[HPforGrownups] OOP: "This is obviously some strange usage of the word 'everything' that I hadn't known of before" (was: Re: Our Not-So-Solid Rock Solid Predictions)

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 67301


>k> Hey, I didn't do so bad! We still don't know if Snape is a vampire or
>k> whether Petunia is a witch. Plus we didn't find out many things that
>k> we have all wondered about for so long. I think that was one thing
>k> that disappointed me. So many unanswered questions which lead me to
>k> believe they are still important to the story. I will gladly admit I
>k> was wrong about Snape at Hogwarts but we sure didn't see enough of
>k> him.
>
>I feel much the same way -- When I saw the teaser that said, "Sit down
>Harry, I'm going to tell you everything," I thought that really meant
>*EVERYTHING*: Why Voldy wants Harry dead so badly, why *exactly*
>that Voldy's AK was deflected, why James "had to die" but Lily didn't,
>what Petunia is hiding, and a full bio of Severus Snape.  Instead, all
>we got was a prophecy that most of us had already anticipated.  A bit of
>a let down in an otherwise superlative book.
>
>--
>Dave
>
Huh.  Am I the only one who saw that line as just a clever teaser, like soap 
operas do with their commercials to keep you watching for an entire week for 
one moment that's made to look like it's going to happen the very next day?

There was *no way*, with two more books to go, that we were going to be told 
*everything*.  I don't mean to diminish your disappointment, but I don't 
find this a letdown at all:  I think it's completely expected and a good 
idea.  JKR is continuing to string us along with our guessing and wondering 
"why".  One of my favorite historical fiction series by the wonderful late 
Dorothy, Lady Dunnett (another Edinburghian!) does not wrap up the plot 
twist essential to the motivations of two of the main characters until the 
final *six pages* of a six-book series.  And you've gone through just about 
every iteration of what the explanation could be up until then, with the 
last two books really dwelling on it- and nobody I know who's read the 
series got the exact wrinkle right by guessing.

*That's* what I'm hoping of JKR, actually:  I'm hoping we *don't* figure it 
quite out until the last couple of chapters, at least.  I don't want 
Dumbledore to explain everything in a sitdown like that; I'd love it if more 
puzzle pieces fell in front of us as the last two books unfold.

But that's just me.  :-)

Felinia

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