Who was that masked man? wasRe: Estel is the Half Blood Prince

[pippin_999]

Sherry:
> Ok so I have read the Entire Edenurough thing and it does not 
> say "Aberforth is the hogs head keeper" it says oh I liked that 
clue  etc and I am proud of myself etc.  It does nto say that is who 
it  is.  She is famous for giving out clues that really lead to a 
totally  different place.  <

I am the last to deny that JKR gives tricky answers. But how do 
you interpret "Well yes, obviously." as tricky? 

You think she was saying, "Obviously, I am proud of the clue 
because it made you all think of Aberforth, when it's really a red 
herring?'  

For a clue to be a proper red herring, you should also be able 
to draw the correct but counter-intuitive conclusion from the text, 
which is why JKR was so apologetic about Mark Evans. 

If the resemblance to Aberforth is a red herring, she needs to put 
some indication in the text as to why Aberforth might not be the 
bartender in the Hogshead.  Otherwise, it's not a proper red 
herring and JKR has no reason to be proud of it.

Pippin