Perchance to dream...

[caesian]

No: HPFGUIDX 97527

Kneasy wrote:
> I was wondering - why bother to recount a dream in canon and then tell 
> us that the dreamer never remembers it? Such an odd dream, too.
> 
> PS/SS (yes, waaaay back near the beginning) at the very end of chap. 7, 
> Harry has a dream. He wears a talking turban (Quirrells) which tells 
> him that he must switch to Slytherin (his destiny, it seems) and which 
> he can't get off; a laughing Malfoy morphs into Snape, who has a high 
> cold laugh (anyone heard Snape laugh before?) and it all ends in a 
> flash of green light.
> 
> Well, now. Anyone believe in the divination of dreams? 'Cos this one's 
> ripe for Trelawney's inimitable interpretations. This is Harry's first 
> night in Hogwarts; he sees Snape for the first time just 2 pages 
> earlier, gets  told by the Sorting Hat that he's Slytherin material 6 
> pages earlier and has no idea what a green flash signifies. Talking 
> turbans must be a bit of a  worry too.
> 
> Just how many hints has JKR slipped past our guard with this one? We 
> know nothing about talking turbans, Snape or green flashes at this 
> stage either. But before the end of the book one of the constituents of 
> the dream is explained. Voldy is in there disguised  as a short back 
> and sides.
> 
> What to  make of the rest?
> Lots of fun possibilities, that's what.
> Tentatively I'd lean towards intimations of the future, maybe chances 
> of 70/30.
> 
> Slytherin is his destiny. Lots of posters have been looking for a good 
> Slytherin, but this seems a bit extreme. Rumours of someone swapping 
> houses, too. I keep remembering - that Prophecy - it said he would be 
> Voldy's equal; never mentioned him being his opposite. And the Hat "You 
> could be great, you know [...] ..and Slytherin will help you on the way 
> to greatness.."
> No mention of greatness allied with Gryffindor, or did I miss something?
> 
> Malfoy morphs into Snape - JKR did say that one of the students becomes 
> a teacher, but  really; you don't think? Surely not.
> 
> Snape laughs. What a concept! A smile like the nameplate on a coffin 
> perhaps, but laughter? Something very, very bad has just happened. Or 
> is it will happen?
> 
> And a green flash. Again -  was or will  be? Are Snape and  the green 
> flash connected? Has our Sevvy been/will be a bad boy?
> 
> This little vignette is glossed over with the phrase "Perhaps Harry had 
> eaten a bit too much..." Or perhaps it has something to do with Voldy's 
> presence making itself felt for the first time since Godric's Hollow.
> 
> Kneasy


Caesian responds:
I was just reading this passage about 2 minutes before your post - talk about divination.  I 
think you are correct that the dream is meaningful, but there are two points I disagree 
with.  Harry does understand the flash of green light, and even the high-pitched cackle of 
laughter - because he recalls them after Hagrid describes his parents death earlier in the 
book.  *That* moment was the first time he had heard the laugh, but he had remembered 
the green flash of light even when he was at the Dursleys, and associated it with his 
parents death - although then he believed it was a car crash.  Second, I think that it is 
clear that Malfoy > Snape > LV (or Snape / LV), so that Snape is no longer literal Snape 
when the laughter wakes Harry up.  I'm not sure what this progression indicates.. (levels of 
annoyance?)  

What bothers me is why the turban, which Harry is wearing in the dream, wants Harry to 
transfer to Slytherin.  Now, personally I think this could not be good for Harry, but 
Slytherins seem to think it's good for them.  Why would his enemy (the turban has LV in it, 
afterall) suggest he transfer to Slytherin?  Why not suggest he go wander about the 
forbidden forest or take a long walk off a short parapet?  When Harry doesn't agree, the 
turban gets heavier and heavier, then tightens painfully.  This certainly seems to portend 
Harry's struggles in future - as his burden is getting heavier each book.  It also suggests 
that Harry's choices to resist the Slytherin viewpoint are a most critical part of his struggle 
- if he could be reduced to a non-threat simply by choosing to transfer to Slytherin, that 
suggests that LV would be wiser to court him that kill his friends.

And speaking of divination among the students, I'm still trying to figure out whether it was 
Lavendar or Parvati who realized that Harry would ask Parvati to the Yule Ball before he did 
- although they, Trelawny-like, failed to foresee the reason behind or import of the 
envisioned outcome.

And BTW, as for Madam Rosmerta's magical metabolism,  that cream-sauce comment was 
intended as completely innocent! :)  Powers of the subconcious!

Caesian