Spec... Pattern of last chapters?

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 45727

Rachel wrote:
> has anyone noticed a pattern of the "adventures" Herry faces at the 
> end of each of the books? In the first book, the "adventure"  
> involved Harry, Hermione, and Ron. In the second, it involved only 
> Harry and Ron. The third, only Harry and Hermione, and the last, 
> only Harry by himself. What do you think this could lead to in 
> further books? will the pattern repeat itself, or will he have  
> adventures w/ othercharacters? or even will Harry not be involved in 
> upcoming adventures? I think there is reason to believe the next 
> adventure will be faced by Ron and Hermione and not Harry at all. 
> tell me what you think...
>    -Rachel

I have to point out that this idea has, indeed, been discused before,
but, even knowing yahoomort as well as I do (I comne close to blows
with it every time I look up past posts), I have been unable to find
the last time it was discused. It was quite some time ago, though, so
maybe it's time we brought it up again.

The general feeling I got from last time was that that recurring
pattern is a sign of Harry's growth into maturity; that is, that he
faces the problems with less help every time. In the first book, he
has both Ron's strategic capabilities and Hermione's knowledge to help
him. Then, only Ron. Then, only Hermione. And finally, just himself.

However, there is a big problem with this: the pattern is not that
easy. For one thing, Harry is alone in what we could consider the
"showdown" of PS, CoS and GoF (the moments were he faces Voldemort).
In PoA, on the other hand, the showdown is really the SS ("Shack
Scene"), were there are multitudes inside that room: Harry, Ron,
Hermione, Peter, Sirius, Lupin, Crookshanks and Snape. The scene ends,
intertestingly, with Harry facing alone by himself the dementors.
Timeturned!Harry and Hermione only tie loose ends, but cannot be
considered to be part of the showdown (although Timeturned!Harry does
participate by saving himself; see reference to "alone by himself").

My conclusion: that the pararell is not as clear as it seems. For one
thing, Harry is always on his own when the push comes to shove. Not
only that, in the moments before, there is more people than memebers
of the triad (HRH), except in book one. In book two, for example,
Lockhart is with Harry as far as Ron, and he is as useful as Ron in
the scene. And in GoF, Harry has the support of Cedric "Spare"
Diggory. Not much help, indeed, but neither have any of Harry's
friends been of any help previously, except in getting Harry there.
The pattern *I* see in the books is that Harry is helped by a number
of individuals, changing in each book, to get to the position were
Harry *alone* faces the greatest challenge of the year.

There is one last pattern that ties in with MAGIC DISHWASHER (you were
expecting it, weren't you? ;-) ). In the first three books, Harry
faces the challenges on his own, but there is always a back-up ready
to help him when he is about to fail. In book one, Dumbledore arrives
in the nick of time. In book two, Dumbledore's bird comes in and
destroys the enemy's most powerful weapon (the basilisk's eyes), and
then cures him so he survives the venom (the second most powerful
weapon). In book three, as MAGIC DISHWASHER believes, Snape is sent
and when *he* fails to get Harry out of the sticky situation,
Dumbledore sends *Harry himself* to get him out of the situaion. The
problem with this pattern is, of course, book four, where Dumbledore
misses the portkey!Cup twist, and Harry is taken away to face
Voldemort without any back-up except for "Spare" Diggory -  but
Dumbledore is falible, after all, and this pattern is a reflection of
Dumbledore's planning, not of JKR's writing.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf