TBAY: Blood, Bloodlines, and the Bloody Bloodlines of HP

[jsmgleaner]

No: HPFGUIDX 79285

  Hayes watched as Kirstini, finally emerging from her cabin, walked out on to 
the deck of the Narrative Ark and promptly slipped in what looked like a 
puddle.

	"This place is a mess!  What's going on here Hayes?" Kirstini said, poking 
tenderly at her ankle.

	"I'm sorry.  It's just this new can(n)on I've been cleaning," Hayes said 
nervously, rushing over to help Kirstini up.  MC! James was faster; he handed 
a plate of tapas to Hayes and knelt down next to the unsteady Kirstini and 
begged her to use him as a crutch.  With one hand on MC! James's head, 
Kirstini hobbled to a deck chair.  That's when she noticed . . . "Ugh. What is 
this?"

	"Er, blood."
	
	"Blood?  How am I going to get this out of the white stripe on my robe?"

	"Cold water and soap?"  Hayes offered, placing the tapas on a table next to 
the deck chair in lieu of an apology.

	"Ok, you've stumped me.  Why all the blood on the deck?" Kirstini countered.

	"Well, I dug up this very old can(n)on," Hayes began, warming immediately to 
the subject as it involved very old things, "and I've been cleaning it all 
morning."  She pointed to a dingy cannon covered in barnacles and seaweed 
with "Blood" written in an ancient script on its side.  It had the very annoying 
habit of spurting blood in every direction.  Hayes dodged a particularly strong 
current and MC! James ran around with a bucket catching sprays.

	"You see, this is my own theory-in-progress, but I'm worried the can(n)on may 
be cracked," Hayes began to scan the cannon for cracks, picking off seaweed 
as she spoke.  "This is about the use of the term 'blood' in the series.  In COS, 
'mudblood' is introduced with Ron's very obvious explanation that it means 
'dirty blood.'  In COS and the subsequent books, valuing the 'purity' of blood 
means being akin to a racist.   Drawing on the original meaning of 'race,' 
family bloodlines (then nationalities), JKR has reminded us about the origins 
of real world racism.  But in both senses 'blood' must be metaphoric.  So 
'mudblood,' depending on the same metaphor that provided the US South 
with the 'one drop of black blood' rule, is a racism intent on keeping out the 
'contamination' of muggle bloodlines, none of which can be lodged in literal 
blood.  In OOtP, we are also introduced to 'blood traitors' and 'muggle lovers' 
by Sirius in 'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black' chapter, further 
cementing the one-to-one analogy with racism."  Hayes took a breath, almost 
swallowing some blood jetting her way.

	"What's important, in my opinion, is that the 'good' side depends as much on 
the metaphor of 'blood' as does the bad side, a shift made very evident in 
OOtP.  In PS/SS, Dumbledore says Quirrell could not touch Harry because of 
his mother's sacrifice, which left something in his very 'skin.' But when 
Dumbledore is giving his revelation at the end of OOtP about the mistakes he 
made in raising Harry, he tells Harry:

[Lily] gave you a lingering protection [Voldemort]
never expected, a protection that flows in your veins
to this day.  I put my trust, therefore in your
mother's blood . . . .  Your mother's sacrifice made
the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give
you. . . . .  While you can still call home the place
where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be
touched or harmed by Voldemort.  He shed her blood,
but it lives on in you and her sister.  Her blood
became your refuge.  (US 836)

Hayes continued, "But as far as we've learned about dying from AK, there is 
no blood involved, that is, if Lily did die from AK," here Hayes paused, shook 
her head in confusion, and rushed on, "Either way, could Dumbledore have 
said the word 'blood' more times in one passage? There's something there..."

	"And there, and there," Kirstini said as she pointed to every new puddle of 
blood.

Hayes ignored the sarcasm. "And then when LV takes Harry's blood in the 
graveyard. . ."

	"Wait a second.  That's real blood!" Kirstini exclaimed in exasperation.

	"Yes, but the sacrifice, protection, or whatever it'll be called by the end of the 
series, from Harry's mother coursing in his veins is not literal.  Metaphor 
again!  Belief in bloodlines informs both the ideologies of the good and the 
bad sides, confusing the two and making unclear what one means when one 
talks about 'blood' at all within the context of the book, yet talk about it and 
depend upon it the good side continues to do, even in sending Harry back to 
the Dursleys.  What we do know is that belief in the 'power of blood,' so to 
speak, is not isolated to one side of this fight and is causing as much damage 
as it is saving, and quite possibly the good side may not be able to 
appropriate it without implicating itself in the ideology of the bad"  

	"So here's the theory," Hayes called from underneath the cannon as she 
scraped barnacles off of its bottom.  "Dumbledore will depend on the blood 
magic--the ancient magic--but Voldemort will have wised up to what he's 
doing.  I mean," and here Hayes poked her head out from underneath the 
cannon, "how thick is Voldemort?  He must know from his first and second 
Harry encounter and the Tom Riddle encounter -- if he's privy to that -- that 
Dumbledore depends on this magic to keep Harry safe at Privet Drive.  He 
even says as much in the graveyard scene of GoF.  Although Harry has some 
safety with the Dursleys, we've already seen that it is vulnerable in OOtP, and 
I think that it will be utterly invaded in the next book.  Dumbledore will be 
wrong, and not in a 'misjudgment' or 'oops' kind of way where someone who 
has enlisted in the order -- and taken on the risks involved -- will die; no, he 
will cause one of the Dursley's deaths.  In other words, Voldemort will make 
clear 'my blood is thicker than your blood' in a grotesque (for a children's 
book) fashion."  

	"Bloody hell!" Kirstini yelled, startled by a small, twinkling can(n)on called 
"Ever So Fallible! Dumbledore" dropping down onto the deck and sliding in 
the blood towards her swelling ankle.  MC! James, ever vigilant, jumps in front 
of the cannon and stops its near collide with Kirstini.  Reading the inscription, 
he sighs, "Another father figure lost.  How very sad."  

Hayes moves to examine the unexpected Dumbledore can(n)on and asks,  
"Do you think there's room for this?  What do you think -- too corny?"  Hayes 
appealed to Kirstini; Kirstini waved her hands, "Hey now, I'm the Temporary 
First Mate here. You make the calls," she said.

	"Yeah, but we already have way too many can(n)ons to keep up--more than I 
can captain alone.  Quite promising, I would say.  How about becoming a  co-
captain?"  Hayes pointed her wand at a non-bloody part of the deck and a late 
eighteenth-century, grey rear admiral's hat appeared.

"That's a rear admiral's hat, not a captain's hat," Kirstini said flatly.  Hayes 
shrugged.  "You know, I'm beginning to think that you have a slight thing for 
the Napoleonic era," Kirstini said as she raised the hat up and placed it at a 
jaunty angle on her head.

--Hayes/jsmgleaner, who has more to say on the Dursley front, but will think 
about it some more