the view that at this moment in time Harry feels betrayed. He doesn’t feel betrayed because Dumbledore has failed to tell him about weighty matters such as Voldemort or horcruxes. He feels betrayed because Dumbledore has failed to inform him about a very simple and basic thing about himself.

And this, I believe is one of the basic things about Dumbledore: his refusal to share even the smallest thing about himself. Interpret that as you will – and I will not interpret it for you – Dumbledore will not share even the smallest piece of truth about himself with Harry, whom he loves.

Chapter 7: The Will of Albus Dumbledore

revgeorge — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:06:16 +0000

Two things I like about this chapter: Romance and Politics.

I won’t attempt to summarize the whole chapter since there’s so much packed in there. Instead, I’ll have some random thoughts on things that stood out for me.

As the chapter begins, Harry is dreaming of Voldemort searching for Gregorovitch. For HP obsessives, we should remember way back to Goblet of Fire and the passing reference to Gregorovitch as Krum’s wand maker. Did anyone catch this on first reading DH? I don’t think I did. This reference, combined with the actions of Harry’s wand three chapters ago, should get us thinking about wands and wand-lore as something important to which we should pay attention throughout the story.

Harry’s Birthday Gifts

Harry also turns of age in this chapter. He can legally do magic and immediately indulges himself in doing so with some occasional comic results. I’ll deal with Ron’s gift in a moment. But he receives a new Sneakoscope, which will be used later in the camping scenes as a backdrop; a new razor, which we don’t see again, a box of Wheezes from Fred and George, part of which is used later at the Ministry, and a moleskin purse from Hagrid which Harry uses throughout the book. Mrs. Weasley also makes him a Golden Snitch cake. We’ll see another snitch in a moment.

I’ll also deal with Ginny’s gift in a moment. Arthur and Molly’s gift shows how much they have already adopted Harry into their family. He receives Fabian Prewett’s old watch. We also see how much Harry has come to adopt the Weasleys as his family as he immediately gives Mrs. Weasley a warm hug, trying to convey all of his feelings to her through it.

Romance: Ginny’s Kiss

Now, on to romance. Ron, as much as he is a frustrating character at times and dreadfully immature, seems to be growing up a bit in this chapter. He takes Fred and George’s gift of 12 Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches to heart. He shows that he now knows that Hermione is the girl he likes, and he’s willing to make changes in himself to get closer to her. He also thinks the book good enough to get Harry a copy.

Ginny’s gift to Harry, her kiss, is a moment that always touches me. Being an incurable romantic and all, I thought the kiss between them and the moments leading up to it felt real. It shows that although Ginny is willing to stand aside to Harry’s quest, she’s also going to show him that she’s not going to let that stand in the way of her love for him. I think this is some of Rowling’s best writing because it’s human.

Ron’s reaction to the kiss is also important, because while Ginny doesn’t need protecting, we probably wouldn’t think much of a brother who didn’t want to protect his sister. Ron’s reaction is noble, if perhaps misplaced. When we love someone we want to keep them from being hurt. We may not like it when our loved ones try to protect us but I also think we wouldn’t like it if they took some sort of stoic attitude towards us and never showed any emotion at all.

Politics: Scrimgeour vs. Harry

Anyway, I’ve left so little space for the politics. Scrimgeour’s visit is very tense and very uncomfortable. His attitude is brusque, abusive, and arrogant. To some extent, you can’t really blame the guy. Things aren’t going well. But Scrimgeour, like most politicians and bureaucrats, seems to be more concerned not with winning the war but with protecting the Ministry and the status quo. Sure, he wants to defeat Voldemort but not in the same selfless way Harry does.

Scrimgeour only wants to use Harry to further the goals and prestige of the Ministry. Beat Voldemort but only in a Ministry approved manner. To this end, he abuses what seems like another well-intentioned law that doesn’t really work out in real life, holding up the execution of Dumbledore’s will in order to further his own ends. Scrimgeour wants to use Harry the Chosen One but he doesn’t have faith in Harry as the Chosen One and by extension he has no faith in Dumbledore.

