...HRH friendship - SS/PS the obstacle course was meant for HRH

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 105824

Aggie: 
> I think that the first 2 books were 'fluffed out' because of the 
> child market they were being aimed at.  That means I think the 
> tasks etc were too easy for a RL view on the WW.  Does that make 
> sense? It was dumbed down.
> 
> In essence I agree with both Halli AND SSSusan because they both 
> have a valid point.  The thought of DD risking the PS just to let 
> HRH test themselves is almost laughable if we think of it as an 
> adult making the tasks easy enough for 3 eleven yr olds to pass 
> through without too much difficulty.  The PS is an EXTREMELY 
> important artifact and I had problems with the fact that it was so 
> easy to get to.  I know the end task of the mirror is all 
> important, I'm just trying to get across my point!  OTOH though, 
> the tasks seemed to be geared towards HRH.  It uses all their 
> specific skills. It's too coincedental that they each use their 
> talents and become triumphant!  Pure and simply it's fluff!!  But, 
> I think that's just because JKR had to write it that way.  IMO.


SSSusan:
Hi, Aggie.  Thanks for weighing in on this.  I understand what you're 
saying about its being something JKR "fluffed out" or "dumbed down" 
and I would be curious if other HPfGUers feel the same or differently.

And I agree that it **would** have been laughable for DD to have 
risked the stone just to find out what Harry's made of, if it had 
been truly a serious risk.  I guess I place a lot of faith in DD's 
statement about how he set up the Mirror--that, really, he knows what 
Voldy and his followers are like, and that if any of them got to that 
barrier, they would NOT have been able to obtain the stone.  They 
would have wanted to USE it to bring Voldy back to power and to give 
him immortal life.  But precisely because of that desire, they'd 
never get it.


Disgruntled!Jen :-) wrote this:
> I have just one teeny, tiny problem with it though: If Dumbledore
> did believe Harry would try to go down the trapdoor, and DD helped
> him prepare for it, I see a glaring inconsistency in the
> characterization of Dumbledore.

> Dumbledore can prepare Harry for a possibly life-threatening
> situation, but he can't look at him in OOTP? He can send him off to
> fight trolls and murderous chess pieces, but keeps Harry in the dark
> throughout much of OOTP, for his *safety*?

> Which is it Dumbledore, are you a hands-off "people learn by
> experience" kind of guy, or a dispassionate micromanager?

> I don't know. It's one of those areas where you can really tell the
> difference in JKR's writing-style from PS to OOTP. I suppose it's
> just a plot thing, Harry is maturing so the POV is maturing, but
> that doesn't satisfy me.

> The only way I can resolve this for myself is to believe Dumbledore
> expected to be nearby to help Harry, if he got in over his head. But
> it still bothers me :).

SSSusan:
I love how these two posts can be juxtaposed in this discussion.  
You're both commenting about JKR's style in the first book, and I 
hadn't thought about it, but it makes sense.

And, before I read your last sentence, Jen, that's EXACTLY what I was 
going to say back to you.  I *do* believe DD believed the stone could 
never have been gotten by Voldy or one of his followers because of 
the Mirror **and** that on the off-chance that Harry would end up 
there at the exact time that one of the Baddies was there, he would 
have been nearby to help.  Clearly, his big boo-boo was in not 
understanding how very close by Voldy was at the time.  Yet...he did 
get there, didn't he? :-)

Siriusly Snapey Susan