[HPforGrownups] JKR's play on words, other than the spells/charms

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 13502

Margaret Dean wrote:

> Black- I'm thinking that this would be in reference to Azkaban, but
> I'm sure there just might be a hidden meaning JKR will get to.

Well, I for one figured that he had to be a black dog, or else Harry
could not mistake him for the Grim, and that was a plot device, so she
needed him to be black. Legends of black dogs portending death do not
originate with JKR. And since he was a black dog in animagus form, she
named him Sirius Black.

> =Albus= Dumbledore
> =Rubeus= Hagrid
> Sirius =Black=
>
> Arguably the three adults closest to Harry at this point.
>
> There are three "stages" in the alchemical process (and we =know= JKR
> has researched alchemy to a degree -- Nicolas Flamel was a real
> person, and of course the Philosopher's Stone is the stated goal of
> alchemy) called the albedo (white), rubedo (red) and nigredo (black).
>
> =Can= this be coincidental?  Somehow I doubt it.

This is a wonderful observation. But I doubt she did it consciously. I
think this is a sterling example of that indefinable "thing" that JKR
has, that makes her work great. She has a talent for making things work
right. Her names sound and "feel" right, her characters ring true. One
of the reasons this is so is that she is, somehow, plugged into the
collective pool of cultural knowledge better than the rest of us.

I am not saying she is not aware of some of the associations and
connotations of the names she picks. But I am saying that she's not
aware of a lot of them, that she named the characters the names she
thought fit them. It is her talent that the fit is so perfect. I think
she herself would be astonished at some of the relationships and
resonances we've found (like that Ron/Scabbers/yellow rat story
connection a while back).

My favorite illustration of this is the lucky gambler, who just seems to
win a lot, or (for you gamers out there), the nights you're playing and
the dice seem to know what's going on--the high rolls make sense, the
low rolls make sense, and it all comes together so well that you're
*there.* That is what JKR has, that ability to write so that it all
comes together. Perhaps her subconscious just percolates better than
most.

--Amanda


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]