PRESSURE COOKERs often develop cracks

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 45419

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Melody" <Malady579 at h...> wrote:
> I guess my big problem with a basic, childlike read of this series 
is
> that JKR loves, craves, *thrives* on the thrill of throwing her
> readers off track.  Tossing aside her status as God of Potterland, 
her
> style as a writer is to subtly introduce and then distract our 
minds
> from the truth so that when we reach the end of the story, we are
> asking ourselves why we did not see the truth from the beginning.  
The
> hints were all there.

Melody, you astonish me!  Such a broad metathinking argument from an 
MD supporter.  I am shocked!  Shocked and apalled!

Okay, seriously -- the PRESSURE COOKER in no way enforces a "basic, 
childlike" reading of the text.  All it requires is that deeper 
layers of meaning must be extrapolated from things that we've 
actually seen or be told about in canon -- not from hypothetical 
things that may have happened off-screen but that we don't know 
anything about.  Within that limitation, there is plenty of room to 
speculate about mysteries, double meanings, and hidden motives.

Nor does PC restrict us to Harry's point of view, as you suggest 
later.  Harry's point of view in PoA tells us that Snape's actions 
are motivated simply by the fact that he's a nasty git who hates 
him, Sirius and Lupin because of a silly schoolboy grudge.  He 
spends no time contemplating Snape's sense of duty, his loyalty to 
(and complicated relationship with) Dumbledore.  He never attempts 
to see the Prank from Snape's perspective, nor does it ever occur to 
him that Snape may have been worried for his safety.  If you re-read 
my summary post, you'll notice that PRESSURE COOKER considers all of 
these factors, because they're all right there in the text.  Harry 
may miss the nuances, but we don't have to.

 > Look, basically, it is obvious that Dumbledore has plans to defeat
> Voldemort.  We haven't been told them, but Dumbledore knows the
> benefits of a good defense, and the best defense is a good offense.
> If would be foolish for Dumbledore to just sit and relax waiting 
for
> Voldemort to resurface and then work against him...again. 

Dumbledore is working against Voldemort *now* by making sure that 
Harry is properly prepared to face him.  He's doing this by guiding 
not just Harry's magical training, but his moral training, too.  And 
to a more general extent, he's trying to do the same for the current 
generation of the WW.  The previous generation, which fought the 
last war, is beset by bigotry, fear, and a tendency to do what's 
easy over what's right (like authorizing Aurors to use Unforgivables 
and sending "obviously guilty" people to Azkaban without a trial).  
Dumbledore is fighting against a lot more than just Voldemort.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com