[OOP]Re: Did anyone else feel let down by OOP?

[mongo62aa]

No: HPFGUIDX 66219

Donna Immaculata:

Having written thus much, I've just come to the conclusion that OotP 
is about being trapped: Sirius is trapped in his house, Harry is 
trapped in his nightmares, Hogwarts is trapped in Umbridge's claws, 
and everyone is trapped in a more passive state than they could wish 
for. I bet, all throughout the book they all would welcome a real 
attack so they could finally be able to *do* something. And, indeed, 
as soon as Voldemort appears back on scene, the entire machinery of 
the side of Light can finally get in gear.

Me (Bill):

This paragraph reminds me of a comparison I had made about a year 
ago, between the seven 'challenges' that Harry & company faced at 
the end of SS/PS, and the seven books of the HP series.

So far, we have seven books, each of which matches up quite closely 
with one of the challenges.  The seven challenges are, in order:

1) Fluffy
2) Devil's Snare
3) Keys
4) Chessboard
5) Troll
6) Potions
7) Mirror

PS/SS: The Troll.  The Troll in the girl's bathroom cements the 
friendship of the Trio.  Both Trolls were knocked out with a blow to 
the head.

CoS:  This book matches the Keys.  The challenge is to open a locked 
door.  Only Harry has the ability to catch the key.  A line from the 
scene: 'With an unpleasant jolt, he remembered the dragons said to 
be guarding vaults in the wizard's bank.  If they met a dragon, a 
fully-grown dragon - Norbert had been bad enough...'  A dragon is 
much like a basilisk.

PoA:  The obvious comparison is with Fluffy.  A large, menacing dog, 
which turns out not to be a true menace.  The three heads could 
match the three survivors, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew.  A line from 
the scene, after Hermione has asked what Ron can see: '"Nothing - 
just black - there's no way of climbing down..."'  Ron sees black.

GoF:  This book seems to follow the events surrounding the Mirror.  
Harry had been hoodwinked by some who was not who he thought he was, 
but an agent of Voldemort instead.  Harry is trapped, alone, bound 
by ropes, against Voldemort and his loyal supporter.  The Mirror had 
earlier shown him his parents, whose echoes appear during the big 
showdown in GoF, and who protect him in both scenes.  Voldemort's 
loyal supporter tries to kill him, but Harry is rescued by 
Dumbledore.  Quirrel had met Snape in the forest, observed by Harry, 
just as Crouch/Moody had met Crouch Sr. in the forest, observed by 
Harry.  A line from the scene, when Harry is struggling for his 
life: '...he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and 
Voldemort's yells of 'KILL HIM!  KILL HIM!' and other voices, maybe 
in Harry's own head, crying, 'Harry!  Harry!''  Harry hears several 
voices apparently trying to help him, foreshadowing the echoes 
helping him in the graveyard.

OotP:  This book is a close match to the challenge of the Devil's 
Snare.  They are trapped by a clinging, strangling menace that 
flourishes in the dark.  Donna's analysis of OotP, at the top of 
this post, fits very well.

This leaves two more challenges: the potions and the chessboard.  I 
suspect that book seven will resemble Ron's hard-fought chess game, 
with opposing armies battling it out, and Harry's forces helped to 
victory at the end by a sacrifice.  This leaves the Potions for book 
six.  If this is correct, book six would involve trying to decide 
who to trust, and who is false.  I would not be surprised if much of 
the story takes place inside the Ministry of Magic.

Bill