Most of chapter's in the Potter Books make sense - Draco's Detour, Felix Felicis, etc. They all seem to refer to some significant event within the chapter. But why is the chapter where Dumbledore was killed and where Hogwarts was invaded tiltled 'The Lightning-Struck Tower' ?

To begin with, I shall point out that the literal meaning makes no sense - there is no mention of any lightning, thunder or rain anywhere in the chapter. The Tower we could presumably make to be the Astronomy Tower. The Lightning-Struck Tower would thus make no sense literally, as no such event took place.

It thus make me wonder if JKR had any metaphorical/hidden meaning for the title. To be sure, the 'lightning' is only mentioned elsewhere in the series in reference to the shape of Potter's scar. Thus, could the 'lightning-struck tower' refer to Harry Potter, who had been immobilized by Dumbledore, and was thoughout this chapter 'an unsteady statue' in the tower, and who is being forced to witness his 2nd father figure (after Sirius) being killed, a case of lightning striking twice? Could it be JKR's play on the phrase ' thunder-struck' , in reference to Potter's ( and the reader's ) reaction when they saw Dumbledore killed? Could it simply refer to the state of being Harry Potter, a tower ( immobilized ) who had been stuck by a lightning-shaped scar, and who (until book 7) could do little about ?

Could it refer to Dumbledore, a towering figure who is about to be struck by a spell that is quick as lightning to bring death ? Could it refer to Hogwarts, a tower that shelters and protects her charges, but is now under-attack and, in the case of lightning-striking twice, would it happen again in Book 7 ( several threads within thinkpotter had already prophesized the final showdown to be within Hogwarts ) ?

If the tower is literal ie the Astronomy Tower, could the Lightning-Struck Tower be a case of lightning striking twice, the first attack being the one that took place during the OWLs when the students observed up on the tower the attack of Hagrid and the 4 stunning spells at McGonnagall, and the 2nd attack being the attack on Dumbledore ?

I am quite perplexed by the title of this chapter, and am intrigued to find out if JKR had planted some clues into it. Are there any other interpretation for the title of this chapter ?

What was Trelawney trying to tell Dumbledore, earlier?

The lightning-struck tower is a tarot symbol. Don't know what it stands for.

I'm not particularly knowing about Tarot cards, but it seems like that the Lightning-Struck Tower in Tarot indicates destruction. It is supposed to be a sudden upheaval.

So if that's the meaning, the chapter makes more sense.

Plus it is reflextive of Trewlany's attempt to tell DD something earlier.

Oh! I was wondering where the heck this chapter title came from, too. (Thanks for bringing it up, the_other_fan!)

And thank you for the explaination etrm. That makes sense.

It's the card she showed Harry, the one she said that she kept warning Dumbledore about.

From Ch. 25, The Seer Overheard, US edition, pg. 543:

The chapter is called The Lightning-Struck Tower because it contains the calamity & disaster.

I looked for info about this last night, this is the clearest description of the
lightning-struck tower card I could find.
Still makes absolutely no sense to me :wacko: , but Jo obviously knew what she was doing in making the reference.

GASP !! ....could this mean that Professor Trelawney made her 3rd accurate prediction ?!?!?!?!?

That woman deserves a raise !


But it does add another dimension to the whole prediction/fate/divination theme, doesn't it ? The first Professor Trelawney ever made a prophecy, she was over-heard by Snape. As Dumbledore pointed out, both parties - Harry and Voldemort - could have chosen to walk away from the prophecy, but because Voldemort chose to act on Trelawney's words and will continue to hunt Potter, it makes certain that the prophecy will come true. The 2nd time she made a prophecy about Wormtail returning to Voldemort, Harry wanted to catch wormtail using the time-turner, but Hermione prevents him from doing so, and the prophecy came true. This last prediction about the Lightning struck tower, 'dumbledore chooses to ignore the warnings the cards show', but yet, by ignoring it, the prophecy came true !!!

It seems that for trelawney, her predictions will come true, whether because you act on it, tried to act on it but was prevented, or because you ignored it !

She also saw in the cards "A dark haired young boy, possibly troubled, one who dislikes the questioner" just as Harry was coming up.

But "No, no, that can't be right."
;)

I kept thinking about this one... who is the questioner? Scrimgeour?

My mother has been reading the Tarot for as long as I can remember and she has a very annotated book that she reads from. This is what she has written about The Tower.
Usually signifies bad news. Security and previous beliefs about to be shattered. Beliefs of long standing could be broken. Indicates a breach of trust. You will be thrust into a new situation with no idea of the result.....

It sounds like the chapter to me...

It wouldn't be right if it was Harry and the questioner was Dumbledore. And Malfoy wasn't dark-haired. Or was the questioner Snape?

I have a Mah Jongg computer game which has various layouts, including a tarot version. It is through this game that I recognised the lightning-struck tower. There are other symbols which may or may not be mentioned. Maybe they could be listed somewhere in resources with brief meanings for each so that we know what is being referred to.

So far, symbols which might end up being relevant include sun, moon, cup, sword, coin, branch, knight on horseback, grim reaper, watchman (looking suspiciously like Filch), juggler, friar, angel, sage, nature devil, accountant, huntsman, kings, figure with sword and scales, nobility, official, traveller, hanged man, and dancing couple.

Professor Trelawney's ancestress was named after Cassandra, a seer who was doomed never to be believed.

That's sounds to me also our perception of Snape as being a bad guy.

Breach of trust? Shattered beliefs? Perhaps he breched DD's trust in him as a reformed DE and so our belief that there is some amount of good to Snape is totally to be ignored now?

