[HPforGrownups] PoA Chapters 18-20

[Monika Huebner]

No: HPFGUIDX 21811


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Amy Z [mailto:aiz24 at hotmail.com]

> Great summary and questions, Monika!

Thanks. :) I had a lot of fun writing it.

> In the English-language editions, he doesn't say that it looked like 
> his father until near the end of the next chapter ("Hermione's 
> Secret"), so I only had two pages in which to wonder (IIRC I was just 
> dazed and confused, and way too eager to get on with the story to 
> think it through--I certainly wasn't going to pause the tape to 
> consider theories).  I do recall hoping that he didn't turn out not to 
> be dead after all--sorry, Harry.  Does it mention James in "The 
> Dementor's Kiss" in the German version?

Um, I guess I have to confess here that I have cheated a bit on
this question. Sorry.... Of course I know that Harry just fainted
at the end of chapter 20 and thus could not tell us that he thought
he had seen his father... But I was desperately thinking about
another question for chapter 20, and I remembered that I was
confused about the Patronus when I read PoA for the first time.
I admit that I had *no* idea who had cast it, and of course I
didn't think a moment that it could have been Harry himself.

BTW I have the British editions of the books, as well as the
Stephen Fry readings of all four books. The German translation
is so bad that I'd better not start commenting on it or I will
go on rambling for a while... I am pretty sure I wouldn't love
Sirius to pieces like I actually do if I had read the German version
first. The translator managed to mess up those chapters quite
royally. (e.g. no tears in Sirius' eyes, and the dialogues often
take a rather different tone.)
 
> Like Catherine, I think some unarticulated loyalty to Sirius and/or 
> likewise unarticulated conviction that he can't really have done what 
> he seems to have done may be part of Lupin's motivation.  

I tend to agree here. Maybe there had always been a lingering
doubt about Sirius' guilt, even though the evidence spoke 
against him. It's very difficult to tell. What would we have done
in his situation? I honestly have no answer to this. But I think
I would have also hesitated to report someone I had been so
close friends with.

Monika

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