Dumbledore’s Gifts

And now to whirlwind through the rest of the stuff. Who wasn’t scratching their heads and pondering deeply the meaning of the gifts Dumbledore left to the Trio? The Deluminator, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the Snitch Harry caught in his first Quidditch game, and the intended but not given Sword of Gryffindor. How were these going to play into the story? I also found it interesting that Ron mentions every tale from Beedle except for the two that underline the quest of this story, Horcruxes (Warlock’s Hairy Heart) versus Hallows (The Tale of the Three Brothers).

I found it both hilarious and sad that when asked if she’s considered a career in the Ministry Hermione says she hopes to do some good in the world. And then she ends up in the Ministry. What a waste! Finally, I find it quite remarkable that Harry and Ron, Quidditch fanatics (the only book Harry’s ever read besides the Prince’s potions book is Quidditch Through the Ages), have no clue that snitches have flesh memories!

So, I leave you with these words, “I open at the close.”

Luna Lovegood is My Role Model

Gwen Limbach — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:55:29 +0000

To complete my trifecta of important girl characters, let’s talk about my fellow Ravenclaw: Luna!

Many younger readers (and the adults too!) aspire to be more like some of their favorite characters. Who doesn’t want to be brave like Harry, self-sacrificing like Snape, fiery like Ginny, loyal like Ron, intelligent like Hermione? It’s one of my dearest hopes that more readers, especially the girls, aspire to be more like Luna: weird, honest, kind, and most importantly non-conformist.

It’s an understatement to say that Luna doesn’t fit in anywhere at Hogwarts. When we first meet her in OOTP, Neville, the underdog of Gryffindor, is afraid to share a train compartment with her. Even her fellow Ravenclaws exclude her, and she doesn’t seem to have any friends until Ginny is nice to her and defends her when others tease. When she talks about the D.A. as “almost like having friends” it broke my heart. Haven’t we all been there at some point?

No matter her social situation, though, very little upsets Luna. Rowling most often describes her and the way she speaks as “serene.” While Luna’s not numb to what’s going on around her (I’ll argue she’s the most perceptive character we see [<---slight pun intended]), she’s also not crying in the bathroom and fretting over why no one likes her. She never tries to change who she is so that others will accept her. Most people and characters try, to a greater or lesser degree, to fit in and be accepted, popular, loved. Think about all the back-to-school prep that’s been going on lately: if you buy the right clothes you’ll be like the cool kids (and it’s assumed you want to be cool); if you have the right backpack/hairstyle/shoes people will accept you. For Luna, none of that matters. I think she sees through the artifice of it all and rejects it. She would rather be happy and weird. That level of self-assurance and inner-strength are both admirable and rare, especially in adolescents. It is also those qualities, along with the childhood trauma of seeing her mother die, that makes Luna probably the most perceptive character of the series. It’s no arbitrary choice that physical descriptions of Luna usually begin with her “large, protuberant eyes”; Luna sees what others miss or ignore. This is first literally manifested with the thestrals. Luna has seen and has come to understand death, no small feat for a 14 year-old. This is why Harry finds comfort in Luna’s presence after Sirius’s death, even though he doesn’t expect to.

Unlike Harry, though, Luna doesn’t need to see proof of something to believe in it. No matter how many trips to Sweden she goes on, Luna has yet to find a Crumpled-Horned Snorkack. But she has faith that they are there, too shy to let humans see them, and it is her faith that sustains her, Harry, and the reformed D.A. in the last book. She never doubts Harry or his mission, nor does she doubt that she, Ginny, and Neville must rebel against the Carrows. While she may seem passive, when the situation calls for it she is as brave as any Gryffindor (and how much did you love her reaction to stunning Alecto Carrow in the Ravenclaw Common Room!). When she is needed to fight, whether at the Department of Mysteries, below the Astronomy Tower, in the corridors of a Death Eater-controlled Hogwarts, or on the battlefield, Luna always answers the call because she knows and believes in what is right, not what is easy or popular.

