Harry's dream about the Turban (was Re: Re: Neville and the Prophecy - VERY LONG)

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 108286

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Cathy Drolet" <cldrolet at s...> wrote:
> 
> "Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much because he had a
 very strange dream.  He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban,
 which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin
 at once, because it was his destiny.  Harry told the tuban he didn't
 want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull
 it off but it tightened painfully -- and there was Malfoy, laughing 
at him as he struggle with it -- then Malfoy turned into the hook-
nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold -- there
 was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking."
> 
> This mostly sounds like a 'normal' dream to me. It was a very
emotional day for HP, all of these things tied into this day....
snip 
> 

It could be a 'normal' dream, but I doubt it, and for one very good
reason - Harry doesn't remember it. What is the point of recounting
something dreamed -  and immediately forgotten - by Harry?

Except for a couple of chapters at the beginning of PS/SS and GoF
the entire series is written from Harry's POV. We see and learn things
at the same time and in the same time-scale as Harry. Not this time.

So why is it there? It's for the reader - it's  clues, foreshadowing,
call it what you will. (See 97522; 97591 for a previous look at this
episode.) We are being given pointers and one of the elements that
is being hammered home is the idea that Harry's destiny lies in 
Slytherin; this dream just a few pages after the Sorting Hat has 
intimated the same thing and a couple of chapters after he ends up 
with a wand that is brother to the one held by that arch-Slyth Voldemort.

How many clues do you need? Harry and Slytherin are key to the whole
series. And it probably isn't just Slytherin House we're talking about 
here, but the concept of Salazar Slytherin as the embodiment of evil.
Just a few days  ago I posted an observation that maybe Harry wasn't
all that powerful a wizard, and others have wondered the same. Why
should Harry need to join Slytherin to be great? If he's that powerful
he could be great in any House, right? Well, maybe the powers that he
has are not entirely his own - that a significant proportion, maybe most,
were transferred to him at Godric's Hollow and the Slytherin that could
make him great is not just Slytherin House but Salazar himself. 
(Yep. It's that Possession theory again.)

For  about a year now I've been asking when the 'Temptation' is going
to turn up; that nexus in all rites of passage tales where the putative
hero is offered respite from his trials. Mostly I've thought that this
tempting would take the form of being offered the opportunity by a 
well-meaning friend or a plausible enemy to opt out of the struggle -
he's clearly not very enthusiastic about having to face Voldy on a regular
basis and a few whispers that "maybe he's done enough, deserves a rest,
leave it to the professionals" might strike a chord. But it could be that the
temptation comes from within himself, from the essence that DD sees
as divided but may not be for much longer. 

Harry was got at in OoP. DD saw and feared it, hence the Occlumency 
lessons. For some reason most posters think that because DD rescued
Harry at the Ministry everything is back to normal. Really? The lessons
were terminated before Harry learned how to block Voldy's influence.
As things stand Harry can't trust his own thoughts, he can't be sure
they're really his own. Just because Voldy can't manage a full-blown
take-over doesn't mean he can't still send thoughts, dreams and visions
into Harry's mind. Especially if he has help on the inside.

It's a good bet that Harry will be tempted from the straight and narrow,
at least for a while - it's traditional and gives the author a chance to
demonstrate the dire consequences of not doing the right thing. But
a few deaths will put him on the path of virtue again - DD, a couple
of Weasleys perhaps. Harry's been pretty good at laying the blame on
others, he never seems to consider that he may be at fault; this time
he won't be able to fool himself. Someone he cares about will die 
because of his decisions. It's happened before but I don't think the
lesson was learned - this time it will be.

Kneasy