Of course that does nothing to the theory that Snape acted on DD's orders. But then hte idea of the unknown result could point to that theory- we have no idea of this possible deal.

Cool. I love the layering of these books :wub:

Certainly I want to believe that Snape is Evil.
This title of upheaval contributes to the possibility that Snape is not deserving of our compassion.
Neville it the root cause. He has done nothing. Harry is a bit daring and cheeky.
But, there is no reason to torment Neville, as Snape does.
So, I assume that she leaves us that bit of context for a justified reason.

This title thing alludes tooooo close the the support that Snape is a traitor.

The shattered beliefs could very well be that Dumbledore is unimpeachable.

I will have some time next week to set up a small thread describing the major arcana and parts of the minor arcana of the Tarot if anyone would desire it. Just let me know if anyone would be interested and I will get out my moms tarot book(simply because she annotated each card in a more understandable way than if I were to look it up on the internet).

Thank you, Willowz. That would be an excellent idea, useful for the purposes of this discussion and maybe others we meet along the way.

The lightning-struck tower might mean bad news, but maybe not quite the disaster that Sybil Trelawney predicts. Even if she is predicting truly, Trelawney seems to exaggerate.

I gather that Trelawney calls herself the questioner, so the dark haird young boy must have been Harry. :blink: Now why didn't I think of that? :hitsforehead:

I still think that Trelawny's third prediction wasn't that one anyways- she's in for another big one I think. ;)

I knew the dark-haired young man was Harry but I totally missed that Trelawney herself is the questioner. She's the one consulting the cards, questioning the future. He's hiding, at that moment, from her.

Is it true that Trelawney doesn't believe her own tarot card reading? ^_^

Nah... she just finds it impossible that someone wouldn't like her... ;)

I just wanted to add some comments linking back to the title of this thread. It is interesting that the Astronomy Tower is not attacked from the outside, eg from lightning, but that it is damaged from the inside, by the fighting – so I agree with others who are suggesting that the chapter title is a sign-post for us to look deeper into what is happening in this chapter thru the use of the Tarot.

Traditionally, The Tower tarot card symbolizes rigid or imprisoning structures that need to be torn down and replaced by the new. This then can apply to several themes in this chapter: not limited to - Harry imprisoned by Dumbledore’s viewpoint; the school imprisoned by Dumbledore’s philosophy; the school imprisoned by the divided nature of the four Houses; Malfoy imprisoned by his indecision between good and evil; Harry imprisoned by his inability to see beyond Malfoy’s evilness. And of course everyone’s understanding of Snape’s position relative to their own, has now been shattered.

In some decks The Tower card is known as The House of God; whereas in other decks it is called The House of the Devil. Rachel Pollack (in her book Seventy eight degrees of wisdom.) says that this God/Devil duality reminds us ‘that it is a spiritual force which destroys our psychic prisons’. She says that in the same way in which the Devil is God’s shadow, the Devil card (which immediately precedes The Tower card) shows ‘the person seeking unity with life must bring out the energy normally repressed by the conscious personality. By embracing the Devil, however, we endanger that calm and balance shown in Temperance. We set the psyche on a violent course, leading to the explosion of The Tower.’ (pg120). In this way, for the prepared hero, it is the illusions of the Devil that are shattered; the illusions of consciousness repressing the murky world of the unconscious. And here then is Harry’s journey in this chapter – trying to see past what he has believed and known up to this point, which in the course of this chapter is shattered. (the next Tarot card is the Star - after the storm, peace.)

Another interesting interpretation of the Tower card is explained by Cynthia Giles (in her book Tarot the complete guide). I’ll quote it directly from her:

I mention this long quote because I’m nervous that there may be some hint here that Dumbledore and the Fisher King may have something in common, and also because of my connection of the Hanged Man with Severus Snape (for which I’ll argue in another post!).

So, some final comments about The Tower card:
Sharman-Burke (Understanding the Tarot: a personal teaching guide.) points out that The Tower number ’is sixteen, which breaks down to one and six, which, in turn, adds up to seven, the number of positive action.’ (pg50)

Arcarti (Tarot for beginners.) tells us: ’Astrologically, the card links with Mars, but also connects with Mercury. In numerology, the number 16 tells of accidents, danger and fatality. (pg29)’

And a final quote from Pollack - 'By shielding the Tower from the lightning we become its prisoners.' (pg122) - which in a purely visually sense, really bought to mind Dumbledore on his broomstick whispering incantations to break the protective spells around Hogwarts, as he and Harry flew to the Astronomy Tower.

Such an interesting post Ivy! :P

In my tarot mah-jong layout the devil (cutely pink with green leaf wings) opposes a laurel-leafed robed figure.

How do the following fit in?

1. The juggler, which I read somewhere is the first of the pack.

2. The fellow with the beard and the lantern, my husband says it looks like Argus Filch.

3. Angels with trumpets

4. Mein host with one goblet

5. Something that looks like a friar

6. A capped figure who is associated with a padlock

7. A traveller - my husband says it looks like Dick Whittington.

8. A figure seated at some sort of carnival stand which is opposed to an abacus.

I'll look at those books if I can get hold of them. And I look forward to your post on Snape and the hanged man. :)

This tarot business is very interesting- I'm eager to hear more about Dumbledore as the Fisher King.

I am always amazed at the layering of these novels. Thanks Ivy for the info :)

Ivy, thank you, you have left some terrific references and information. :) There is also some information about tarot that Willowz left in the thread, Tarot and Harry Potter for everyone's use in this forum.

That being said, I am curious as to exactly who is the Fisher King, and why would Dumbledore resemble him?

Thanks athenamay! It ended up being a long post, that didn't have much to do with this thread - so I started a new thread for it.