Regulus in HBP????

[Carol]

Carol earlier: 
> >Someone else asked about Regulus's appearance in the books. He's
described as having the same dark hair and slightly expression as the
teenage Sirius but smaller and slighter and not quite as handsome. (He
played Seeker, a fact that Harry notices but no one else pays any
attention to.)
> >Carol, who prefers Regulus to Sirius, handsome or not, and thinks
that his death is one of the saddest and most horrifying parts of DH


Carol again:

Oops. "Slightly expression" should be "slightly haughty expression."
The Black arrogance, also seen in Bellatrix and Narcissa, you know.

Valerie responded:
> Awww...that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about Regulus! 

Carol:
You're welcome. I like Regulus a lot and was glad to find another
"good Slytherin" besides Snape and Slughorn. I hope they keep
Kreacher's rallying cry and that his reference to "my master, champion
of House-elves" clearly refers to Regulus and not Harry. (Too bad
Phineas Nigellus probably didn't know that his great-great-great
grandson "played his part.")

Valerie:
<snip> 
> Yeah, Slughorn never mentioned Regulus at all in the books, right? 

Carol:
I was sure I said in an earlier post that Slughorn *did* mention
Regulus (he would have liked to collect the brothers as "a set," as if
they were salt and pepper shakers or a pair of matched pillowcases).

Here's the exact quote (from the "Horace Slughorn" chapter of HBP):

"The whole Black family had been in my House, but Sirius ended up in
gryffindor! Shame--he was a talented boy. I got his brother, Regulus,
when he came along, but I'd have liked the set" (HBP Am. ed. 70).

That's the passage I expect the filmmkers will use, possibly expanding
on it a bit to point out Regulus's picture. Slughorn certainly doesn't
know that Regulus became a DE or he wouldn't have mentioned him.

Valerie:

> But was Slughorn a Deatheater? Or did he just consort with those
sordid types? 

Carol:
the only indication that Slughorn was a DE is his seeming ability to
cast a Dark Mark (DD mentions that detail as giving away the fact that
Slughorn hadn't really been attacked by DEs). However, since he's been
running from the DEs for a whole year (they want to recruit him, and
probably kill him if he doesn't join up), and since he rejects Theo
Nott as a member of the Slug Club after finding out that his father is
one of the DEs arrested for breaking into the MoM, I don't think that
Horace either is or was a DE. Nor does he "consort with those sordid
types." He's charmed by the young Tom Riddle just like everyone else
except Dumbledore, and he's shocked that Snape, whom he sees,
apparently, as one of his brilliant protegees, has (apparently)
murdered Dumbledore in HBP: ("I taught him! I thought I knew him!")
Slughorn consorts with students that he thinks will be successful,
including the Muggle-born Dirk Cresswell, who becomes head of the
Goblin Liaison Department, and who will be grateful for his backing
and do him favors in return, but there's no indication that he likes
"sordid" types. (See the collection of photos on his piano in "Horace
Slughorn" and the people he recruits for the Slug Club, most of whom
have famous or influential relatives, such as the Ravenclaw Marcus
Belby, whose uncle Damocles invented Wolfsbane Potion. When he finds
out that Marcus's father isn't on good terms with Damocles, Slughorn
drops Marcus like a hot potato.)

Valerie:
> I'm wondering if Regulus WAS on the tapestry and just ended up on
the cutting room floor? 

Carol:
In the film, you mean? I have no idea; I'll need to watch that scene
again. Personally, I think that if Steve Kloves rather than Michael
Goldenberg had written the script for OoP, he'd have figured out that
RAB was Regulus and kept both him and the locket in, with more of
Kreacher than just him muttering to the curtained portrait of Mrs.
Black (moviegoers who hadn't read the book must have wondered what
*that* was about). 

Valerie:
I'm guessing yes, considering that they had Tonk's family and 
> other obscure people on there. That was an amazing prop! <snip>

Carol:
Probably they used the Lexicon (do I dare mention that site now?) as a
source for the names to put on it. Does anyone have a still of the
tapestry scene that actually shows the names and dates, so we could
compare them? 

Valerie:
> How in the world are they going to backtrack the locket in there?
Maybe Dumbledore will be with Harry at Grimmauld Place, telling Harry
Sirius has left it all to him, including grumpy ole Kreacher, (who, of
course, the film neglected to mention was responsible for the lie that
almost gets Harry killed by V and ultimately gets Sirius killed). Can
you imagine how much Harry would despise him!?!

