Titling convention significant?

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 89556

Over on OTC, we've been playing a game of inventing future HP 
titles.  It was quickly determined that "Harry Potter and the . . . " 
is all but required, which clicked with a late-night idea in my head.

I've long thought that the "Harry Potter and the . . . " formula was 
kind of feeble.  IMO, the titles would be more poetic and less 
childish if they were called, simply, "The Philosopher's Stone," "The 
Chamber of Secrets," etc.--or perhaps the first "Harry Potter and the 
Philosopher's Stone," and then just "The Chamber of Secrets," "The 
Prisoner of Azkaban," etc.  

I think of other series I've loved.  What if, instead of "The White 
Mountains," etc., John Christopher had called his novels "Will and 
the White Mountains," "Will and the City of Gold and Lead," and "Will 
and the Pool of Fire"?  Ick!  What if Laura Ingalls Wilder had 
insisted on cramming "Little House" into the title of every book, 
instead of just the appropriate first two?  "Little House on the 
Farm," "Little House on the Banks of Plum Creek," etc.  Double ick!

In the past, I've figured there were two possible reasons for JKR's 
(again IMO) dull titles.  One is that JKR's ear for language is 
simply not at its best (=in keeping with my own) when it comes to 
titles.  The other is that she's aware that the titles are a bit 
monotonous, but Harry IS, after all, the linchpin of recent wizarding-
world history.  Thus, once in a while, when someone here deems that a 
theory mistakenly puts another character besides Harry at the center 
of the series, he/she will bolster his/her argument by pointing 
out, "There's a reason the books are called "Harry Potter and the...'"

Well, what if that's all a huge setup for the big surprise in Book 
Seven:  that Harry is not after all the center of the series?  That 
the whole story has been about the development of that other July-
born son of Order parents?  Why would JKR even introduce the idea 
that it could have been Neville, as she's just done in OoP, if it 
isn't going to mean something?  What if everyone's wrong and it 
really is Neville who must and will defeat the Dark Lord?*  The 
ultimate way to symbolize that would be to name the book after the 
true center of the story.  

The problem is, the new title would signal the twist.  If Book Seven 
is called Neville Longbottom and the Final Secret or whatnot, well, 
the secret would be out before we opened the book.  

I did say it was a late-night idea.  But I like the way it redeems an 
aspect of the series I've always considered to be rather weak.

Amy Z

*Someone must've raised this theory by now, for which I apologize.  I 
have barely read the list since the release of OoP and have no hope 
of ever catching up, though I've considered making it a project for 
my next sabbatical.