The Potion Puzzle

[dcgmck]

No: HPFGUIDX 106768

Dave Witley's analysis of Snape's potion puzzle in the first HP 
(see "Files",) draws an insightful parallel between the bottles and 
the positions of a Quidditch team.

"It is interesting to note that one bottle, the smallest, of the 
seven goes forward (Seeker), one goes back (Keeper), and two, 
including the largest, stick close to the other three (Beaters).  
It's harder to equate the three poison potions with Chasers."

Both in terms of physical size and in terms of numbers the parallel 
seems increasingly significant with each published volume.  

Harry is physically diminutive, and he is the character whose forward 
progress through the series is essential.  He is the one whose search 
for identity and purpose most fascinates us.

Hermione is the keeper of Harry's growing legend.  She guards his 
back and provides him with the background information he requires to 
move forward and to survive his various challenges.  

Initially, Hagrid and Ron could be seen to serve as 
Harry's "beaters", actually physically protecting him from perceived 
threats.  Now as Harry matures, he can be seen to have two distinct 
organizations serving that role:  the adults members of the Order of 
the Phoenix and his classmates in Dumbledore's Army.  (The scale does 
seem to be escalating.)

Malfoy, Goyle, and Crabbe can be seen as the initial "poisons" or 
chasers in that they have been trying to score off of Harry's 
misfortunes.  Now, of course, Malfoy has a more serious score 
to "settle" with Harry.  This is in addition to the larger scores 
Voldemort and the Death Eaters wish to settle with young Harry and 
his assorted allies.

Kinda makes for a pretty cool parallel, especially since we have been 
told that Rowling has had the entire epic outlined from the 
beginning.  It makes formulaic sense to place one's outline at the 
start of a piece.

Dave Witley concludes his essay with the following thought:

"Based on the four books we have to date, it's a safe bet that all 
seven contain an element of going forward (Harry's growth and self-
discovery), an element of going back (the uncovering of hidden things 
from an epoch in the past), an element of death, and an element of 
pure entertainment."

I'd like to propose that each of the seven volumes in the series will 
eventually be seen to correspond to one of these seven bottles and to 
one of the seven Quidditch positions.

1 - On the most basic level, Harry comes as a seeker to Hogwarts, 
becomes a seeker for his House Quidditch team, seeks out the troll 
and the solutions to the puzzles, and is the seeker who beats 
Voldemort to the stone that serves as the elusive snitch in Book I.  
The result is his optimistic movement forward into this new life and 
world he has encountered.

2 - "Chamber of Secrets" is Harry's first encounter with a variety of 
poisons: from the poison of discrimination against muggles to the 
poison of prejudice based on inadequate evidence with regard to both 
Lockhart and to Harry, (and, in fact, prejudice by Harry and Co. 
against Malfoy as killer), from the poisons of potions and plants to 
the poison of the basilisk's fang.

3 - "Prisoner of Azkaban" was clearly about time.  We are introduced 
to the time turner and find that history can be changed, though we 
are also warned of the dangers of doing so.  Will there be 
consequences for such actions in the future?  Clearly Sirius lives 
for three volumes on borrowed time.  Meanwhile, we learn more about 
Harry's family history than we have seen since his parents' death 
right before the series began.  This text, then, seems to correspond 
to the back bottle.  Because of the pervasive threat of the 
dementors, it also seems to align with chasers, as in those who 
pursue Harry.

4 - "Goblet of Fire" seemed to reflect more ducking and dodging than 
forward motion for Harry, and certainly the mainstream wizarding 
world took a giant step backward by the end of the book with 
Voldemort's return.  After all, he basically ignored his lessons and 
indulged in a year of independent study, with all its attendant 
benefits and drawbacks of procrastination.  Meanwhile, everyone 
around Harry seems to be running interference for him, friend and foe 
alike. This text, then, can be squeezed into the "beater" category.

5 - "Order of the Phoenix" shows everyone around Harry getting more 
pro-active, from Hermione to Voldemort and Dumbledore.  Ron and 
Harry, however, are disturbingly passive in this volume.  Hopefully 
their respective bouts with puberty will pass quickly.  Meanwhile, 
Voldemort's aggression and Harry's passive resistance make this more 
of a chaser book, while the visit to St. Mungo's, Arthur Weasley's 
nearly fatal encounter, the death of Sirius, and what would have been 
the end of Harry but for Dumbledore's timely rescue put it into the 
poison bottle category.  

That leaves a chaser and a beater text each, a bottle of wine and a 
bottle of poison.  That makes sense, since what we await are the next 
thrust and parry between good and evil, out of which we expect at 
least one more death but hope to be entertained, to be left on a 
positive high we can bring back with us to the real muggle world in 
which we must spend so much of our time.

I dunno.  Have you discussed this before?  I'd appreciate some 
feedback if you've actually read this far.  :-}