Is Buckbeak Indispensable (& Other PoA Edits)?

[blpurdom at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27392

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., cynthiaanncoe at h... wrote:
> I was thinking that PoA might work without the whole Buckbeak 
> subplot.  Buckbeak primarily serves as a vehicle for Black's 
> escape, and secondarily to give Hagrid something to do and be 
> concerned about.

This is necessary to keep because of a) the escape b) Malfoy's injury 
and c)it displays Harry's affinity for animals/magical creatures.

> Instead of using the time-turner to rescue Buckbeak, Harry and 
> Hermione would go to the broom shed and get two school brooms and 
> also retrieve the Firebolt.  They still have to hide in the forest 
> while they wait for Sirius to be caught and taken to Flitwick's 
> office.  

The Time Turner is also important; they wouldn't have enough time to 
rescue Sirius otherwise, and since Snape doesn't know about it, he 
can't propose that Harry and Hermione were in two places at once 
(although he seems to really want to).  It is also essential to keep 
Hermione hopping and to explain her personality quirks later in the 
year, when she's been sleep-deprived for a while.  He also saves 
himself by producing the Patronus while he's using the Time Turner.

> Sacrificing the Buckbeak sub-plot would save a great number of 
> pages, at least 50, because you lose half of Talon and Tealeaves, 
> you lose the execution scenes, and you lose all the talk about 
> Hagrid's appeal.  

This could be done obliquely, instead of in great detail.  It 
wouldn't have to last long at all.

> I also think the Ravensclaw Quiddich match could be eliminated 
> entirely without losing anything important.  11 pages saved there.  

Harry first notices Cho at the Quidditch match, and it is established 
that he can separate himself emotionally and still get the job done 
(he's tempted to be a "gentleman" and let her win, but he doesn't 
shirk his team duty).  It also doesn't have to last long.

> Then I'd take a hatchet to Snape's Grudge and eliminate Harry's 
> entire visit to Hogsmead with Ron where Harry throws mud at 
> Malfoy.  We would just pick things up Harry about to go to 
> Hogsmead, but getting intercepted by Snape and taken to Snape's 
> office for the rest of the chapter.  12 pages saved there.

This could certainly be streamlined, but it doesn't have to be 
eliminated.
 
> I'd also remove about half of the dozens of relentless 
> foreshadowing references to the time-turner.  Just a few pages 
> saved.

The beginning of the book could be streamlined by having the blowing-
up-Aunt-Marge-Grim-sighting-Knight-Bus-Harry-staying-at-the-Leaky-
Cauldron bit reduced to the amount of time it would take to run the 
credits.  These early sequences don't even have to have audible 
dialogue (we'll get the message if we see Uncle Vernon turning red 
while screaming at Harry, and if we see Aunt Marge floating to the 
ceiling like a zeppelin), which would make these scenes perfect for 
being on the screen at the same time as the opening credits with the 
soundtrack playing in the background...

By the time the credits were done, he'd be nearing the end of the 
summer, getting his school supplies and preparing to take the train 
to school...

Also, there's a great deal of verbiage in PoA that's descriptive; 
once we're seeing a lot of that on the screen, things will move more 
quickly than you'd think.  It takes only a couple of seconds to show 
a dementor, but it could take 15-30 seconds to read a thorough 
description of one.

--Barb