Carol:
Well, considering that Harry managed to blame Snape for Sirius's
death, I don't think that his hatred or loathing of Kreacher is all
that strong, and there's plenty of blame to go around. (Bellatrix
actually killed Sirius; Voldie sent the DEs there in the first place
and planted the vision in Harry's head; Narcissa passed on Kreacher's
information to LV (or Lucius did); Sirius should have been more
careful and less arrogant in fighting Bellatrix--you don't stand on
the dais of a veiled archway in the Hall of Death when you're fighting
a deadly opponent; and Harry himself should have listened to Hermione
rather than Voldemor. So Kreacher's role, injuring Buckbeak to get
Sirius out of the way when Harry came to check on him and lying to
Harry is important in getting *Harry* to the MoM, but Kreacher never
expected "master" actually to show up there. Harry was just supposed
to *think* he was there and run off to rescue him.

Anyway, since it wasn't even clear in the film that Snape had sent the
Order members to rescue Harry et al. and Kreacher's role in the
conspiracy isn't given at all, I guess the writers will have to find
ways of making up for their ill-judged omissions by adding scenes to
HBP. In the case of Kreacher, maybe Kreacher's loyalty to Sirius's
hated family and his dislike of Sirius will be sufficient. (Too bad
they left out lines like "Master was a swine who broke his mother's
heart" and "Comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around. They say
he's a murderer, too." Or, at least, I don't remember those lines
being in the film.)

But why would DD be at 12 GP? Do you know for sure that they're
cutting the scene of Harry and DD at the Dursleys', with the glasses
of mead hitting them on the head and Kreacher showing up all filthy
and having a tantrum on Petunia's rug? Since they're emphasizing the
comic aspects of the HBP story (with sinister elements involving Draco
in between--and, I hope, most of the crucial Snape subplot), surely
they'll keep that scene? It's almost our last chance to see the
Dursleys. (I realize that the Dursleys aren't listed in the cast list
on the IMDb, but has it been definitively announced that the scene has
been cut?) I don't see how DD could show up at 12 GP to tell Harry
that he's inherited the house. He wouldn't be staying there if he
hadn't. I suppose he could be at the Burrow. Maybe it's part of the
added scene that incorporates the information about the Muggle bridge
and the "hurricane" and the various murders.

Sigh! At least they seem to be incorporating most of the scenes that
occur at Hogwarts, as well as the "Spinner's End" and "Horace
Slughorn" chapters.

Valerie:
> Then perhaps Molly, or even Dumbledore would attempt to pick up the
locket in the parlor, in an effort to clean the place up/out after
Sirius's death? 

Carol:
Not Dumbledore: he'd know Slytherin's locket when he saw it and know
that it was a Horcrux. He'd also suspect that Harry could open it by
speaking Parseltongue. 

I just realized that the OoP film left out Mundungus, too (including
Mrs. Figg beating him up with catfood cans. Too violent for the
kiddies; that was it! <eg>). So how can they bring in Kreacher going
after him (and hitting him on the head with a sauce pan, another great
moment) and Mundungus informing them that a toad-faced female Ministry
employee took the locket from him.

Ouch! The OoP writer and director really shot themselves in the foot,
as Steve (bboy_minn) says, by cutting that film too short. Didn't they
realize that those incidents and characters were in the book *for a
reason*?

Valerie:
> Or else I guess it could just appear in the cave for the first time
and Dumbledore will have to explain it's significance.

Carol:
Oh, dear, no. that will ruin everything. That scene needs to be as
close as possible to the book, with no added elements that will
detract from the suspense and horror. Besides, by the time that DD
discovers that the "Horcrux" is a locket, he's too far gone to realize
that it's a fake, much less give its history. He only rallies
(temporarily) long enough to get to the Astronomy Tower and have his
little talk with Draco.

Valerie:
But Who knows? Have we heard whether or not they've added actors for
Merope, and the other Gaunts? They MUST have that in!

Carol:
I agree that they *must* keep the Merope and Morfin scenes, but I
haven't heard a word about the Gaunts (or Hepzibah Smith or Bob Ogden
or Caractacus Burke) and they're not listed on the IMDb. OTOH, there's
a rumor of some character called Wendy Slinkhard, possibly some
relation of the author of the useless DADA text that Umbridge used in
OoP, being cast. My only question is, why?

Carol, wishing that the filmmakers would focus on the events leading
to DD's death or foreshadowing DH, which are far more important than
Quidditch or snogging in the corridors