Welcome back to the shrieking shack

[bkb042]

No: HPFGUIDX 43772

   After conducting a less than exhaustive search of the archives 
(primarily along the Dirty!Harry and Stoned!Harry thread), I decided 
that I should share my insomnia-induced observations with y'all.

  In  PoA (US, hb) pp 370-371  370--"Pettigrew opened his mouth and 
closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to 
talk."  371--"Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noislessly, 
but staring all the while at Black as though hypnotized." For the 
most part, JKR has told the story from Harry's  perspective if he 
was involved in the "scene".  Pettigrew was *silently* exercising 
his lips while Sirius was recounting his experiences and escape from 
Azkaban. Why the sudden shift in point-of-view to 3rd person 
omnipotent while the main characters are present?        No one else 
was talking at the time, and the impression I get is that Sirius 
wasn't making eye contact with anyone. Pettigrew wasn't looking 
around, either. He was fixated on Sirius because, IMO, Black would 
have been the only person who would have noticed his mouth moving. 
Groups of people tend to focus on a single speaker, but the eyes of 
a person making a speech without notes tend to wander. We know that 
wandless spells exist (Snape and Quirrel in PS/SS), so what, if 
anything, was he trying to do? 

  I invite you to consider the next four pages, 372-375.  "Pettigrew 
had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own death 
sentance."  He then shuffles around on his knees with his hands 
clasped in front of him, tryiing to make contact first with Black, 
then Lupin, then Ron, Hermione, and finally, Harry. He manages to 
get a hold of Hermione's robes, but never actually touches HER.  The 
only person that he makes physical contact with is Harry. Is there 
any significance to this in light of his recent mouth calesthenics? 
It should go without saying at this point that the next time 
Wormtail encounters Harry,  Peter sticks a knife in him, and 
Voldemort climbs out of a cauldron.

    What does all this add up to? I dunno. Ask Trelawney. I'm just 
the guy that made the tea, SHE'S in charge of telling us what the 
dirty cups mean. (we're doomed)

Just something (hopefully, new) to chew on. Enjoy the meal!

bkb042  (a.k.a Brian)