[HPforGrownups] Re: OoTP book covers & interpretations

[Laura Ingalls Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 54095

Okay..here are some quotes that are loosely connected to what I want to talk
about...in no particular order:


> bboy_mn:
> >Maybe it's a situation like that, choose the right door and save
> >your friend; chooose the wrong door and be prepared to save your
> >own life.

aesob:
> I do agree that the candles are swirling. The trails close to Harry
fall to the left,
> but the smaller candles on the other side of the room fall to the
right.
> (particularly look closely at the candles near Harry's wand, where
one even
> appears to have a motion trail).
>
> I think the room is circular. The ceiling is too curved for it to be
just a matter of
> perspective. This also lends credence to the swirling idea...this
would be
> easier in a curved room. The question is why have a room with swirling
> candles? It must be plot related!

Siriuskase:
>Reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, wasn't a whirling vortex important in
>that story?  Rowling has previously alluded to other stories.
<snip>
>Very remnicens of the Tiger and the Lady (where the hero must choose
>between 2 doors) or was that "Let's make a Deal!" (a favorite show of
>mine when I was very young)  In both the old story and the TV show,
>the person has absolutely no information about what's behind the
>doors.  That makes decision making simple but very stressful.

Alright.  I haven't been following this thread very closely, and I'm sure
someone has already brought this up (if so, I apologize profusely), but what
do you guys think all this has to do with the JKR interview in which she
claims that, "Harry's horizons are literally and metaphorically widening as
he grows older. But also there are places in the world that I've been
planning for so long and thinking about for so long that we haven't yet
explored, and it's great fun. That will happen in book 5, too; we go into a
whole new area, physically, an area you've never seen before, a magical
world."

Traditionally, you need...you know, some sort of portal, don't you, to get
into a magic world?  When I saw the US cover, my first thought was that the
room must be a sort of hub - all the doors lead to different places (one to
this "magical world" and perhaps others to other magical worlds or important
places in *this* world...Godric's Hollow or the Ministry perhaps? ^_^).

In reference to the spinning candles and tornado of the Wizard of
Oz...perhaps a "whirling vortex" is deemed somehow necessary to the type of
travel require to enter magical worlds - or even just to travel over great
distances (i.e. Godric's Hollow)?

What do you guys think?

Laura (who is very sorry if this has already been brought up and would check
the archives if her computer wasn't so slow)

P.S. About the scar being a mirror image of the bolt in the "P" of
Potter...it's always been like that.