Cross-book Foreshadowing (WAS Snape and Harry's first meeting)

[David]

No: HPFGUIDX 29109

Pippin wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., caliburncy at y... wrote:
> 
>  an explanation of cross-book second time foreshadowing 
> (CBSTF) and the search for examples.
> 
> How about Harry's conversation with the snake in SS/PS? 
> 
> There's also the famous gleam in Dumbledore's eye. 
> 
>     Another example might be all those vampire references. <veg> 

I'm not sure where Luke ended up with his definitions - but none of 
these, or Cindy's examples, were really the sort of thing I was 
looking for.  Though, now I think about it more carefully, I'm not 
sure Harry's scar pain in PS is either.

At the time, it puts the emphasis on Snape, but since we don't know 
the significance of scar pain anyway, it's just an interesting 
observation.  Later on after the unicorn incident, we might feel that 
it possibly corroborates the idea that Snape is bad.

Rereading PS *before* reading any of the others (not something I 
did), I guess we would realise the pain is more likely to be to do 
with Quirrell/Voldemort, but have little idea of the significance - 
so there is nothing misleading there that is uncovered by the end of 
GOF - just something which becomes a little clearer.  If in a future 
book Snape says, 'Potter, I hated you from the first, and when I 
looked at you I activated your scar so that my Master could torture 
you better', *that* would be the sort of thing I am after.

A better example would be Ludo Bagman.  In GOF, he acts suspiciously 
almost from the first time we meet him - indeed from when we hear 
about him, if we count his not looking for Bertha as suspicious.  I 
fully expected to find that he was the one who had put Harry's name 
in the goblet.  At the end of GOF, his gambling is revealed and we 
are supposed to think that explains all his suspicious behaviour.

I would say we have cross-book (yes, better than multi-book) second-
time foreshadowing (not sure what I think about this terminology) if 
it turns out that Bagman is a DE and, e.g. that is what Rita Skeeter 
was referring to in Hogsmeade, as well as why he was out of breath at 
the World Cup (joining in with L Malfoy, then frightened by Crouch's 
Dark Mark).  In effect we have a double deception by JKR, the first 
part in-book and the second part going from one book to another.  If 
we never hear from Bagman again or he just has a neutral or comic-
villain (like Lockhart) role then I would say that there was some 
slightly clumsy first-time foreshadowing in GOF.

Another example might be the incident when James saved Snape's life.  
We have heard that incident described three times, with it being cast 
in a new light each time.  I think it highly likely that we will hear 
something in a future book which will put Snape in a worse light and 
Sirius in a (marginally) better one.  I'm not sure there's really the 
element of double deception by JKR, though.

Hope that's clear.

David