Hermione as a Third Wave Feminist

Gwen Limbach — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:00:42 +0000

Now that we’ve all had a week to cool down after the heated conversation about Ginny, I say we forge ahead in the gender discussion and talk about my favorite character, Hermione Granger.

At Prophecy (and later at LeakyCon) I did a presentation in which I contend that Hermione subverts many common expectations of femininity. What are these expectations? Let’s take a look at some of her classmates: Lavender and Parvati constantly giggle, gossip, and gussy themselves up. They dedicate their time to the “woolly” and “imprecise branch of magic,” Divination. Lavender is nothing if not melodramatic in her relationship with Ron. Parvati curls her eyelashes around her wand to impress the new “dreamy” Divination teacher Firenze. In many ways these two girls represent some of the most pervasive stereotypes of teenage girls: superficial and focused more on boys than their studies.

One of the most apt ways to describe Hermione, on the other hand, is logical and studious. She prefers Arithmancy and Ancient Rune; she almost always raises her hand in class and never apologizes for knowing the answer. She’s also able to express her emotions openly, if not always productively when it comes to Ron. Hermione is not a perfect character, nor does she attempt to be (outside of class anyway). And she’s not a stereotype; she is complex and refuses to be pigeon-holed by fellow characters and readers.

So where does the feminist part come into play? And what the heck does “third wave” mean?A quick feminist history aside should answer the latter question. Feminism, in all its glory, can be broken down historically into waves. The first wave generally covers the late 19th and early 20th century and dealt with de jure sexism. The first wave is most well known for suffrage efforts and getting the 19th Amendment passed. The second wave occurred during the 1960s and 1970s and addressed mainly de facto sexism and cultural perceptions of the role of women. Paid maternity leave, fair hiring practices, affordable childcare, equal pay (in theory), Title IX, access to family planning, illegalization of marital rape, “no fault” divorce laws, and many other social improvements of the time are thanks to second wavers. However, this wave focused mostly on the position of middle-class, straight, white women. In the 1990s many feminists argued for a new inclusive movement and questioned the essentialist definitions of femininity (The movement also arose as a response to the backlash against feminism that arose in the 1980s– but that’s secondary to this discussion). Feminists, especially women of color, wanted to negotiate a space within mainstream feminist thought for racial issues. The third wave looks at places where gender, race, class, and sexuality intersect. Also within this wave is a consideration of the space for girls (pre-teen and adolescent) in our society as well as how popular culture influences girls and the world at large through portrayals of women, people of color, and gays. It’s practically a post-modern, deconstructionist melange.

One of the most important spaces in which Hermione exhibits her third-wave feminist mentality is in Goblet of Fire. Ah, the plight of the house-elves. When the trio sees Winky in the forest after the World Cup, seemingly struggling to get away, Hermione identifies the house-elf’s situation: “It’s slavery, that’s what it is!” And when Ron regurgitates the centuries-old justification for enslavement, Hermione replies, “It’s people like you Ron, who prop up unjust systems…” Exactly. An unjust system. Oppression and privilege (because the two are inextricably linked) are not random occurrences in the world, they are encoded into every level of society. Hermione, who has Otherness on top of Otherness heaped on her, being Muggle-born, a girl, and an intelligent girl at that, can identify (with) the oppression the house-elves suffer simply because of their race and because wizards benefit from that oppression. But she doesn’t stop there; she founds a grassroots campaign (S.P.E.W.) to change the system, even when nearly everyone discourages her from doing so.

