The Mirror and the Heart

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 105428

Neri wrote:
Nope, I find it much more probable that DD suspected LV was around
and trying to steal the Stone, but he didn't know where exactly is LV
hiding, and he didn't suspect it is so close, or he wouldn't have
left Hogwarts. It seems Snape was working on his own without
consulting DD. He probably felt that in order to get even with James'
memory he must save Harry by himself.<<

SSSusan again:
So if DD did have an inkling that Voldy was close by somewhere, does
that support my theory at all, that the whole thing was set up as a
test for Harry? That that's why DD didn't DO more about this
information? I mean, how can DD know so MUCH sometimes and then NOT
know things like this? That frustrates me as a reader!


Neri again:
It certainly frustrates me.

As I wrote here in the past, I don't buy omniscient!DD, nor puppet-
master!DD. I think DD doesn't know much (though still more than any 
other character) so he has to operate mainly by hunches. Most of the 
times he gets it right, but he can't be right all the time. DD knew 
or guessed that LV was after the Stone, but he didn't know any 
details. Sending Hagrid to take the Stone out of vault 713 just 
before Quirrell broke into it was one hell of a hunch, but IMO it was 
still just a hunch. Then there were more and more indications that LV 
is trying to infiltrate into Hogwarts too, so DD gradually increased 
security. We know Fluffy was already at his station in the beginning 
of the school year, but the defenses of the other teachers were 
perhaps added only later, and we know for sure that the final 
defense, the Mirror, was set only after Christmas. This all smells of 
hunches, and when you operate by hunches you're bound to get it wrong 
sometime. 

How much had DD planed the Harry-finding-the-Stone-in-the-Mirror 
scenario from the outset? I don't know. There are certainly some 
inconsistencies in DD's official explanation of how it worked. But 
there are also inconsistencies in the pensieve or the time travel 
stories. We shouldn't dig TOO deep into them. This is after all a 
story and not RL. The general meaning of the Mirror setup, if not the 
exact details, is clear from DD's explanation: only someone with a 
sincere, unselfish intention could have found the Stone.

So I don't think DD set this as a test for Harry. It looks very much 
like a test because it IS indeed a test. Only it is a test (or 
rather, a trial) that was set for Harry by JKR. There IS after all a 
puppet-master and an omniscient around here, but it is JKR, not DD. 
We frequently mistake JKR schemes for DD schemes because he is JKR's 
oracle in the story. I'm also not sure where exactly the line between 
the passes. Maybe even JKR herself is not exactly sure where it 
passes. But if the main theme of HP is indeed choices, then in the 
level of the plot they are real choices, not DD playing games with 
Harry and us.

Neri