More Musing on the Put-Outer

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 30233

A few months back, we discussed the Put-Outer in PS/SS and tried to 
figure out why Dumbledore uses this magical device to extinguish and 
light the lamps on Privet Drive.  Why doesn't he just use a wand?  Is 
this just because JKR doesn't yet want us to know about wands?  Or is 
something else really important going on?  And why does JKR, a master 
of inventing clever names like "pensieve," resort to a clunky name 
like Put-Outer?

Then, when I went to see that Hollywood-production-that-we-are-not-
supposed-to-discuss-on-this-list, I observed that a big chunk of 
valuable time is used watching Dumbledore use the Put-Outer in a 
rather slow and dramatic way.  Why is so much book time (and precious 
screen time) devoted to the Put-Outer?  Why has there been no mention 
of it since, even though we frequently see teachers (Lupin and 
Trelawney) dim or ignite lights at Hogwarts?

Here's what we are told about the Put-Outer in PS/SS:

When Dumbledore arrives, he rummages around in his cloak.  He finds 
the Put-Outer.  "He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and 
clicked it.  The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.  He 
clicked it again -- the next lamp flickered into the darkness.  
Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on 
the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were 
the eyes of the cat watching him."  Then Dumbledore puts it back into 
his pocket.

But notice how the use of the Put-Outer changes when it is time to 
turn the street lamps back on:

"On the corner, he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer.  He 
clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street 
lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make 
out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the 
street."

So, when Dumbledore extingishes the lamps, they just go out.  But 
when he turns them on, they don't just pop back on.  Instead, we are 
told their color for the first time (orange), and balls of light come 
out of the Put-Outer.  It seems to me that Dumbledore is doing much 
more than re-lighting the lamps.  He is putting something from the 
Put-Outer into the street lamps, and it well could be the protection 
for Privet Drive.

If you think about it, there really isn't much of a compelling reason 
for Dumbledore to extinguish the lights in the first place.  The 
street is deserted, and it is the middle of the night.  When 
Dumbledore extinguishes the lights, he doesn't yet know that Hagrid 
will show up in a fashion (on a flying motorcycle) that might 
generate curiousity among the muggles.  

So now I think Dumbledore is using the Put-Outer to replace the light 
in the street lamps with a force field, a kind of giant invisibility 
screen that makes it impossible for Voldemort's followers to locate 
Harry.  

JKR, of course, wants to keep all of this a mystery for now.  So she 
misdirects us in three ways to confuse us.  

First, she says "twelve balls of light sped *back to their* street 
lamps.  Of course, we can now see that these twelve balls of light 
never went from the street lamps into the Put-Outer in the first 
place.  This phrase "back to their street lamps" makes us think that 
these are the same twelve balls of light that Dumbledore 
extinguished, but they really aren't, are they?  

Second, as for the name "Put-Outer," I think JKR didn't want a clever 
name; she wanted a painfully obvious name to misdirect us all and get 
us to think Dumbledore really is just turning the lights off and on 
again.  

Third, after she slips in the part about the balls of lights speeding 
back to the lamps, she immediately brings up the tabby cat, just to 
make sure we start thinking about something other than the street 
lamps.  

What say ye?

Cindy