[HPforGrownups] CoS irrelevant?

[Suzanne Chiles]

No: HPFGUIDX 48759

> From: Laura <metslvr19 at yahoo.com> [mailto:metslvr19 at yahoo.com]

> Am I missing some major plotline, or is CoS fairly irrelevant?
> Throughout the series, we see rising action and climax throughout the
> individual books, and rising action in the series as a whole.

I think that CoS is very relevant, mostly because we learn so much about
Voldemort as a schoolboy, and from knowing his history, we can then begin to
understand some of the factors that made him the way he is. We certainly
needed the information about Voldemort to understand the climax scene of
GoF, and I would suspect that knowing what we learn about him in CoS will be
a helpful guide to understanding his actions in the remaining three books.
Secondarily, we learn a lot about Lucius Malfoy and his relationship to his
son. Moreover, we learn just how deep his involvement with the Dark Arts is
as well as his ruthlessness in giving Ginny the diary. I don't think it's
"out in the middle of nowhere" at all. Lots of exposition, which isn't so
exciting, but very valuable exposition.

Suzanne