Harry’s birthday dinner is interrupted by the arrival
of Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, who insists on speaking
to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in private. Scrimgeour has brought each of
them a bequest from Dumbledore’s will. Dumbledore has left Ron a
device called a Deluminator, a device that can suck all the light
out of a room or turn the light on again. He left Hermione a copy
of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of
fairy tales familiar to virtually everyone raised by wizards. To
Harry, Dumbledore bequeathed the first Snitch he ever caught, saved
from his first Quidditch match. Dumbledore’s will also bequeathed
to Harry the sword of Godric Gryffindor, but Scrimgeour maintains
that the sword was not Dumbledore’s to give. (Presumably he’s about
to say it belongs at Hogwarts in the headmaster’s study, where in
fact it is; they interrupt Scrimgeour before he can finish.)
As Hermione forces Scrimgeour to admit, he has kept these
items for the full thirty-one days allowed by law for the Ministry
to study and test willed items for Dark magic or curses. Having
failed to find out anything about the items, he questions the three
friends closely about why Dumbledore might have left these seemingly
frivolous, even inappropriate, bequests. Harry, Ron, and Hermione
put Scrimgeour off with flippant and unhelpful responses, but in
truth they are as mystified about the bequests as Scrimgeour. Scrimgeour guesses
that there is something inside the Snitch, and that it will open
only at Harry’s touch, and he watches closely as Harry takes it in
his hand. The Snitch does not open, and Scrimgeour departs, frustrated.
After Scrimgeour has gone, Harry reminds his friends that
he caught his first Snitch in his mouth, though he avoided mentioning this
fact in front of Scrimgeour. Now he places the Snitch in his mouth
again, and though it does not open, words appear on it: “I open
at the close.”
Summary: Chapter Eight: The Wedding
On the afternoon following Harry’s birthday, the Weasleys
host the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. To keep secret
the fact that he’s hiding at the Weasleys’, Harry takes Polyjuice
Potion to disguise himself as a red-headed boy from the village,
passing himself off as the Weasleys’ “Cousin Barny.”
Among the guests who attend are Luna Lovegood and her
father, Xenophilius Lovegood. Both are dressed in vibrant yellow
robes, and Xenophilius wears a chain with a pendant shaped like
a triangular eye. Luna sees through Harry’s disguise effortlessly,
though Xenophilius is not as discerning as his daughter.
Viktor Krum, the professional Quidditch player with whom Hermione
was briefly infatuated in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,
arrives as Fleur’s guest, much to Ron’s consternation. After the wedding
ceremony, Krum takes a seat next to Harry and asks him about Xenophilius
Lovegood. Krum is infuriated by the symbol Xenophilius wears, recognizing
it as a symbol associated with the Dark wizard Grindelwald, who
had terrorized the Continental European magical community before
he was finally defeated in a duel by Dumbledore. Krum’s grandfather
had been among those murdered by Grindelwald, and Krum had seen
the triangular eye symbol at his school, Durmstrang, where Grindelwald
had carved it into the wall. In his agitation, Krum takes out his
wand and taps it menacingly against his own leg, prompting Harry
to remember where he had heard the name “Gregorovitch”: the name
belongs to the famous wand maker who made Krum’s wand, as Harry
had learned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
