[HPforGrownups] Another 'While We're Waiting' Question - Unwilling Denoument of Disbelief

[Morgan D.]

No: HPFGUIDX 61247

Medea Callous asked:
> Is there any plot twist or revelation that could actually *put you 
> off the series*?  Something that would turn your stomach or your 
> imagination so much that you couldn't continue reading?    That 
> would just spoil it for you?  Destroy the illusion?

And Morgan D. now answers:

I probably will read the series till the end. But in my case, that's
not saying much, actually.

I usually think of mystery books more as games than literature. Mind
you, I'm not saying there aren't mystery books that are great pieces of
literature. I'm saying that reading mystery books is for me like doing
crosswords: it's a game, a challenge, something to exercise the mind,
etc. I've been known to read really bad mystery books till the end,
just for the fun of figuring the plot before the author reveals it.

That was all the first two HP books meant to me: a funny puzzle. I was
not emotionally involved with the story, I didn't particular care for
any characters, I didn't worry about whether they would have a happy
ending or not. I was not a HP fan. I had fun reading those books,
laughed at the jokes, had a good time deciphering the plots, but once
finished with them I could have put them aside and forgotten the whole
thing.

But then there was PoA, and there was Lupin and Black. And I started
caring with the story itself. I particularly started caring about Black
and his relationship with his godson. I started wondering about the
past, the connections between the "Marauders" and Snape, the mystery of
the Whomping Willow prank, the workings of a Ministry who sends people
to Azkaban without a trial. And my wondering was not linked to my wish
of figuring the puzzle anymore. I dived into the books and into a
frenzied search between the lines for more info about those
characters... because I care for them. Because I like them. Because I
now worry about them being okay or not, even if they're nothing but
fictional characters. 

If Lupin and Black die, or if they become characters I can't like
anymore... my emotional link to the books is very likely to be severed.
Yeah, I'll still read the books. I might even remain a member of this
group, in order to hear about theories and stuff. But I'll be back to
the days when HP meant nothing for me but an extremely sophisticated
crossword. And that thought is simply too sad to be put in words.


Medea Callous then listed the things that would put her off the series:
> 1.  Snape is Harry's father
> 2.  Snape is a vampire
> 3.  Snape loved Lily and/or vice-versa (I *might* get over that, but 
> it'd be tough)

I think of these three possibilities as horrible plot solutions, and I
can't help thinking that a character like Snape deserves a better fate
(or rather, a better background) than that. (No offence meant to those
who defend those scenarios; this is just my humble opinion.) But none
of them would put me off the series or severe my emotional link to it.
On the other hand, if any of those scenarios are proved true, I'll
probably have to rescue my copy of the OotP book from being incinerated
by my sister...

Morgan D.
Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br

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