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Chapter Twenty-Four:
Sectumsempra
Notes by Steve Vander Ark and Michele L. Worley
Synopsis and links by John Kearns
U.S. hardcover edition: pages 513 - 534
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 480 - 499
Timeframe: 22 April - 11 May,
1997
[Y17]
In which Ron and Ginny are both single again,
Katie Bell returns to
Hogwarts but can't remember what happened to her, and Harry sees Malfoy
with Moaning Myrtle on the Marauder's Map and runs to eavesdrop - but
when Malfoy tries to hex Harry, Harry uses Sectumsempra on
him without knowing what it does and slashes him apart. Snape heals
Malfoy but gives Harry detention during the Quidditch match, which
Gryffindor wins anyway. Then, when Harry arrives at the party, he
finally kisses Ginny.
No comments on chapter title as yet.
Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:
the next morning's Charms lesson
So HRH all three take Charms, and sixth-year Charms has at least one morning
class. (We at the Lexicon will attempt to draw up a timetable of classes and
a calendar for sixth year if the thing can be done.)
Lavender Brown
So Lavender takes N.E.W.T. Charms in sixth year.
turn vinegar into wine
A sixth-year Charms exercise. Why is this a Charms lesson and
not Transfiguration? One possible explanation is that, given
enough time and exposure to heat, wine will turn itself into vinegar;
the substances are not very different chemically.
They let me out of St. Mungo's
Why didn't McGonagall tell Gryffindor House that
Katie had been
released from St. Mungo's?
on Monday, I had a couple of days at home with Mum and Dad and then
came back here this morning.
From the sound of this, the current day in the story isn't a Monday,
and seems most likely to be a Thursday.
The balmy days slid gently through May
More timeline information.
Who would have thought you knew such Dark Magic?
If Snape isn't saying this just for the sake of playing with Harry's mind
- and I don't get the impression that he is - it's interesting that he
himself categorizes the spell that way.
He knew what Snape was going to do and he had never been able to
prevent it...
But in fact, Snape doesn't need Legilimency to know that Sectumsempra was
developed by the Half-Blood Prince and was written down in one of the
old textbooks left lying around Hogwarts' Potions dungeon, as we shall
see later (HBP28).
castle-proud house-elves
The usual Muggle expression for this is "house-proud", but as Hogwarts Castle obviously isn't a house...
detention with me every Saturday until the end of term
A little more information to help us figure out timelines.
I've got about a dozen detentions
A little more information to help us figure out timelines, and a reference
for The Number Twelve.
(In fact, since it's already at least May, "a dozen" is an exaggeration;
term never lasts until the end of July at Hogwarts.)
boxes one thousand and twelve to one thousand and fifty-six
44 boxes worth of detention records? Are all
of them the Marauders' records? One wonders how
many boxes are taken up with the Weasley twins' records...
the clock showed half-past twelve
So Harry's been at this for two and a half hours.
Characters introduced in this chapter:
Characters returning in this chapter:
Bell, Katie
Brown, Lavender
Fat Lady, the
Finnigan, Seamus
Flitwick, Filius
Granger, Hermione
Malfoy, Draco
Moaning Myrtle
Potter, Harry
Snape, Severus
Thomas, Dean
Vane, Romilda
Weasley, Ginny
Weasley, Ron
Characters mentioned in this chapter:
Aubrey, Bertram
Bell, Mr.
Bell, Mrs.
Black, Sirius
Chang, Cho
Crabbe, Vincent
Dumbledore, Albus
Filch, Argus
Goyle, Gregory
(surname unknown) Leanne
Lupin, Remus
McGonagall, Minerva
McLaggen, Cormac
Montague
Parkinson, Pansy
Pettigrew, Peter
Potter, James
Riddle, Tom Marvolo (as Voldemort)
Rosmerta, Madam (as the person who gave Katie
the necklace)
Slughorn, Horace
Vector, Professor
(unnamed) students trying to intimidate each other prior to the Quidditch match
Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:
Exceptional character moments:
Spells and Potions:
Links and Resources:
Memorable lines:
"Then why," asked Snape,
"does it have the name 'Roonil Wazlib' inside
the front cover?"
"Oh, don't start acting as though you understand
Quidditch,"
snapped Ginny,
"you'll only embarrass yourself."
After several long moments - or it might have been half an hour -
or possibly several sunlit days - they broke apart.
A long walk in the grounds seemed indicated, during which -
if they had time - they might discuss the match.
Strictly British:
Timelines/Calendar:
The chapter begins the morning after the end of the
previous chapter, or Tuesday, 22 April. But here
we encounter our first real problem -
Katie Bell says that she was
released from St. Mungo's
on Monday, then returned to
Hogwarts "a couple of
days" later... meaning probably not Tuesday after all, unless it was
actually a week she spent at home. Nevertheless, a fortnight (or about two
weeks) later is "a few days before the match against
Ravenclaw," and
this would make more sense with the original day being a Tuesday, rather
than a Thursday or Friday as Katie
implied. So... sticking with the calendar anyway, this should be around Tuesday,
7 May. The Quidditch match,
therefore, would be Saturday the 11th.
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