HBP: Chapter 20 - Lord Voldemort's Request

Gee another "very small girl" in the 7th floor corridor across from the room of requirement... Gee Harry you dont catch on quick. Again a small girl? Who are these girls? Where is Draco getting the materials for the polyjuice potion? Was it Crabbe? Goyle? Another Slytherin? No one caught on for months so it must be a better plan than it seems...

Luna delivers Harry another piece of parchment telling him about his next meeting with Dumbledore. So who gave Luna and the other messengers these parchments? Was it Dumbledore? Someone else? Doesn't seem like the safest delivery system... any notes from Dumbledore to Harry not reach their destination?

So what were Trelawney and Dumbledore talking about when Harry entered the office? Sounds like it was Firenze... why would Trelawney want Dumbledore to replace Firenze? Is she jealous that she is no longer the only Divinations teacher? Afraid of the competition Sybill? Dumbledore says that "Divination is turning out to be much more trouble than I could have foreseen, never having studied the subject myself." (427) Surprising Divination has become such a big issue at Hogwarts. Maybe its more important than it seems. We can guess why Dumbledore would be reluctant to let Firenze go cause he had been shunned by the other centaurs but I was a little surprsied as to why he was concerned as to why Sybill would be in danger. Is it because of the prohpecy? Something else?

Why so tired Dumbledore? You do seem to be a little harsher than normal to Harry today. Why are you so angry at Harry for being unable to get the memory? You were unable to succeed at it Dumbledore... why do you think Harry will have better luck after you have failed yourself? Was the anger and dissapointment just over the inability to obtain the memory or was it something else? I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore was actually reading Harry's mind as Harry suspected. What would Dumbledore have seen to upset him so?

Dumbledore tell us that the lessons "would be entering the realms of guesswork and speculation" (429) Just now? It seems like the guesswork and speculation started awhile ago. This could be a misleader. We are told that Dumbledore is pretty confident in his knowledge of Voldemorts life until he was 17 but is he wrong about anything? Are we missing something important?

Dumbledore says that he doubts "whether there is a soul alive, apart from himself, who could give us a full account of [Voldemort's] life since he left Hogwarts" (430) Is this true? Seems like there has got to be someone out there who knows something more about Voldemort's life... has he asked any of the Death Eaters? Do they know anymore than we do?

We find out that Dippet told Dumbledore that Tom wanted to stay at Hogwarts to be a teacher. Why would Tom think that they would hire someone so young? Why would Tom want to stay at Hogwarts? What is at the castle that he would want access to? How would things have been different if Tom had the opportunity to teach at Hogwarts? Was it to gain power and influence over the students? Dumbledore speculates that Tom got the idea that he could have power and influence from the teacher he was on the best terms with, Slughorn... How close were Slughorn and Tom? Are they still in contact?... can we trust Slughorn?

We learn that Tom worked at Borgin and Burkes... is he still in contact with the owners? People thought it was a waste of Tom's talents. Was it a waste? Did he obtain anything important during his time there? Did he leave anything at the store? Did everything he persuade people to sell to the store actually make it to the store or did he keep stuff? Is there something important at the store? It has been mentioned several times during this book.

Did Tom know about the treasures Hepzibah Smith had before she showed them to her? Any relation to Zachariah Smith? Hepizibah says Hufflepuff's cup has all sorts of powers. What kinds of powers could a cup have? Was Voldemort able to discover them? Has he used them for anything? Convienent Hepizibah had the locket... should have done her homework before telling Tom all that stuff about his mother. What kinds of powers does the locket have?

Why was Hepzibah unnerved by Tom? Was it a red gleam in his eyes as Harry suspected or was it something else? Did Tom really murder Hepzibah and alter Hokey's memory as it appears? Seems way to obvious and simple for it to be true... Are any of Dumbledore's conclusions wrong?

How did Tom get ahold of the cup and the locket? Hepzibah clearly stated that they were locked up and protected by enchantments... Did he steal them? Get Hepzibah to give them to him willingly? Did he take anything else besides the cup and the locket from the house? Dumbledore suspects that this was the first murder Tom had committed since the Riddles? Is this true?

Why was Dumbledore storing his own memory in a crystal bottle? Couldn't he just take it out of his mind like we saw him doing before? Why did Tom come back at that time to ask about the job? He had to know Dumbledore would not give it to him.. so why even ask? Why come out of hiding to apply for a job that you know you have no chance of getting? Was the trip to Hogwarts a complete waste? Was Tom able to obtain or alter something during his short visit? How would things have been different if Tom had gotten the job?

Voldemort quite clearly states that this argument that he and Dumbledore are having over love and magic happened before. "The old argument," he said softly." (444) Sounds like an argument between old friends... When did this happen? While Tom was at school? How close were Tom and Dumbledore?

Harry "was sure that Voldemort's hand had twitched toward his pocket and his wand; but then the moment had passed." (446) Did something important happen here? We know that Voldemort can alter memories so it is possible we missed something... was this when Voldemort put the curse on the DADA job or did he do that later? Dumbledore tells us he hasn't been able to keep a DADA teacher for more than a year after this meeting. When did this meeting take place? Can the curse on the position be broken? How? Why give the job to Snape this year if you know that the position is cursed and he will most likely be gone by the end of the year?