getting anything right

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 94029

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tracy Hunt" <tcyhunt at e...> wrote:
> In January, 2003 there were several poles (that remained open until 
> the release of OotP) on this site asking for various predictions 
> regarding the series so far.  We can go back through those now and 
> see how far off base many of us were.  We can also survey the 
> scuttled vessels at the bottom of the TBAY with similar results.  
> Very few among us have been even a little close on major events and 
> still fewer nailed any details.  How does this bode for our current 
> theories and speculations?  
> 
> Someone (sorry, I cannot remember who at the moment) recently said in 
> a post that with all of the information (5 books, 2 schoolbooks, many 
> interviews, several chats, etc.) from JKR, it's getting harder
> for her to keep us in the dark and that the odds of someone figuring 
> it all out are tipping in our favor.  But is that true?  I, for one, 
> have been absolutely gobsmacked by most of what I've read in the 
> books.  I didn't see it coming until I was practically on top of
> it.  Oh, I had glimpses of ideas about a few things – but for the 
> most part, I've fallen hook, line and sinker for all of JKR's
> ploys.
> 
> Unless I'm way behind the curve here, this would seem to mean
> that the vast majority of our speculations are going to be blown out 
> of the water.  Or is it just playing the odds that if we speculate 
> enough, we'll eventually hit something?
> 

Get things right? Good heavens!  What's that got to do with anything?
Remember that  quote  from 'Alice' -  "I can think of six impossible
things before breakfast." Could be the motto for the  site.

JKR has happily admitted that  she's taken great  pains to stuff clues
and red herrings into the  books -  all we  have to do is decide which
is which and what they refer to, and what that will mean for the future
plot curve, and yes! that explains why that happened there, etc, etc.
Simple  really.

Except it's not. And  that's what makes it fun, because only one person
in the whole  wide world knows all the answers. Just on this site alone
there  are 11,000 fans beavering away, delving into the depths of plot
and characterisation, deconstructing text and even reading meaning 
into the derivation of names. Add all the other HP sites on the web and 
there is a cumulative brain power of awesome proportions analysing HP.
And where have we got? Nowhere. JKR 1, Fans 0.

Yes, a small group of fans got it right about Sirius going down the tubes
(no, I wasn't one of them) but so what? I bet that that they can't give a 
totally satisfactory answer as to why Sirius copped it in the neck. While
we appreciate and admire the way she has put the books together, most 
of the posts are naturally concerned with what happens next, usually by 
extrapolating from existing canon. It could  be argued  that this site and
others like it are an exercise in the breadth and scope of the imagination
of the fans as much as it is of JKR's.

I find it vastly amusing that while 5/7ths of the series is in my bookcase
I have no confidence at all in deciding what is likely  to happen in the 
remaining 2/7ths. That won't stop me being as dogmatic as the rest when
presenting my (current) favourite theory - something that happens about
once a week. As you point out, all the clues are (probably) published,
so why can't we offer a cut and dried solution? Well, we have. Hundreds 
of 'em. Now pick the correct one out from the rest. 

I can't speak for others but I doubt that I'd have joined the site if the 
series were already complete; poring over fixed and immutable canon is
not nearly so entertaining as second-guessing the mind processes of a 
first-class constructor of a who-dunnit / who-will-do-it / why-did-he
-do-it / how-will-he-do-it. It may be considered heresy but for some it
may be more fun to journey than to arrive. Oh, everyone wants to read
the conclusion of the tale - and then? A fair  amount of discussion and
critiques of the books, maybe an up-surge in Fan Fiction and then it will
probably slowly taper off, eventually leaving a hard-core of Potterverse 
devotees to discuss archane minutiae - a species of literary archaeology.

In the meantime - we make hay while  the  sun shines. Being right is
largely irrelevant IMO; being wrong in an interesting or entertaining way
is more fun than being stodgy but right. No-one is keeping score, after all=
.
And if in the process you can provoke supposed outrage or opposition.... 
Yes, there'll be a certain smug satisfaction if one's theory is confirmed,
momentary disappointment if it's not, but it'd hardly be an earth-
shattering trauma requiring intensive counseling.

My advice -  grab the opportunity to let your imagination run riot among
like-minded folk. I doubt there'll be a chance like this again.

 Kneasy