Idle musings on Book Six

[Penny & Bryce]

No: HPFGUIDX 27758

Hi --

Cindy C. wrote:


> Luke wrote:
> 
> However, if this assumption is correct than I cannot for
>  > the life of me fathom why every question asked of JKR in interviews
>  > indicates that [insert any mystery here] will be answered in Five
> or
>  > Seven.  Never Six.  Maybe Six is the well-kept secret we are
>  > overlooking.
> 
> Nice observation, Luke.  I'd like to hear from people who were
> listies who had read 1-3 and were waiting for GoF.  Did JKR give
> reall clues to to what she planned to do with GoF back then, or was
> it mostly misdirection?  These days, I don't put too much stock in
> what JKR says about what is coming in future books, because I think
> she is deliberately cagey and never tells us anything really
> important.  Was she similarly cagey in her statements about GoF
> before it was released, or did she really give us clues back then
> about what was coming?

My opinion is that she was very cagey (and with hindsight, crafty) in 
her pre-GoF interviews.  I don't anything spectacularly important was 
revealed in pre-GoF interviews or chats, and some things were fairly 
misleading.  For example, if you go back & read the Archives, you'd find 
that virtually everyone just knew that Harry & Cho would date in GoF 
based on JKR statements.  This was misleading because while he had a 
mild crush on her and did ask her out on one date, she rejected him & 
dates his rival instead.

Just for grins, I pulled out Book Magazine's article (May/June 2000). 
Here's what they said (all based on JKR interviews & chats):

** They all fall in love with the wrong people (hmmm.... did any of them 
really fall in love?  Seems overplayed to me)

** The new DADA is rumored to be Davey Gudgeon with his magical eye

** The first truly evil female character makes her debut

** The Quidditch World Cup takes place, Ireland v Bulgaria 
(straight-forward & true)

** There will be "a number of deaths, including that of one character 
readers have grown to love" (okay, so we grew to know Cedric better over 
the course of GoF, but most everyone assumed the death would be someone 
we *already* knew ... and GoF hardly features a "number" of deaths)

** Harry is in contact with Sirius (true)

** Another Weasley, Ron's cousin, appears (false b/c JKR deleted this 
aspect of GoF)

** Readers find out about other wizarding schools

** We learn why Voldemort is who he is (huh?  Did we?)

** The book's ending will be very frightening indeed

So ... you might see now why I'm skeptical of things like "Ginny will 
have a more important role in Book 5."  I tend to think, "Well, that's 
great because right now the Giant Squid has had about as much of a role 
as Ginny's had so far."  Sorry ... I just don't like Ginny, don't think 
she's at all the person for Harry ... (fodder for another post).

Back to the original question though: I think JKR is deliberately cagey, 
and she words things in such a way that they can be subject to more than 
one interpretation.  I don't think she gives things away very easily, 
and very little of what she says is straight-forward factual information 
(such as the World Cup teams).

Penny