The Seven Ordeals (Re: [HPforGrownups] Morality and Efficiency)

[Iris FT]

No: HPFGUIDX 46992


 
  
 

 

Wendy wrote:

“In fact, we've seen Dumbledore do things 
which were seemingly the OPPOSITE of efficient - all the shenanigans 
regarding the protection on the Philosopher's Stone, for example. Oh, perhaps 
this was the most efficient way to make sure Harry wandered around the castle 
enough to find all the clues to get down there and face Quirrelmort, thereby 
learning and growing in the process. <G> But on the surface, as far as the 
stone goes, highly inefficient. And, while I must admit to being mostly 
ignorant about MAGIC DISHWASHER (not have yet had a chance to read the new 
megapost), from what I know of it, it doesn't seem particularly efficient, 
either.”

 

This is an interesting comment about the several ordeals Harry has to face in PS/SS.                                                                                                       Actually, I don’t know if Dumbledore really wanted to send Harry facing Quirrel and Voldemort on the purpose of making him” learning and growing in the process” as Wendy wrote, though it is a possibility (and this is NOT a post refuting MAGIC DISHWASHER).                                                                                   Nevertheless, we must consider carefully what Wendy calls “the shenanigans regarding the protection on the Philosopher’s Stone”.                                          I’m nearly sure they are more than what they seem to be at first reading, that is to say new events in the story. I mean, they probably give us a summary of the whole series. There are seven ordeals on the way to the Stone, seven books and seven stages in Harry’s initiatory journey.

 1)     The Three-headed Dog = Book1

 Of course, everyone has noticed yet that there are many triple elements in the first story; it’s usual in fairytales. For example: JKR mentions 3 “odd things” that happen to Harry (UK paperback, p23); Harry gets his letters in 3 different places; at Ollivander’s, JKR gives us the composition of 3 wands before Harry finally finds the suitable one, etc.                                     Fluffy is not only one more example of “triplication”; it’s also a reflection of the ordeal Harry has to get through in the first book: an enemy with three faces. Professor Quirrel does have three faces: the bullied teacher’s one, the Death Eater’s one, and Voldemort’s one. Just like Fluffy. It also works if you consider that the kid has to face three kinds of hatred: one he inherited from his parents (the Dursleys and Snape), one generated by jealousy or/and disappointment (Draco), and one connected with his own mystery (Voldemort).

 2)     The Devil’s Snare = Book 2

 JKR writes that the Devil’s Snare has “snake-like tendrils” (op. cit.,p 201), and if you look how it behaves, you can see it just acts the same way as a boa.                                                                                                        Now, the second book happens to be based on a snare, and on snakes. Whoever is the mastermind of the plot, he acts in order to corner Harry, and kill him. If everybody believes he is guilty of petrifying the students, that’s a chance of getting him expelled, so he’s deprived of Hogwarts’ safety. If Dumbledore gives up the school, Harry loses his protection, so it’s easier to kill him. The whole plot has one purpose: making Harry loose his protections, making him find the way to the Chamber of Secrets with the hope that he could clean his own name, Hagrid’s, and save his friends. And there, killing him.

 3)     The Flying Keys = Book 3

 Among all the keys, only one can open the door. If he wants to catch it, Harry has to show he is a good Seeker, as JKR points it (op.cit.,p 203).                What a coincidence, in the third book Harry is given the Marauder’s Map, which is like a key he can use to leave the school b the secret passageways. There’s one of the Whomping Willow’s roots that you can use as a key to enter the passageway to the Shrieking Shack.                                                       Much more, Harry’s Seeker position is determining in the story: if he wants to keep on playing Quidditch, he has to learn the Patronus Charm, his greatest achievement in the book. Thanks to his Patronus, he can save Sirius’s life, and assimilate his father’s legacy.

 4)     The Chessboard = Book 4

 Harry has to move “across the room” where the board is (op.cit., p 204). Ron leads the game, and declares: “You’ve got to make some sacrifices” (p 205). Playing as a knight, Ron sacrifices himself to make Harry win the game.     Now look at the fourth book: in the last Task, Harry has to move across a maze, as he had to do on the chessboard. Cedric, when he tells him he wants to share the victory, behaves like a knight and sacrifices his own glory. Pettigrew kills him. Then Harry himself has to give some of his own blood to Voldemort. It’s a painful defeat, even if Harry manages to win the duel with Voldemort and escape. But there’s Dumbledore’s so many debated “gleam of triumph”
 GoF could mean that there’s no victory without one or several sacrifices.

 Well, until that point, it was rather easy, for we have the books handy. The continuation can only be speculation. It’s anyone’s bet; nevertheless, I go on.

 5)     The Cold out Troll = Book 5

 There’s no ordeal because Quirrell “did the job” previously.                        Does it mean that in OotP (please, JKR
), Harry will receive some unexpected help (Peter, Draco
)? We all know that some of the main characters is going to die; will it be saving the day for Harry?                                                     On another hand, the Troll was formerly a protection to the Stone, and Harry’s enemy destroyed it. Will Harry loose one more protection?

 6)     The Seven Bottles = Book 6

 It’s a logic puzzle, based on poisons and antidotes, which creator is Snape.  Do we have to expect a “poison affair” in the sixth book? It would fit, if we consider the importance JKR gives to the potions class and particularly to making antidotes. And also there is Snape’s introduction to his class, when he bullies Harry asking him about some ingredients. Will the Draught of Living Death play a part in the story (as a delusion, for example)? A bezoar is a powerful antidote, and aconite is at the same time a poison and an antidote.That could bring many perspectives


 7)     The Mirror of Erised = Book 7

 When he faces that last ordeal, Harry faces himself.Would it mean that the key of the seventh book would be Harry versus Harry?                                        It’s not difficult to predict that his last battle will deal with important choices he will have to make. He will probably have to face his own consciousness, his own heart and soul, that is to say, his own identity. With or without a mirror,he will have to face the scar


 Phew! That’s it. Maybe it has been debated yet; if it has been, I apologize.

 Iris 

   

 



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