Hogwarts Herald

okay, maybe not stormy, but…

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POST (as will other “read along” posts) CONTAINS DETAILED INFORMATION (ie spoilers) REGARDING Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!!

Chapter 1 - The Dark Lord Ascending

Book 7 opens darkly. It’s night and 2 figures appear from the shadows. It’s Snape and Yaxley. As they walk to their destination, we are introduced to the Malfoy home. It is a huge estate, complete with white peacocks roaming the grounds.

Inside the scene is one of deliberation and torture (Voldemort is quite the multi-tasker). A large group of Death Eaters are gathered around a banquet table, over which a body hangs in suspended animation.

As the majority of the group ignores the spinning figure, Snape and Yaxley join the proceedings. As Snape is invited to sit next to Voldemort, he divulges information regarding the planned transport of Harry Potter - Yaxley, obviously put off by Snape’s new position, informs the group that he has affectively administered the Imperius curse upon Pius Thickness, an official in the Ministry of Magic.

Voldemort has a moment of inflection as he tells, mainly himself, that he has made errors in his previous encounters with Harry Potter. He states that he will be the one to “attend to the boy�. However, he suggests a microbe of vulnerability when he says that he needs to borrow a wand from one of his minions. When there are no ready volunteers, he suggests to Lucius Malfoy, who has been sitting in nervous attendance along with his wife and son (good old Draco), that he give up his wand for the cause. Lucius, with just the slightest pause, yields his wand of elm with dragon’s heart string to his leader.

Next, Bellatrix LaStrange is revealed. Voldemort cooly teases her about her family’s transgressions - most notably, the recent marriage of her niece (Tonks) to a werewolf (Lupin!). Bellatrix denounces that “side� of her family and reaffirms her devotion to the cause.

Finally, the figure hanging in the middle of the room is awoken. It is Charity Burbage, the (until recently) Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts. Charity fruitlessly begs a stoic Snape to help her but Voldemort kills her and leaves her to be consumed by Nagini, the snake.

This was, clearly, an information gathering (plot thickening) chapter. When Half Blood Prince ended, in was the end of term, Dumbledore had died, and Harry had vowed to hunt down Voldemort. Similar to the prior books, The Deathly Hallows opens just before Harry’s birthday (July 31st) - so we are left to speculate as to what has happened in the the previous months.

The Death Eaters are on the move, they are planning to attach Harry as he tries to leave Privet Drive. Also, they have infiltrated the Ministry and expect to take over soon. Voldemort has, apparently, discovered that he can not defeat Harry with his twin wand.

We learn that Tonks and Lupin have married, and get a little back story regarding more of the Black siblings (golly there’s a lot of them).

With the murder of Charity Burbage, it becomes quite clear as to the Death Eaters’ ultimate goal (other than get rid of Harry) - to purge the Wizarding World of all muggle borns and simpathizers.