Fetching Harry

[Devika <devika@sas.upenn.edu>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51619

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C. <cindysphynx at c...>" 
<cindysphynx at c...> wrote:
> So we know someone (probably Harry) starts off OoP lying on his 
back 
> in a flower bed outside the Dursleys' house.  We can be reasonably 
> confident that Harry will not spend much time at Number Four in 
OoP; 
> he'll get to Hogwarts somehow.  But how?
> 
> Well, the last four books do give us a pattern.
> 
> In PS/SS, Harry was whisked away from the Dursleys by Hagrid.
> 
> In CoS, Harry was whisked away to the Burrow by Ron, Fred and 
George.
> 
> In PoA, Harry was whisked away to London by the Knight Bus.
> 
> In GoF, Harry was whisked away to the Burrow by Mr. Weasley.
> 
> Yup, that's a pattern, all right.

Me:  
I agree, and even if there wasn't a pattern, I doubt that Uncle 
Vernon would be very willing to take Harry anywhere, especially all 
the way to King's Cross.  The only reason he took him at all in 
PS/SS, IIRC, was because he was going to London anyway to have 
Dudley's tail removed <g>.


Cindy:
> So who will whisk Harry away in OoP, do you think?  

Me:  
Well, Mrs. Weasley did say at the end of GoF that she thought 
Dumbledore would let Harry come to them at the end of the summer.  To 
me, that sounds as though Harry will most likely be spending some 
time with the Weasleys at some point.  So it's possible that the 
Weasleys themselves will come and get him again, but that's not as 
much fun as the other alternatives :)
Even if someone else does come to get Harry, he or she might 
eventually take Harry to the Burrow anyway, and he might just go to 
the Hogwarts Express from there. 

Cindy:
Sirius is an 
> interesting choice, but I can't see him turning up at Number 4 with 
> a price on his head. 

Me:
No, I can't see that either, unless he somehow came and abducted 
Harry in the dead of night--and I guess there's no real reason why 
that couldn't happen, but for some reason I don't think it will.  
Although I do love the image of Sirius being at the Burrow with Mrs. 
Weasley (now that she knows about him) fussing over him and making 
him eat a fourth helping of everything :)
 
Cindy: 
> Mrs. Figg would work, but that would be a weird way of introducing 
a 
> new character.  Why would Harry even trust Mrs. Figg if she tried 
to 
> whisk him away?

Me:
What if the Dursleys went away somewhere and left Harry with Mrs. 
Figg?  Yes, I know he's 15 (or he will be, anyway), and he can take 
care of himself, but I'm sure that the Dursleys would be afraid to 
leave him alone in their house.  Mrs. Figg's house would then be a 
reasonable place for Harry to be.  She could maybe earn his trust by 
telling him that she knows Dumbledore (if she *is* in fact Arabella 
Figg).  And then she could be the one to whisk him away.  Yep, I 
could see it happening :)


Cindy: 
> But what about Lupin? This might work.  Harry trusts Lupin, as does 
> Dumbledore.  And best of all, we'd get to witness the Dursleys 
> confront their first *werewolf.*  ;-)

Me:
That could work too, and I would love to see Lupin so early in the 
book <g>, but even if he did come to get Harry with the Dursleys' 
knowledge, there wouldn't be any reason for them to find out that he 
is a werewolf.  Besides, the fact that he is a wizard would be 
frightening enough for them.  But I could see him coming to get Harry 
in the dead of night, just as Sirius might, rather than showing up at 
the Dursleys' front door (or in their fireplace, as the case may 
be).  And then Harry would get to see Sirius anyway, if he's staying 
with Lupin.  So it all works :)


Cindy: 
> Yeah.  Lupin it is!

Me:
Sure, why not?  But I would just like to state right here that I 
believe that whoever whisks Harry away--whether it be Mrs. Figg, 
Lupin, or even Sirius--will do so on a magic carpet.  The mentions of 
magic carpets in GoF have me convinced that one will show up in OoP, 
and what better time than in the beginning, just when Harry needs 
some form of transportation?  Sure, they're illegal, but you never 
know, maybe Mrs. Figg has an old Axeminster Seven lying around :)
> 
> Cindy -- wanting to see Remus on page 3 if at all possible


Me too.  And I want him to have as much page time as possible.  I 
also want Sirius to have more than he did in GoF. One chapter, a head 
in the fireplace, a comforting presence at the end of the book, and a 
few letters in between are just not enough! 
Hey, why not?  If you calculate the proportion between the number of 
words in GoF and in OoP and the number of pages in GoF (734 in the 
American hardcover edition), you end up with OoP being about 980 
pages long.  That's more than enough time for both of my favorite HP 
characters <vbg>.

--Devika, who really needs to do her astronomy homework and study for 
her upcoming physical chemistry exam...but who only wants to read and 
reread the first four books until June 21st...