Priori Incantantem/Deletrius

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 25814

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., cynthiaanncoe at h... wrote:

> So I (and I seem to be entirely alone in this) still think we need 
to 
> re-think the idea in the Lexicon that the corrected wand order 
scene 
> means that someone killed James and Lilly with Voldemort's wand 
after 
> Voldemort tried to kill Harry.  

Whoa there! You're misunderstanding, and it's myfault for not making 
it clear. There is an explanation of this on top of that page, but I 
think it's not plain enough. Let me explain here and then I'll look 
into making this more understandably on the site.

I am absolutely sure that JKR intended the Priori Incantatem scene to 
read just like we all assumed it did when we first read it: that the 
spells that came out matched the backstory we read in SS and 
receieved hints to in PA. I am sure that she intends for James to 
have been killed first, at the door, then Lily to have been killed 
protecting Harry, then the spell rebounding on Voldemort. The Lexicon 
page that you're referring to is intended to point out that THAT 
ISN'T WHAT THE TEXT IN GF LITERALLY SAYS. In other words, it's a huge 
Flint. When I first wrote that page, there was no evidence to suggest 
that JKR wasn't playing tricky word games with us, leading us on and 
setting us up for some wonderful revelation later. A lot of us really 
hoped that that would happen. But it didn't. The whole wand order 
thing was just a mistake on her part. Now once we've encountered that 
mistake, the other oddities in that chapter suddenly seem likely to 
be simply mistakes as well. There is evidence all through the book 
that it wasn't edited as completely as it should have been. That 
deadline crunch really must have been horrible.

But the fact of the matter is, the text does not indicate that the 
backfired Avada Kedavra spell ever came out of the wand. It just 
doesn't. And as others have pointed out, it was a spell and it did 
get cast and it didn't "fail." I'm sure that JKR just forgot. As 
someone else pointed out, she didn't include the Imperius Curse on 
Harry either. 

I think for me, this whole thing was a bit of a turning point. There 
was a time when I expected amazing things from JKR. After all, she 
had caught me by surprise with Scabbers and Quirrell with the face on 
the back of his head. So I and a lot of other fans were very excited 
to discover what we thought were new clues to bigger mysteries that 
she was going to spring on us one of these days. But instead, it was 
all just a goof, sorry 'bout that. She never even commented publicly 
on it, just let the publishers try rather lamely to fix her lapse in 
later editions. I was very let down and I know that others were too. 

So now I don't expect quite the cleverness from JKR that I once did. 
Now, for example, when we start discussing which house people were 
in, I just figure it's Gryffindor, because it almost certainly is. 
EVERYONE'S in Gryffindor. Whatever. When people express fond hopes 
that Draco might be "redeemed," I don't bother reading them. He won't 
be. He's just a stereotype, part of a House that's just a stereotype.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Harry Potter books. I'm not less of a 
fan. I've just learned to accept the books for what they are, not 
expect more. 

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
http//www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon