Survival of AK

[macfotuk at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 114206

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Hannah" <hannahmarder at y...> 
wrote:
> > Kim wrote:
> > But it was a wand spell that marked Harry, etc.  I found this 
> paragraph (Ch. 2, p. 20 of GoF, US Scholastic edition) which 
retells 
> what happened at GH the night Harry got his scar.  It's the 
narrator 
> speaking, not a character, so one would suppose it's meant to be 
the 
> correct history of what happened:
> <snip of quote and other good stuff>
> 
> Hannah now: This reminds me of a post I wrote about a week ago, on 
> how trustworthy the narrative can be.  It's natural to believe 
what 
> the narrative says, at least more than information from 
characters, 
> but I've actually come to the conclusion that the narrative isn't 
> more reliable than any other source.
> 
> Take this from PS/SS, p27 UK paperback; 'He'd lived with the 
> Dursley's for ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could 
> remember, ever since his parents had died in that car crash.' 
> 
> This quote is from the narrative, and it states that Harry's 
parents 
> died in a car crash.  Obviously it's not true, but at that point, 
> that's what Harry believes.  The narrative only ever gives us 
facts 
> from Harry's point of view, with the exception of the first 
chapter 
> of PS/SS, and the quidditch match in PS/SS when Quirrel jinxes the 
> broom.  The narrative is not omniscient.  It can relate events as 
> Harry sees them, and while it describes Harry's emotions and 
> thoughts, it can't tell us what's going on in other characters' 
> heads (more's the pity).  
> 
> So when the narrative says what happened at Godric's Hollow, it 
> tells the accepted version of events, as Harry believed it 
> happened.  That may not be what actually occurred (almost 
certainly 
> isn't, IMO).  If the narrative only told the truth, the whole 
truth 
> and nothing but the truth, it would be a very dull book with no 
> surprises.  
> 
> JKR has said that the first scene of HBP is going to be something 
> she's thought of putting into other books, or words to that 
effect.  
> That makes me think that it might be a retrospective chapter, a 
bit 
> like the first in PS/SS, maybe the actual events at GH, or some 
> other important past incident.
> 
> Hannah

Mac: Very nice post Hannah, I entirely agree - the narrative is 
about what Harry 'knows'. 

On your last point, I suspect the backplot of GH will have to wait 
until book 7 (damn!) because there are too many secrets in there 
about character's motives, allegiances and who was/wasn't there and 
why and what they did*, but she has promised more on Riddle's 
backplot (birth, childhood, how'd he get to be so evil? etc)and that 
would have made sense to put in CoS but then as the book developed 
would have looked like foreshadowing the entire CoS story and had to 
go (though can't see where Riddle backplot might also fit as starter 
for OotP, as claimed).

*there's a very interesting discarded character mentioned at JKR's 
website

" ...
Opening Chapters of Philosopher's Stone
There were many different versions of the first chapter 
of 'Philosopher's Stone' and the one I finally settled on is not the 
most popular thing I've ever written; lots of people have told me 
that they found it hard work compared with the rest of the book. The 
trouble with that chapter was (as so often in a Harry Potter book) I 
had to give a lot of information yet conceal even more. There were 
various versions of scenes in which you actually saw Voldemort 
entering Godric's Hollow and killing the Potters and in early drafts 
of these, a Muggle betrayed their whereabouts. As the story evolved, 
however, and Pettigrew became the traitor, this horrible Muggle 
vanished.

Other drafts included a character by the name of 'Pyrites', whose 
name means 'fool's gold'. He was a servant of Voldemort's and was 
MEETING SIRIUS in front of the Potters' house. Pyrites, too, had to 
be discarded, though I quite liked him as a character; he was a 
dandy and wore white silk gloves, which I thought I might stain 
artistically with blood from time to time.

..."

Meeting Sirius? hmmmm when? before or after the destruction? hmmmmm