Opening of Book 6 - Theories, Anyone?

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 114271

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "annemehr" <annemehr at y...> 
wrote:
> 
> > Dungrollin quoting JKR's website:
> > 
> > On the first chapter of PS/SS:
> > "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..."
> > 
> > On the first chapter of HBP:
> > "I have come close to using a chapter very like this 
> > in 'Philosopher's Stone' (it was one of the discarded first 
> > chapters), 'Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Order of the Phoenix' but 
> > here, finally, it works, so it's staying.
> <snip>
> > What it could be however... My pitifully scarce ideas are 
> > rounded up and forced to present themselves below:
> > 
> > 1.  More about the events of Godric's Hollow
> <snip>
> > 2.  More about You Know Who's past.
> <snip>
> > 3.  Something entirely different that I haven't thought of.
> > Er... that's it. :-)
> > 
> > Frankly, my money's on number 3.
> 
> Annemehr:
> Thanks, Dungrollin, I had forgotten that it was one of the 
> discarded *first* chapters of PS/SS.  That certainly makes me 
> think it's most likely to be about Godric's Hollow -- perhaps 
> Harry dreams it, either as a long-forgotten memory of his own, or 
> because Voldemort is thinking about it and the vision invades 
> Harry's sleep.  It'd be one way JKR could insert a fully-written 
> old chapter of PS into sixteen year old Harry's head.  But you've 
> got a fair point there in your number 3...
> 
> Okay, but I still hope the second, third and fourth chapters are 
> about an attack on Privet Drive, Dumbledore actually explaining 
> things (GH maybe?) to Harry in the *beginning* of a book, and 
> Harry's arrest and incarceration in Azkaban! ;)
> 
> Annemehr

Oh! The joys of unfettered optimism!!! Harry's life in peril from 
the Dark Side and a Dumbledorean explanation at the *beginning* of a 
book?!  For me the whole fun of a new HP book is taking the day off 
work specially and then racing through it as fast as I can to get to 
the Harry-in-peril and Dumbledore-explanation at the end... No, hang 
on, that means you're right - it'd be far better to get the exciting 
bit over and done with at the beginning so we know what's going on, 
and then leisurely peruse the last 80% of the book feeling smug and 
picking up on the details once we know what all the clues mean...

Dungrollin
With most humble apologies for this thoroughly insincere post. :)