Feelings on OoP

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 80031

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" <msbeadsley at y...> 
wrote:
> <snip>
> The first time I finished it I was sort of appalled; it was just so 
> incredibly bleak (that I had that "this can't be real" (canon) 
> reaction as well).  Harry and Sirius both seemed to have developed 
> personality disorders, and Sirius didn't even live long enough to 
> find his way out of his.
> <snip>
  It is incredibly claustrophobic 
> (and I'm not, usually):  Sirius is closed up in the Black mansion, 
> and Harry is trapped first at the Dursleys and then inside his own 
> head.  He doesn't even have the occasional freedom of the skies; 
his broom has been arrested.


Jen: That's exactly the word I thought of when reading OOTP--bleak. 
And it was an unceasing bleakness that permeated most of the scenes 
starting with the appearance of Grimmauld Place, to the basement of 
the MOM, then Umbridge's detentions in the surreal artsy-craftsy 
office, and finally back to the basement in the MOM (with the  
Forbidden Forst thrown in a few times).  

Finally, at the end, Harry emerges from the darkness to the sunshine 
by the lake, where he grieves for Sirius and, hopefully, all he's 
lost by being the *chosen* one.  Please let that be foreshadowing 
that Harry is through his "dark night of the soul" year! My emotional 
experience while reading OOTP was like going into a depression, then 
feeling a spark of hope at the end.


msbeadsley:
And I'm on board for 
> any theory that says that some part of Harry's OoP negativity was 
> actually Voldemort's serotonin shortage coloring Harry's 
perceptions 
> through that link.  I wonder if there's a vessel in the Bay...


Jen: 
Count me on board for this ship! 

Possible canon: The scene where Harry falls asleep by the fire and 
muses about the Confusing and Befuddlement draughts, "where the 
wizard is desirous of producing hotheadedness and recklessness..moste 
efficacious in the inflaming of the braine" and that leads to Harry 
wondering, "*why* did he know what Voldemort was feeling." I'm not 
sure how it all fits, but after reading that I definitely started 
wondering if Sirius was getting this draught somehow.

As for Harry, if exposure to a potion causes these reations, surely 
having LV and Snape poking around directly in his brain could produce 
an *undesirable* effect.  The greatest Dark Sorcerer in the world 
rearranging your thoughts? Inserting ideas? His essence mingling with 
yours?  Ugh--it's surprising Harry didn't act out more than he did.

Jen Reese