Cue No. 3

An extended variation of material from “Hermione’s Feather” opens this cue to represent the spell Dumbledore uses to clean up Slughorn’s house. The very end includes some musical choreography showing the last crystal on the chandelier journey from beneath Harry’s shoe to the ceiling. The string section then moves while the characters maneuver into a new conversation, and playful flutes with celesta dance around as Dumbledore departs the room. A solo horn plays a fragment of Fawkes’ theme quietly to show that, though Dumbledore can be playful, he has a noble and serious mission on this particular evening.

The music nearly stops and waits during the awkward silence left between Slughorn and Harry. At the mention of Harry’s parents, specifically Lily, the music turns melancholy and nostalgic, evolving into a statement of the Family theme. An english horn solo transitions the texture back to a moment of stillness. On the shot of Slughorn’s shelf, a celesta solo plays over the quiet strings. The woodwinds take over in a quasi-chorale setting, reaching back emotionally while Harry looks at a photo of his mother during her time as Slughorn’s student.

Horns and lower strings answer the chorale, and transition into a mostly hidden statement of Window to the Past when Slughorn mentions Sirius. A distant solo trumpet plays an eerie theme on the shot of a strange boy in one of the photos. This is the RAB motif (built around the three-note), which represents a character Harry will never meet, but plays one of the most crucial roles in the story moving forward. A flute solo winds down to the moment Dumbledore returns to the room.

Dumbledore re-introduces a sort of humor to the situation, lightening the mood. Playful pizzicato and solo bassoon accent the moment, and then the strings move down chord by chord as he leaves with Harry. Once outside, the string section begins pulsing, gaining energy, and comes to a halt when Slughorn opens his front door to accept the job at Hogwarts. At this moment, his theme plays for the first time in the alto flute. After Dumbledore’s victory in re-hiring Slughorn, the whole string section in unison finishes off the theme and the cue.