Another moment in which we see Hermione’s third-waver status also occurs in Goblet: the Yule Ball. To say that much has been made of this one scene is an understatement. When Elizabeth Heilman analyzed the moment of Hermione’s “transformation” she wrote: “The message to girls is: get a makeover. You are not okay.” Really? Really? Every time I read that line I have to do a double take. Because I’m pretty sure that “makeover” was temporary and too much trouble for Hermione to bother with the next day. I find this section of the novel to be a parody of most teenage, Cinderella transformations we often see in texts (did anyone ever watch She’s All That?). The cultural expectation implicit here is that a girl can either be pretty or smart, never both. But Hermione plays with her image and slips in and out of modes of presentation easily while the rest of Hogwarts figures out what to do with her.

The final example I want to present (and there are many more, please post them in comments!) is one of my favorite moments in Deathly Hallows. In a room at Shell Cottage with Harry, Ron, and Griphook, Hermione declares, “I’m a Mudblood!… Mudblood and proud of it!” Throughout DH, and the whole series since Chamber, racism has affected her life. When the last book opens with the murder of a “Muggle lover” you know there won’t be any mercy. Whereas Harry is targeted because of who he is, Hermione is targeted because of what she is; she becomes the poster-girl for all Mudbloods. When the trio reaches Malfoy Manor, Hermione is tortured by the most zealous racist among the Death Eaters. She loses not only her name (she’s only called “Granger” or “Mudblood”) but also her humanity. Recovering from this experience, she reclaims the term that has previously oppressed her and gives it new meaning. It is no longer derogatory, no longer has power over her, but instead is a marker of pride, like the scarlet knife wound on her neck.

I could go on and on about Hermione (50 pages long, in fact), but I’ll stop here and leave it to you, dear readers. What other examples of Hermione’s feminism do you see in the novels? Favorite character moments? Also, please feel free to ask questions about third wave feminism; it’s not the most easily explainable concept, at least if you want to do so succinctly. Just remember to keep it civil and friendly: your fellow pub patrons have feelings just as acute as yours. Because gender issues lead us to question many foundations of our society and ways of life, it’s often difficult to keep a level head and withhold sarcasm or vitriol. I don’t want to limit anyone’s voice or silence an opinion, but if someone can’t play nice I’ll consider deleting any hostile comments.

Is Voldemort Undead? or How to Lick a Lich

korg20000bc — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:51:00 +0000

After some recent discussion I thought that I’d post about something that I’ve been thinking about since the end of Chamber of Secrets i.e. that Voldemort is a Lich- a powerful wizard or magician who keeps themselves from destruction by hiding their soul in powerful magic items- though they must die to achieve this.

The word lich (lych) is Old English for corpse and is a good visual description of the Lich. It also points to the undead nature of the creature.

I first encountered liches in the Dungeons and Dragons game but, upon reflection, I realised that it is quite common in many fantasy milieu. Tolkien certainly uses the idea in numerous ways. Sauron embeds much of his power and essence into the ruling Ring and he cannot be destroyed while the Ring remains. Similarly, the Nazgul cannot be destroyed while the Ring exists. Their physical forms could be destroyed, as they were at the ford at Rivendell, but their quaking ghosts returned to their master to gain new forms. Also, Bombadil tells Frodo that the magic that sustains a barrow wight could only be destroyed if the the barrow was broken and the treasure therein dispersed among anyone who wanted it.

H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E Howard (all friends and correspondents)all use the idea at times. Howard’s Thulsa Doom is an immortal/undead sorcorer with a skull head, different from the Conan the Barbarian movie villian. The movie Thulsa is apparently immortal, has a similar penchant for snakes that Voldemort has, but is ultimately slain by Conan. The book/comic Thulsa Doom pops up numerous times even after having been, apparently, slain. Lovecraft’s – The Thing on the Doorstep explores the idea of powerful wizard remaining deathless through the use of arcane magics, as do some of Smith’s stories. Lovecraft also uses this idea to a degree in The Whisperer in Darkness where a man’s soul/mind is kept alive in a steel cannister; somehow removed from his dismembered body by alien arts, to voyage to other worlds.

