The voic in Harry's head and the turban dream (Was: replies to: 1500-some posts)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 116238


Catlady wrote:
> <huge snip> When Harry resisted the Imperius Curse, the Curse's
Moody-voice in his head told him to jump up on the desk, and "another
voice had awoken in the back of his brain. Stupid to do, really, said
the voice." I believe that that other voice is what's left of the
image-Lily after all these years; she doesn't appear often, she
appears as Harry's voice instead of her own, but she still is caring
for Harry -- and still has free will. <snip>

Carol responds:
Or the free will could be Harry's. I think the second voice is his own
slowly emerging common sense, as distinct not only from outside voices
advising him to do something foolish or evil but from the nagging
voice of conscience that (in OoP) reminds him of Hermione. (Harry's
own will can resist that voice, too, but not always sensibly. :-) )

> Kneasy wrote in
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/114166 :
> 
> << There are clues there, jumbled as in any dream - but if they can
be teased out it might (should!) give us a guide to what has happened
and what might yet happen. I find Draco melding into Snape
particularly intriguing - especially because at this point in the
story Harry has not met Snape, he's only seen him from a distance || A
tight turban insisting that he must transfer to Slytherin - Malfoy -
Snape - and a green light. >>
> 
Catlady answered:
> I read much of that dream as memories of that night of his parents'
death. The green flash and the high-pitched laughter are familiar from
his Dementor-induced memories. The presence of Draco and Snape is a
Clue that Lucius and Snape were present at the murder party.
Presumably Lucius was brought by LV and Snape may have been brought by
LV or come on his own to try to rescue Lily and/or Harry. <snip>

Carol responds:
Neither we nor Harry have seen Dementors or Lucius in SS/PS and it
seems overly speculative to bring them in at this point. I think it's
an ordinary dream merging ordinary images from daytime experience into
the surreal images of a dream that reflects Harry's (mis)perceptions
and fears as he moves into the unfamiliar environment of Hogwarts. Not
surprisingly Draco (the one Slytherin he has actually talked with and
instinctly dislikes) merges into Snape (whom he has been told favors
the Slytherins and whom he thinks has caused his scar to hurt). The
very odd turban, which wasn't present when Harry first encountered
Quirrell and is therefore suspicious, merges into the even odder
Sorting Hat (taking on its function but not its appearance),
*insisting* rather than suggesting (like the real Sorting Hat) that he
belongs in Slytherin. In this respect, the dream reflects Harry's
dislike of Draco and of Slytherin in general, and his fear of his own
Slytherinlike tendencies, of which we'll see more in CoS and OoP.

The green flash and high-pitched laughter are all Harry remembers of
the incident at Godric's Hollow, and he now associates them with
Voldemort, thanks to Hagrid's explanation of his parents' death,
though he doesn't yet know what the green light is or how it relates
to the scar. Previously he had associated the light and the pain in
his forehead with the fictitious car accident (SS Am ed. 29). The
laugh, IIRC, appears for the first time in this dream, and becomes
associated with the pain in his scar, which Harry now wrongly
attributes to Snape. IMO, the clue here, which relates primarily to
SS/PS itself, is that it's the *turban*, not Snape, that is linked to
Voldemort. But the dream is also a red herring, leading the reader to
think, as Harry subconsciously does, that Snape is in league with
Voldemort when, of course, it's Quirrell who has Voldemort inside his
head.

I see no need to extrapolate beyond this relatively simple
interpretation to speculate about the presence of Snape (or Lucius
Malfoy) at Godric's Hollow.

Carol, who would never be able to condense responses to 1500 messages
into one post!