Corrected: Protections on Privet Drive & Put-Outer (LONG)

[dicentra_spectabilis_alba]

No: HPFGUIDX 37147

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ecuman24" <ecuamerican at h...> wrote:
> Cindy writes:
> > Yes, we have speculated about Harry's protection quite a bit.  A 
> few 
> > months back, I started wondering if the Put-Outer might have 
> > something to do with the protections on Privet Drive.  Most of 
what 
> > follows are my thoughts from that discussion, with a few new 
> tidbits 
> > tossed in.
> > 
> > So.  Why does Dumbledore uses the Put-Outer to extinguish and 
> > light the lamps on Privet Drive.  Why doesn't he just use a 
wand?  
> Is 
> > this just because JKR doesn't yet want us to know about wands?  
Or 
> is 
> > something else really important going on?  And why does JKR, a 
> master 
> > of inventing clever names like veritaserum and pensieve, resort 
to 
> a 
> > clunky name like Put-Outer?
> > 
> > Then, when I went to see that Hollywood-production-that-we-are-
not-
> > supposed-to-discuss-on-this-list, I observed that a big chunk of 
> > valuable time is used watching Dumbledore use the Put-Outer in a 
> > rather slow and dramatic way.  Why is so much attention (in the 
> book 
> > and movie) devoted to the Put-Outer in one of the crucial opening 
> > scenes?  Why has there been no mention 
> > of it since, even though we sometimes see teachers (Lupin and 
> > Trelawney) dim or ignite lights at Hogwarts?
> 
> I have mixed feelings to this post.  Its a very well written and 
> thought out conversation.  But any here goes:  I don't think you 
> should be worrying about too much about how much "screen time" 
> and "page time" the Put Outers get.  Remember, that this is a book 
> and the first book of a well thought out, spider web plot, kind of 
> world.  An author ( and a director) need to introduce this world in 
a 
> controlled but tantalizing manner.  The Putter Outer was a clever 
> tool by JKR to slowly introduce and spark our minds and 
imagination.  
> Remember, at the time she did not know this was going to be a huge 
> hit.  Mostly everything written in the first chapter was for intro 
> and drama.  BUT... you do bring about some good theories, one of 
> many, about Harry's protection.
> 
Granted, JKR has to ease us into her imaginary world slowly, so as 
not to confuse us. But the orange light might actually mean or at 
least symbolize the protection. At the beginning of GoF, right after 
Harry awakens to a burning scar, he reaches for his glasses:

"He put them on and his bedroom came into clearer focus, lit by a 
faint, misty orange light that was filtering through the curtains 
from the street lamp outside the window." (GoF 16; U.S. edition)

This could be a simple setting of the scene, but I find it especially 
telling that the orange light is mentioned right after that horrific 
scene in which Frank Bryce listens in on the slimy baby and Wormtail. 
This is also the book in which Harry loses the protection afforded 
him by his mother's death and, possibly, the protection from being 
with relatives. 

--Dicentra, who prefers outlandish theories to common sense