The idea of a lich is present in Russian folklore in the form Koschei the Deathless- a powerful evil wizard who, according to the wiki entry:

cannot be killed by conventional means targeting his body. His soul is hidden separate from his body inside a needle, which is in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in an iron chest(sometimes the chest is crystal and/or gold), which is buried under a green oak tree, which is on the island of Buyan, in the ocean. As long as his soul is safe, he cannot die. If the chest is dug up and opened, the hare will bolt away. If it is killed, the duck will emerge and try to fly off. Anyone possessing the egg has Koschei in their power. He begins to weaken, becomes sick and immediately loses the use of his magic. If the egg is tossed about, he likewise is flung around against his will. If the egg is broken (in some tales this must be done by specifically breaking it against Koschei’s forehead), Koschei will die.

The story of Koschei and how he has hidden his soul is full of alchemical imagry. Just consider the elements and symbols represented by the egg, hare, duck, iron chest, oak tree, under the earth, island and ocean/water.

In Fantasy literature the item in which a lich hides his soul is called a phylactery. This is completely analogous to the term Horcrux and fulfills the same purpose. It may be an echo of the ancient Egyptian use of canopic jars to hold the viscera of their mummified owner for the afterlife.

I’ve been looking at my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Ed. Monstrous Manual (1993) and noting many similarities Rowling’s Voldemort has with a lich. The entry on Lich defines the creature as undead (is Voldmort undead?), of supra-genius intelligence and can only be damaged by magic or magical weapons.

The lich is, perhaps, the most powerful form of undead known to exist. They seek to further their own power at all costs…

They were originally powerful wizards.

A lich is able to employ spells just as it did in life. It still requires the use of its spell books, magical componants and similar objects. It is important to note that liches have had a great deal of time to research and create new magical spells and objects. Thus, adventurers should be prepared to face magic the likes of which they have never seen before when stalking a lich.

Defeating a lich in combat is difficult indeed, but actually managing to destroy the creature is harder still. In all cases, a lich will protect itself from annihilation with the creation of a phylactory in which to store its life force. In order to ensure the final destruction of a lich, its body must be wholly annihilated and its phylactory must be sought out and destroyed in some manner. Since the lich will always take great care to see to it that its phylactory is well hidden and protected this can be an undertaking fully as daunting as the defeat of the lich in its physical form (think Dumbledore’s and Harry’s horcrux hunt and destruction).

A lich will make its home in some ominous fortified area, often a strong keep or vast subterranean crypt (big tick on Voldemort’s desire for Hogwarts).

…a lich will depend on its magical powers to accomplish its goals. If this is not sufficient, however, the lich is quite capable of animating a force of undead troops to act on its behalf (inferi!).

The creature has no interest in good and evil… the creature will do whatever it must to further its own causes.

A lich can exist for centuries without change. Its will drives it onwards to master new magics and harness mystical powers not available to it in its previous life. Few liches call themselves by their old names when the years have drained the last vestiges of their humanity from them. Instead they often adopt pseudonyms like “the Black Hand” or “the Forgotten King.” (I Am Lord Voldemort) Learning the true name of a lich is rumored to confer power over the creature.

In order to become a lich, the wizard must prepare its phylactory. The phylactory, which can almost be any manner of object, must be of the finest craftsmanship and materials… Once this object is created, the would be lich must craft a potion of extreme toxicity… the potion is imbibed. Rather than death, the potion causes the wizard to undergo a transformation into its new state. (Horcrux creation requires a murder, in this case its self-murder)

There you go. If you ever run up against one make sure he reveals the whereabouts of his phylactory just before he delivers you a coup de grace. Then get yourself rescued or have the lich distracted before the blow lands. Telling one that their cod piece is untied always works. Then get medieval on his rump.

I hope you might have been at least mildly interested in the above. It was to me and I always enjoy leafing through my Monstrous Manual. Beauty really is in the eye of a Beholder!

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