Harry's summer in the 6th book

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 100774

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "paul_terzis" 
<paul_terzis at y...> wrote:


> > bowlwoman wrote:
> > > There will be an attack on the Dursley home during the summer 
> > > by the Voldemort camp. <snip> We will discover that Dudley is 
> > > a wizard, but DD and Petunia were keeping it a secret for 16 
> > > years. <snip>

Paul wrote:
> 3) Attack in privet street. A massive blow against the whole suburb
> with  DE attacking everyone. It will be a very interesting start 
for the book 6. As for the casualties only God and JKR knows.

Carolyn:
JKR said on her website that the opening scenes of Book 6 have been 
written for 13 years, and that she has tried them out in various 
books up to now, but has finally settled on using them in this book.

She has also said elsewhere that Vernon is her most disliked 
character, which many people found surprising, given the range of 
possible candidates.

*If* these opening scenes are about an attack on Privet Drive, I 
think this would fit in a number of ways. 

Firstly, there is a great deal of Privet Drive explanation in PS/SS, 
which sets the scene about Harry and how he came to be there. I could 
well imagine that in earlier drafts, his removal from Privet Drive 
came about not through a rescue by Hagrid, but because the house was 
attacked. For drama and plot development reasons, JKR then 
subsequently decided to change that, and have Harry return there 
every summer, but now the time is right to finish with that familiar 
opening scenario.

Secondly, the Dursleys represent truly boring ordinariness, and 
absolute denial of magical inventiveness. I remember watching an 
interview with JKR when she somewhat wickedly half-apologised to the 
inhabitants of Dursley (a real town in Gloucestershire) for picking 
on their name for her dull Muggle family. She lingered amusingly on 
the aching dreariness of the name as she said it, stressing its 
gloomy syllables. I think she would get a bit of vicarious 
satisfaction out of blowing the place up!

Thirdly, it would be the final straw for Vernon, but I don't think 
she'll kill him off. It would be much worse for him to have to live 
with the destruction of his property and the possible revelation that 
his wife and son were magical. 

Carolyn