What's in the locked room?

[lovegrrl]

No: HPFGUIDX 89292

Sylvia said:
I know I am going to get slaughtered for saying this (and I have
enjoyed the discussion as much as anyone) but are we all forgetting
that when push comes to shove, these are children's books - wonderful
for adults to read and speculate about, but nevertheless originally
written for children.  Thinking about the sub-teen Potter obsessives
in my own family and their friends, I wonder how many of them are
going to understand the concepts that have been mooted here. Truth,
Life, etc. are fascinating ideas for adult speculation, but I
honestly think the only one a ten-year-old would readily grasp is the
idea of Love. Even the youngest of her readers will have experienced
the power of Love. So, much as I would like it to be Truth, I think
afterall it will be simply Love.

lovegrrl replies:
Even though I agree with Sylvia that it will be Love behind the locked door,
I have to disagree with her reasons for reaching this conclusion. Children's
books they may be, but they deal with very adult issues. I remember remarking
to a friend of mine after I had read SS/PS (and only this one) that if all
that had happend to Harry in his childhood happened to a real kid then he'd
be completely messed up for his life and I'm not even talking about what
happens when he gets to Hogwarts.
These books are growing up with Harry, a fact extremely evident in OoP, and
to say that children wouldn't understand the concepts (however elaborate
they may be) is somewhat naive. Children understand a lot more than we give
them credit for, a fact I think JK understands. There have already been some
quite complex concepts and plots presented and I don't see any of the
children getting lost by them, in fact they probably understand them better
then we do.