OOP: Questions for JKR

[m.steinberger]

No: HPFGUIDX 63519

I'm reposting this with the OOP prefix - OOPs for forgetting it! Thanks to all who responded in the meantime, and sorry to all who read it by mistake!

Why don't we at this list get our questions about OoP answered real quick - at the Royal Albert Hall this Thursday? They can be posted at http://www.msn.co.uk/harrypotter which gives them a chance to be presented to her during the event. Or maybe <hope, hope> someone on this list has *connections* to that event, and could present her a large, framed, beautifully designed list of ALL major HP4GU questions!

Anyway, I'm starting a list here of my major questions about OoP, some of which I've seen others share, some not, and I'm hoping that the rest of you can add to the list, sort it, etc, so that by Wednesday-Thursday morning we've got a nice, comprehensive list of intelligent, mature questions to get to JKR somehow and GET ANSWERS!!!

1. How could Harry come out of eleven years at the Dursleys a sweet kid, and then turn sour in four years at Hogwarts? What went right back then that went wrong since we've known him?

2. How could James be a bully at fifteen and a model Head Boy at seventeen?

3. How could Dumbledore encourage Harry to hero-worship James for the past four years if James was such a creep? Dumbledore was always saying things like "Your father would be proud of you."

4. Why does the Ministry let people in so easily? (I'm referring to the midnight run at the end of the book, of course.)

5. *my most important question* Why was Dumbledore afraid of Voldemort getting the first prophecy? What use could Voldemort gain from the second half of the prophecy that he didn't already have from the first half? (It's clear why Voldemort *wanted* the second half - because *he* didn't know that it was unhelpful. But Dumbledore should have known.)

6. Why was it safe for Dumbledore to talk to Harry at the end of the book? Wasn't Voldemort still spying through Harry's scar?

7. Now that Black and James have been shown to be as bad as Snape (or worse), most of the members of the Order no longer look much better than the average Death Eater. In what way are people like Black, James, Snape (he *is* a member), Moody and Mundungus better than Malfoy Sr or Pettigrew? Obviously Dumbledore and Voldemort are not equal (and the Lestranges are not the Weasleys), but is there any difference between the virtuousness of their *average* followers besides where their loyalties lie? What did Malfoy do to the Muggles in GoF that was worse than what James did to Snape? What did Wormtail do to James that was worse than the Prank? Does being fifteen really justify anything? And do we know of any improvement in Sirius's and James's characters since then?

8. The first prophecy is just not true! Voldemort has been living for a whole year, even though Harry survives. So yes, "one can live while the other survives." Is this just a case of sloppy wording (Should the prophecy read: they cannot both be alive for more than three years [HP5,6,7] after their first confrontation?), or is it a cover for some big secret?

9. If Harry had been told at the outset of OoP that he was Destined to battle Voldemort, how would that have helped? It would not have mitigated the scar-connection in any way. Knowing why he had to be kept ignorant and useless would have left him just as angry - at fate rather than at people, but just as angry. Raging at fate would have spoiled his Occlumency lessons just the same, regardless of who was teaching them.
    In other words, once it was decided (by JKR) that Harry at fifteen must be an Angry Young Man, nothing Dumbledore could realistically do would have improved the outcome. And JKR clearly wanted Harry to be an Angry Young Man. So why, in her philosophy, if Harry must be an AYM, is Dumbledore blaming himself for anything? With AYMen, there is nothing one can do. [Personally, I blame Harry for having been angry, especially since he had such a great rise-above-it approach back in PS, but JKR (and Dumbledore, of course) doesn't seem to blame him.]
    So what [here's the crux of the question] does she want from Dumbledore [meaning parents/authority figures]? To have been open with Harry [meaning teenagers]? Why? To not-prevent a year of anger (and its consequences) that she felt Harry[kids in general] had to go through?

10. *second most important question* Back in GoF [ancient history], why didn't Crouch Jr. portkey Harry to Voldemort at the beginning of the school year? There is nothing in the books to prevent him from having done it, which creates a plot hole so large that the entire tournement falls into it. (Sure, Crouch Jr would have gotten into trouble with the Ministry, but once Harry was in Voldemort's hands, he could have quit his Hogwarts cover and rejoined Voldemort for protection. Certainly, nothing in the books prevents this.) In any case, the main thing I want to know is: How did JKR and her editors create and overlook such an enormous hole? Was there a ready reason for Crouch's delay that somehow got left out of the books, or was the hole missed completely? And if there was a good reason for Voldemort waiting a whole year to get Harry, was it intrinsic to the plot (if so, how was it left out?) or was it just a pretty patch that would have accomplished nothing besides justifying the story getting stretched over a whole year?

OK guys - you're on. Should we all work together to produce a joint list? Is there anyone among us who can get the list into her hands on Thursday? Or should I try to post these questions through msn.com?

Of course, all this is in addition to, not instead of, discussion among us.

Here are two more questions that I don't think are ready to send to JK, but which I'm sharing with all of you:

Do any of you miss JKR's amazing humor besides me? CoS was dark but very funny. PS was witty beyond belief. PoA was hysterical in places (Sir Cadogan? Snape with Fudge at the end?). GoF had lots of funny spots, too. But somehow, with OoP, I didn't crack a smile for hundreds of pages. Yes, she's dealing with anger and misery, but she's done that without dragging us through it before. Did she really think 50 million readers (counting a few readers per book) all needed such a negative experience to appreciate her story? Or has she lost it? 

Next: As you can tell, the tone of OoP disturbs me, especially since what has enchanted me about HP has been the uplifting tone. Everybody seemed just a touch more noble than life, or more evil than life, which was inspiring because it wasn't overdone. The characters were real, but with just enough character-airbrushing to make them a delight to read. Take one tiny scene, in PS at the zoo where Harry's just gotten his lemon pop and is licking it while watching the gorillas. He has every reason to be furious - the Dursleys have just degraded him publicly in front of the ice cream vendor - but he doesn't thow out the ice pop in anger, nor does he fantasize about killing Dudley. He vents by amusing himself with comparisons between Dudley and the gorilla. This incredible, unrealistic emotional health only works because Harry is part of magical world. It is a degree of health to aspire to and be inspired by. It is completely missing (the health and the inspiration) from OoP.

Similarly, Dumbledore is sooo understanding and forgiving in, say, PoA, when Harry tells him about Trelawney's second prophecy. He admits that she's a fraud, but contemplates (for his own amusement, it seems) giving her a raise, now that she's doubled her prophecy rate. He's not scandalized or businesslike about her incompetence - he's affectionate about her humanity. More inspiration for me, and again, it rings "true" because the story is one step removed from Real Life. Has anyone seen any inspiration in OoP that I've missed?

Once we've been mired, in OoP, in relentless human failings, what do I need the Wizarding World for? I can see weak humanity 24/7. Once the WW is not a place where people have a magical excuse to be just a touch larger than life, now that the magic has become irrelevant to their characters, the fantasy of HP has become, for me, more like a gimmick than an asset. Are there any other disappointed fans out there? Or am I suffering alone?

One favor, please: if anyone responds to this post, please send me a copy off-list. I'll never find your reply in the flood of messages drowning HP4GU these days. Speaking of which, I'm sending a suggestion to the Mods that someone <if only> perhaps could start a summary page of the list discussions, to send out as a fourth alternative to web-view, emails and digests. There's No Way to keep up with a hundred posts an hour, which is what's going on just now. A brief summary of what's been said in general would be an enormous blessing. I'm mentioning this so that if any of you want to second the motion, or suggest alternatives, ou can write the Mods, too.

Happy All,

The Admiring Skeptic





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