Neville's role (was Ron's death, Neville's role and Harry's travel)

[ftah3]

No: HPFGUIDX 32731

grey_wolf_c wrote:
> Th. 2: Neville's role in the books
> We know that Neville turned into a 
> canary (which suits him quite well, really)

Grey_wolf_c, I apologize for snipping your wonderful parallel with 
oriental mythology, but your pointing out of Neville's turn as a 
canary reminded me of something closer to home (for myself, as an 
American, as well as, theoretically, JKR as a Briton).  Especially as 
I've always had Neville in my list of "if someone is going to die, 
might be one of these."

In the days when coal miners dug deep in the earth with nothing but 
pitchforks, rags over their mouths and scraggly little ponies to drag 
carts full of rock up the long winding tunnels to the surface, one 
way that they protected themselves from the very real danger of air 
poisoning/suffocation was by bringing a canary in a cage down with 
them.  The canary, being smaller, would die more quickly if the air 
went bad, and with it's death alert the miners to their own peril.

Is Neville the canary in the mine?  Will his death alert the Heroes 
to an unseen danger in the future?  Hmmmm.

:-)

Mahoney