Chapter 34 Summary

Amy Z aiz24 at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 12 05:16:54 UTC 2001


No: HPFGUIDX 14122

Jeralyn wrote:

> 3.      We know that the Avada Kedavra curse is associated with 
green light.  But
> what was the symbolism, if any, of the red light streaming from 
Harry's wand?

Green for Slytherin, red for Gryffindor?

Does Expelliarmus always give off a red light?  I don't have a CoS 
handy--that's probably the only place it'd say.  Or maybe in PoA when 
they knock Snape out--haven't got one of them either.

> 2.      Were the apparitions emerging from Voldie's wand ghosts?  If 
not, what were
> they and why were they able to speak to Harry?

They seem like a different phenomenon from ghosts to me.  Harry's seen 
ghosts and he doesn't note a similarity; they're repeatedly referred 
to as "echoes" (as was the other PI we've seen, the Dark Mark).  And 
why can they only last as long as the connection holds, plus a few 
seconds?  That's not ghostlike.  I'm hoping JKR will expand on the 
various kinds of unbeing, but in the meantime I'm figuring these 
figures are substantially different from the likes of Nick and Myrtle.

Therefore,

> 5.      Do you think we'll see Cedric's ghost at Hogwart's now?

I don't.  I definitely think that if he did become a ghost, it 
wouldn't have anything to do with the smoky Cedric of this scene, but 
with his untimely death.  But Cedric got to make a last request, and 
it was satisfied, so he doesn't sound like a likely candidate for a 
ghost to me--going by the traditional ideas I have about what makes a 
ghost (someone who dies with unfinished business); Jo's ideas may be 
different.

Too bad for Myrtle, though.  After all that ogling, she could have him 
to herself.

> 4.      Do you wish that, even though the original wand order was a 
mistake, Jo had
> worked with it and come up with a reason for James' emerging first?

I've written about this before (can't find which message), but I'll 
say briefly:  no, I really don't.  I wish she hadn't made the mistake 
in the first place, but I don't want her to have to rework the whole 
7-part story in order to explain away something she didn't even 
intend.  I love everyone's creative theories, but they might clash 
horribly with yet-to-be-revealed facts, and only JKR knows what can 
and can't have happened in what order in Godric's Hollow.  (One day 
we'll know too...when the Complete Rowling Notebooks are published, 
edited by [an] illustrious member[s] of this list, natch.)

I do wish everyone involved had just said, in a completely candid way, 
"OOPS--sorry about that--future printings will have the corrected 
text!" instead of being sneaky.

Amy Z

-------------------------------------------------------------------
 "Blimey," said the other twin.  "Are you--?"
 "He *is*," said the first twin.  "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.
 "What?" said Harry.
 "*Harry Potter*," chorused the twins.
 "Oh, him," said Harry.  "I mean, yes, I am."
                                 -HP and the Philosopher's Stone
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