close reading of DoM scene (was:Re: Pippin, you've done it again! )

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 82970

 
> OOP pg 805 --- "Only one couple was were still battling.... Harry 
saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at 
her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice 
echoing around the cavernous room. The second jet of light hit him 
squarely on the chest."

Laura:

When we were talking about the prophecy, I argued that JKR doesn't 
twist the plain meanings of words.  She uses misdirection, 
foreshadowing, red herrings-but they're all plot devices, not 
grammatical or denotational alterations.  So when she refers to a 
second jet of light, there must be a first, and since no one else is 
fighting at that moment, the only jet of light that could be the 
second one is the one Sirius just ducked-the one from Bellatrix.