Plot hole/One Question for JKR

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 32416

Ouch!  So many well-reasoned objections!  So I have a decision to 
make:  fight to defend the theory or surrender?  Mmmmm, I think 
I'll . . . fight! :-)

First, one thing I forgot to mention in support of the "Map Destroys 
the Plot" theory is that JKR says this problem occured to her when 
she was halfway finished.  Perhaps she isn't literally thinking of 
pages written.  She's thinking of plot development.  This makes 
sense, as she likely doesn't have a book with her to look up the page 
numbers when she answers the interviewer's question about the 
glitch.  Halfway through the plot is . . . the second task -- further 
evidence that the glitch occurred around the "Egg and the Eye."

OK, now on to specific objections.

*****
> 
> Tabouli wrote:
>  
> > Couldn't that have been more easily solved by getting 
> Weasley/Moody 
> to see and confiscate the Map a lot earlier, perhaps by having him 
> seeing Cousin Weasley snooping about, going out to inspect and then 
> having the whole Egg and magic step scenario?  Could be managed, at 
a 
> pinch.
> 
 AND

Amy wrote:

> I have a simpler solution still.  If I were JKR's editor at the 
> moment she discovered this problem <begins hyperventilating at the 
> thrill of the very thought> <puts head in paper bag> <ah, that's 
> better> I would pat her hand and say, "Calm down, honey.  Just 
ditch 
> the Map.  Harry didn't bring it along to his bath at all, problem 
> solved.  Feeling better?  Here, have a cuppa."
> 

As Amy mentions, the Map is crucial because Fake Moody needs it later 
to see his father enter the grounds and to track everyone's position 
in "The Madness of Mr. Crouch."  So how can JKR get the Map to Fake 
Moody?

The stumbling block is how can JKR get the Map to Fake Moody without 
Harry looking at it and seeing "Weasley".  I don't think it is 
possible.  Why would Harry be wandering the castle at any point in 
the book unless he has activated the Map and is using it?  If he is 
using it, how can Fake Moody walk up to Harry without Harry seeing a 
little Weasley dot moving in his direction?  

Maybe the answer is the same scenario as we get in GoF:  Harry sees 
the Weasley dot (in Snape's office, a classroom, the hall, whatever) 
and then drops the map and can't see the dot moving toward him.  I 
still don't think that can work.  Cousin Weasley isn't supposed to 
*be* at Hogwarts at all.  He/she is an adult with some other 
function -- who knows -- QWC player?  Daily Prophet reporter?  
(Cousin Weasley certainly isn't a student, because he/she can't be a 
student and impersonate a teacher at the same time, and he/she would 
lack the skills needed to do everything Fake Moody has to do, like 
change the cup into a porkey).  Whatever it is, Cousin Weasley isn't 
supposed to be at Hogwarts, just as Crouch Jr. isn't supposed to be 
there.  

Consequently, having Cousin Weasley show up on the Map puts suspicion 
in the wrong place.  Perhaps Harry would believe that the Weasley dot 
is Ron/Fred/George/Ginny, but that doesn't advance the plot much, 
because Harry would just ask them why they were out of bed, they 
would deny it, and the evidence would again point too directly to the 
Weasley cousin.

Besides, I think that JKR really does need to have Harry see Fake 
Moody (be it Crouch Jr. or Cousin Weasley) in Snape's office.  That 
is pivotal because it gives Snape a reason to threaten Harry with 
Veritaserum, because it gives JKR another potential villian in Crouch 
Sr., and it makes the idea that Crouch Jr. is brewing Polyjuice 
potion all year more believable. 

Megan wrote:

>  Only, when pondering what the original story might have been, it
> seems a little weak for a JKR work, don't you think?  

Mmmm, not really.  It's hard to guess the precise paramaters of the 
original story.  But I figure it starts with Harry at the Dursleys, 
moves to QWC to introduce Krum and Veelas, has a quick detour with 
the "Dark Mark" only to show the Mark and establish Priori 
Incantantem, and then we go to school.  We do three tasks, re-birth 
Voldmort, expose the Weasley cousin, and roll the credits.  Given 
that GoF exists primarily to establish Voldemort's return, that might 
have been enough of a plot without Crouch Jr. and everything 
connected to him.  

I have to admit that I don't know how JKR establishes Priori 
Incantantem without Winky.  I must give that some more thought.  But 
the bottom line is that I think the final version of GoF works much 
better with Crouch Jr., the Pensieve, etc.

Megan again (picking her one question for JKR):

"/Exactly/ WHY did Voldemort want to kill James and Harry?"
> No dodging the question by saying something like, "Well he wanted to
> kill James for this reason" and then not answer the rest of the
> question. ;-)  I would be content with my one question, so long as
> there was a long line of other people with other questions behind 
that
> I could also hear the answers to! (is that cheating? <vbg>)

Sorry, you can't hear the answer to anyone else's question, and they 
can't tell you later, either.  And we need to get a ruling on 
whether "James and Harry" makes it a compound question.  :-)  

Also, we probably need one more assumption.  You can ask your 
question now or later, but you never know whether JKR will live long 
enough to complete the books or whether her new husband will sap her 
drive so that she decides not to bother.  If she decides not to 
bother, she throws all of her notes into a fire, so don't assume 
anyone else will publish them or finish the series.  If she dies, her 
husband is so sticken with grief that he buries her notes with her.  
If she finishes the books, she never writes another book about the 
wizarding world.  No sequel, no encyclopedia, nothing.

Now, although Megan's question is very, very tempting, I would have 
to gamble that JKR will finish the series and will reveal the answers 
to that question.  So I think I have to stick with asking about the 
plot glitch because JKR will go to her grave and never reveal what 
happened there unless I ask her.

Cindy