Sirius' Mirror and Chekhov's Gun

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 87792

Dorapye wrote:

> > I assumed the mirror was actually just a plot device, to 
present 
> > an 'if only...' to the reader. 

Athena wrote:
 
> That was my reaction.  I felt like it was there to be done to yank 
> tears from the reader

Yeah, maybe it was--but it's also a standard element of drama 
that random twists of fate (he simply forgot about it), as well as 
character interplay (he deliberately didn't open it; he didn't think of 
Snape when he was looking for a member of the Order), cause 
terrible things to happen.  

>  If the two way mirror worked the way that Sirius said 
> it did, then he would have given it to Harry and said, "Ten 
o'clock 
> tonight, find a safe secluded place and call out my name.  We'll 
> talk everynight and I'll even see if I can't help you a bit with 
> your homework."

Hm.  That's plausible, but it's just as plausible that he wouldn't 
say it.  He included the instructions in the parcel, so no need to 
explain.  If I gave someone close to me a parcel, I'd expect that 
he'd open it the first moment he had available.  Normally, Harry 
would--he doesn't even usually wait 'til he's in private to read 
letters from his fugitive godfather.

> Later when Harry went through the trouble of contacting Sirius 
by 
> Umbridge's fire, he should have said, "Harry, why didn't you 
just 
> use the mirror I gave you?  I mean, I think risks are fun and all, 
> but I did give you something so you could talk with me."

I think there's a very plausible plot and character reason why he 
didn't.  They were in a hurry and Harry had something else 
important on his mind. 

> Anyway, as a reader and lover of drama I categorically reject 
that 
> prop.  I do not think it follow Chekhov's Gun rule and instead I 
> think it violates it.  

Chekhov said that if a gun appears in Act I, it has to be fired in Act 
III.  Has Act III arrived yet?  I don't believe it has.  JKR regularly 
makes use of the fact that she can present a gun in one book 
and not fire it until thousands of pages and dozens of real-time 
months have passed.

If there was ever a gun that failed to get fired, it's the Polyjuice 
Potion in CS.  All that trouble, all that buildup, and what do we 
get?  A comedy routine where our boys try to act like Crabbe and 
Goyle, and the information that C, G, and Draco don't have any 
information.  And Hermione spends some time in the hospital 
losing her fur.  The Trio doesn't even use the one piece of useful 
information they acquire, the fact that the Malfoys have a stash of 
contraband.  Apparently the Polyjuice was just there as a gag, 
one of the details of wizarding possibility that make the HP 
universe enjoyable to read about.   As a plot device, it's a dead 
end.

Ah, but turn to Act II (if the series is a three-act play, GF is in Act 
II), and that dead end in the plot turns out to have a secret 
passageway at the end of it, one that leads not only to the central 
plot device of GF, but to the probable turning point of the series, 
Voldemort's return.  At last she has fired the gun that has been 
sitting there gathering dust for two and a half novels.

But, you know, I don't even accept Chekhov's Law.  Even 
dramatic geniuses don't have the one and only formula for 
writing great drama, and furthermore, Chekhov wasn't writing 
mysteries.  Mysteries *demand* that some of the items that 
scream "ESSENTIAL PLOT DEVICE!" don't get used for anything 
interesting.  Otherwise they would be very easy to solve, which 
would make them bad mysteries (though they might still be great 
dramas).  It's great fun to try to guess which of JKR's red flags 
are only red herrings, and which ones are the genuine 
article--but it wouldn't be fun at all if every red herring turned out 
to be a red flag.  So if the mirror turns out to be a red herring, fine; 
its job was to make us wonder whether it was going to be used, 
and thereby to heighten the suspense and complicate the 
mystery.

Amy Z