As if

[mightymaus75]

No: HPFGUIDX 97494

Usually things go something like this: 1) we come up with a crackpot 
idea, and 2) we see if we can find clues to support aforementioned 
crackpot idea. I thought it might be fun to try it the other way 
round for once. The other way round would go something like this: 1) 
take one of JKR's known methods of hiding clues, and 2) see what kind 
of crackpot ideas we can support with aforementioned clues.

As some of you are undoubtedly aware JKR likes to use similes 
starting with 'as if'/'as though' to foreshadow things. While similes 
normally are used to better describe a scene by comparing it to 
something familiar, JKR likes to use them to literally describe what 
is going on. A few examples:

"A rustling noise nearby made all three of them jump. Winky the house-
elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was 
moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; 
it was *as though* someone invisible were trying to hold her back." – 
[GoF]

"'Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here,' 
Moody whispered.
The others' hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of 
foreboding; it was *as though* they had just entered the house of a 
dying person." – [OotP]

"When the last person – Zacharias – had signed, Hermione took the 
parchment back and slipped it carefully into her bag. There was an 
odd feeling in the group now. It was *as though* they had just signed 
some kind of contract." – [OotP]

Winky was of course being held back by an invisible someone, Harry 
did enter the house of a dying person, and Hermione had made them 
sign a kind of contract. Let's assume for a moment that JKR has been 
using this method to hide other clues. Following below is a list of 
11 other similes preceded by 'as if'/'as though' which may hold the 
key to important future developments:


1) Dumbledore's nose has been broken at least twice:

"His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon 
spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, *as though* it had 
been broken at least twice." – [PS/SS]

Seems very possible. Undoubtedly the supporters of the Dumbledore = 
Ron theory are already waiting for Ron to break his nose for the 
first time. They could be waiting for the wrong person to break his 
nose though. It could be that Dumbledore = Neville. Sure he doesn't 
really have the lanky build, but then he might still get a growth 
spurt. Sure he doesn't really seem to have Dumbledore's incredible 
magic powers, but then that may speak in his favour. If Neville turns 
out to be the most powerful wizard the wizarding world has ever seen, 
he could become one of the greatest examples of the importance of 
perseverance in modern English literature. And he does seem to be 
getting better at magic.  

JKR once said in a radio interview that someone out of Harry's year 
would go on to become a teacher, someone we would not expect it from. 
She said it wasn't Ron. 


2) Voldemort can hear you when you say his name:

"'Stop saying the name!' said Ron in a terrified whisper, *as if* he 
thought Voldemort could hear them." – [PS/SS]

Seems doubtful. This may explain why the D.E.'s are so terrified of 
saying Voldemort's name, it may also explain some of the holes in the 
D.E. circle. Being able to listen in whenever his name is said would 
give Voldemort an important strategic advantage. It makes you wonder 
about Dumbledore's constant insistence on saying Voldemort's name. 
Presumably, after Dumbledore's latest talk with Harry, Voldmort now 
knows the entire content of the prophecy. Or maybe that is just what 
Dumbledore wants Voldemort to think.


3) Lupin can read minds:

"'It has nothing to do with weakness,' said Professor Lupin sharply, 
*as though* he had read Harry's mind. 'The Dementors affect you worse 
than the others because there are horrors in your past that the 
others don't have.'" – [PoA]

"'A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you,' 
said Lupin, *as though* he had read Harry's mind; the corners of his 
mouth twitched slightly.
'Yeah, well, the more the better,' said Moody darkly. 'We're your 
guard, Potter.'" – [OotP]

Seems likely. After Dumbledore, Snape, and Voldemort, it seems Lupin 
has also been poking around in Harry's head. Harry may want to take 
his Occlumency lessons a little more seriously. 


4) Pettigrew was hypnotised during the confrontation in the Shrieking 
Shack:

"'But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realised he was at 
Hogwarts with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint 
reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again...'
Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all 
the while at Black *as though* hypnotised." – [PoA]

Seems somewhat unlikely. However if Peter really was hypnotised in 
the Shrieking Shack it could have far reaching implications. It could 
mean that Peter was innocent, he may have been framed to cover up for 
whoever it was that really betrayed Harry's parents. Or it could mean 
that Peter was not acting alone, he may have been prevented from 
revealing who it was that was in on the betrayal of Harry's parents. 
There are those who believe the whole Shrieking Shack scene was 
staged for Harry's benefit, but I don't think even they suspected it 
went this far. 


5) Krum does not need a broomstick to fly:

"Harry had never seen anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked *as 
though* he was using a broomstick at all; he moved so easily through 
the air that he looked unsupported and weightless." – [GoF]   

Seems not entirely unlikely. Krum could be some kind of magical 
creature or half-breed. An extremely tall Leprechaun perhaps, or an 
half-Hag. His uncoordinated movement on the ground does suggest he is 
more at home in the air. Or alternatively Krum could be using illegal 
flight enhancing spells and potions. A few shots of Billywig stings 
before the big game perhaps. With rumours about the Tutshill Tornados 
going around it seems likely that some kind of Quidditch scandal will 
be uncovered in the coming books. If a scandal is uncovered, Krum may 
well get caught up in it.  


