HBP: Chapter 13 - The Secret Riddle
So I doubt that the secret riddle referred to in the title is just about Tom Riddle as a boy. Chapter 13s are always important so there must be a very important riddle hidden somewhere in this chapter. Too bad I have no idea what it is...
Man Harry is obsessed with Draco this year. No wonder Draco is so mean to Harry. I would be concerened about someone who was always thinking about me like Harry is about Draco this year. It is unnatural and... just plain creepy... Slash fan fiction writers rejoice... ewww!!! dirty dirty mind... bad images... bad images... lets move on...
Why did Snape stop the spread of the curse on Katie instead of Madame Pomfrey as Dumbledore said? Seems very odd... Snape's not a healer... is he?
Why wasn't Dumbledore more surprised by Harry's suspicious of Draco's connection to the curse put on Katie? Does he already know about Draco's mission and doesn't want to interfere? How would Dumbledore know about it? Snape? Why let him continue with his mission? Why not put a stop to it if someone could get hurt? Is he afraid someone will read his mind if he thinks or talks about it with Harry?
Again remeber most of the information we learn in this chapter is assumptions and guesses made by Dumbledore. How accurate are his guesses? Is Dumbledore wrong about anything important about Voldemort's past????
There are so many similarites between Voldemort's and Harry's past it can't all just be conincidence (Far too many to list here this post would go on forever!). Why are their lives so similar. Could Harry become like Voldemort in the future? Scary... I find it odd that JK is making us care about Voldemort at this point (Harry - "She wouldn't even stay alive for her son?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Could you possibly be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?" 262). We barely know anything about his evil plans that he is working on NOW. Wouldn't that be more important to defeating him the reliving the past?
When Mrs. Cole tells a younger Dumbledore that Tom Riddle "He's a funny boy" I find it odd that Dumbledore answers "Yes, I thought he might be." (267) How would Dumbledore know that? Did he know who Tom's parents were? How much did he know about Tom at that point? Why did Dumbledore go to tell Tom about his acceptance to Hogwarts? Did Dumbledore ever talk to any of the other kids at the orphange? What interesting things could they have told us about the boy Voldemort was?
Why wasn't Tom more surprised when Dumbldore told him about his magical abilities? What type of magic was Tom capable of doing when he met Dumbledore at the orphanage? Why was he do good at such a young age, that doesn't seem normal even for a child growing up in a magical family let alone a boy in a muggle orphanage? Where did the knowledge and control of the magic come from? Did Tom teach himself or did someone help him?
Hmmmm.... okay I said I wouldn't list all the similarites between Tom and Harry but this one I found very interesting. Harry has problems calling Snape 'Professor' or 'Sir'. It seems like Tom had similar problems addressing Dumbledore (271).
Why didn't Tom want Dumbledore to accompany him to Diagon Alley? How did Tom's trip to Diagon Alley go? Did anything important happen on that trip that we don't know about? Is that when he got his wand with Fawkes' feather in it from Ollivander or was that during another trip?
Dumbledore suspects that Voldemort/Tom never had a friend, nor did he ever wanted one (277). Is this true? Did Tom/Voldemort never even have one friend? I find that very hard to believe. I find it more likely that he was very close to someone that betrayed or abandonded him. I think that would better explain Voldemort's anger and need to control others and cause pain... someone turning out like Voldemort for no real reason is difficult for me to grasp...
Dumbledore had Marvolo's ring earlier in the book (he was even wearing it when they visited Slughorn) but Harry notes that the ring is now gone. Where did the ring go? Who has it now? Why did it dissappear? Why wasn't Dumbledore more concerned about the ring or where it is now?
Dumbledore seems impressed that Harry was looking for Tom's old treasures/trophies. In particular the mouth organ (one of the trophies Tom collected at the orphanage) is discussed. Dumbledore tells Harry that "...the mouth organ was only ever a mouth organ." (278) I want to know if any of the other treasures Tom collected at the orphanage could be a Horocrux? Has anyone seen the yo-you or the thimble lately?