so what *was* crucial? (was End of an Era)

[dfrankis at dial.pipex.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 21096

Rosmerta asked:
> 
So, in hindsight, what *was* crucial in Book Four? Plotwise, it seems 
clear that it's the return of Voldemort to his body. 
>

In the first four books, Harry is a pupil attending a school.  In 
this framework, he is threatened by evil and tugged by romance.  In 
his holidays he does a few other things.  Dumbledore is a headmaster 
running a school, while keeping an eye out for contingencies that 
might arise from Voldemort.

In the last three books Harry is an active fighter against evil who 
has to do his best to keep up studies in the meantime.  He has to 
start keeping up some pretences, like believing that Snape is just a 
nasty teacher and no more.  Dumbledore is a master plotter who has to 
run a school on the side.  The whole Hogwarts milieu which has been 
the structure within which everything is set now becomes a piece of 
cardboard scenery behind which the real story is happening.  A lot of 
the real action may take place at other locations to which JKR will 
contrive to take Harry - as with V's rebirthing.  He will have to get 
back with plausible excuses for missing Prof Binns, with only covert 
backup from D.

BTW, COS makes it pretty clear that Fudge has very little power to do 
anything with Hogwarts.  When he says not many Ministers would let D 
appoint werewolves etc I think that's just bluster: he had no 
choice.  He wasn't allowed to bring dementors in in PoA (and 
McGonagall makes it sound like he broke a 'school rule' bringing one 
in GOF).  But in any case the Wizarding world is now split between 
D's followers and business-as-usual MOM people (and of course a much 
smaller no of DEs)

David, thinking that transcripts are unreliable, and she meant the 
end of an ERROR - there will be no more HP books, at all, ever.