6) Harry's sleeping brain had been working on a plan to write Sirius:

"Early next morning, Harry woke with a plan fully formed in his mind, 
*as though* his sleeping brain had been working on it all night. He 
got up, dressed in the pale dawn light, left the dormitory without 
waking Ron, and went back down to the deserted common room. Here he 
took a piece of parchment from the table upon which his Divination 
homework still lay and wrote the following letter:

Dear Sirius,
I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting, I was half asleep when I 
wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's 
fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal.
Harry" – [GoF]

Seems likely. Those of you familiar with my pet theory KITTENS & 
RAINBOWS can probably guess where I'm going with this. A theory which 
by the way also explains 6b) the name Riddle seemed to mean something 
to Harry *as though* Riddle was a friend he'd had when he was very 
small, and had half forgotten. See messages: #78982, #79691, and 
#83445, or perhaps more conveniently see the website: 
http://home.hccnet.nl/p.s.dekker/HPtheory.html

It seems to me that the part of Voldemort inside Harry made him write 
that letter. During the night it could have carefully planted the 
idea in Harry's head that he should write to Sirius telling him to 
stay away. Harry does really care about Sirius' safety; the part of 
Voldemort inside Harry just used that concern to try to keep Sirius 
from coming to Hogwarts.


7) Umbridge can read minds:

"Harry felt the blood surge to his head and heard a thumping noise in 
his ears. So he told 'evil, nasty, attention-seeking stones', did he?
She was watching him with her head slightly to one side, still 
smiling widely, *as though* she knew exactly what he was thinking and 
was waiting to see whether he would start shouting again. With a 
massive effort, Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag 
beside the straight-backed chair and sat down." – [OotP]

Seems possible. If Harry already hadn't enough reason to seriously 
study Occlumency with Dumbledore, Snape, Voldemort and Lupin poking 
around in his brain, Umbridge being a Legilimens certainly would be 
reason enough all on its own. 


8) The Barman of the Hog's Head had been interrupted in something 
very important:

"The barman glared at him for a moment, then, throwing down his rag 
irritably *as though* he had been interrupted in something very 
important, he started passing up dusty Butterbeers from under the 
bar." – [OotP]

Doesn't seem very likely. If the barman was Albus Dumbledore I could 
see how he had been working on something important before being 
called away to serve drinks. Is Albus perhaps holding down two jobs? 
I don't know how much Hogwarts pays its teaching staff, but given the 
difficulties in finding new teachers it can't be very much. If the 
barman was Aberforth Dumbledore the important thing probably had 
something to do with a goat. 


9) Dumbledore knew Harry would see something like Arthur Weasley 
being attacked from inside the snake:

"'You misunderstand me,' said Dumbledore, still in the same calm 
tone. 'I mean... can you remember – er – where you were positioned as 
you watched this attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the 
victim, or else looking down on the scene from above?'
This was such a curious question that Harry gaped at Dumbledore; it 
was almost *as though* he knew..." – [OotP]

"'So, Potter says he saw it all happen?'
'Yes,' said Mrs Weasley. She sounded rather uneasy. 'You know, 
Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Harry to see 
something like this.'" – [OotP]

Seems unlikely but in Dumbledore's case perhaps quite possible. 
Dumbledore certainly seems to know a lot more than he lets on to 
Harry. No doubt he knows exactly in what way Harry and Voldemort are 
linked. From this he could have deduced Harry *might* see something 
like this. But how could he have been so certain that Harry *would* 
see something like this? Have two people been linked like this once 
before (the scar Fudge (never) heard of)? Has Dumbledore already been 
trough all this once before? Or has Dumbledore arranged the whole 
thing from the start?

I'm a big supporter of MAGIC DISHWASHER, Dumbledore seems to have an 
incredibly vast knowledge of all that goes on in the world. He could 
be using that knowledge to arrange just the right circumstances for 
the defeat of Voldemort. A lot like how Gandalf was able to arrange 
just the right circumstances for the defeat of Sauron. The fact that 
we recently decided Dumbledore is not omniscient doesn't change much. 
Gandalf wasn't omniscient, if he was why did he lead them over the 
mountain pass of Caradhras?


10) Ginny can read minds:

"Harry looked over at Ron, who was hunched in a corner, staring at 
his knees, a bottle of Butterbeer clutched in his hand.
'Angelina still won't let him resign,' Ginny said, *as though* 
reading Harry's mind." – [OotP]

Seems possible. Perhaps Harry should just give up and start carrying 
his thoughts around in a Pensieve.
 

11) Luna is on a not always too interesting day trip:

"The classroom door opened. Harry, Ron and Hermione whipped around. 
Ginny walked in, looking curious, closely followed by Luna, who as 
usual looked *as though* she had drifted in accidentally." – [OotP]

"...and Hermione was attempting, in vain, to throw Millicent 
Bulstrode off her. Luna, however, stood limply by the side of her 
captor, gazing vaguely out of the window *as though* rather bored by 
the proceedings." – [OotP]

"...Neville jumped down, shaking; and Luna dismounted smoothly.
'Where do we go from here, then?' she asked Harry in a politely 
interested voice, *as though* this was all a rather interesting day-
trip." – [OotP]

Seems a bit doubtful. Luna could be a time traveller visiting from 
the future, she could be extremely old, she could be some kind of 
magical being, or she could be a visitor from another planet. The 
fact that she does not need to blink as much as normal humans and has 
slightly protruding eyes seems to suggest the last possibility. 
Personally I like to believe Luna is just a very odd little girl.  


I'll admit that most of these similes will probably turn out to be 
nothing more than a bit of nice descriptive language. There is always 
the possibility that one or two will turn out to be literally true. 
If that happens I reserve the right to say I told you so. 

-Maus 


Come see my KITTENS & RAINBOWS theory website: 
http://home.hccnet.nl/p.s.dekker/HPtheory