Silver lining and where to find it.

[Miles]

zanooda2 wrote:
> Here is another translation-related question on DH. Remember how
> Ginny invites Harry to her room on his birthday? She says that she
> wants to give him something (like what?! :-)) to remember her by,
> because he can meet some Veela during his travels, and he answers
> that there won't be many opportunities for dating. Then she says:
> "There's the silver lining I've been looking for"(pp.116 and 99 US
> and UK respectively).
>
> Ok, I know what "silver lining" means (something good in something
> bad, right?), but still, it's not very clear to me what she wants to
> say. Where exactly was she looking for that silver lining :-)? Does
> she mean it in general, like, you know, everything is so bad - LV is
> on the loose, people are dying, Harry is going away to fight LV and
> he may never come back etc., but at least he won't date Veelas :-)?
> Or is it something else?

Martin
I looked this up when I first read the book (I usually don't look anything 
up while reading a book) because I was really not sure if the meaning I 
remembered would fit. And I found different possible  meanings of "silver 
lining" apart from the figure of speech I knew.

Ginny knows quite well that Harry won't forget her. But she fears he could 
forget what she IS for him or better, what she could be for him. So, what 
she was looking for was something special to not let him forget, by showing 
or giving him something she obviously didn't give him before. She "enhances" 
his memory by embroiding it with a special and precious lining fabric - of 
silver.

Another idea could be to understand "line" as a cord (like in fishing line 
or phone line) to establish or hold a connection - "silver" playing with the 
Veela hair.

The native speakers can tell us whether JKR could have thought about these 
or other meanings - my impression is, that there is not one answer to 
zanooda's question, but many.

Miles