News Flash! HBP covers released!

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 125781


> > Hannah originally:  Explain to me why they *wouldn't* feature 
something 
> > from a flashback scene and make it the cover of the HBP book.  
> 
> GEO: Judging by the previous flashback scenes possibly because of 
> the total lack of relevance. A advanced potions making text that 
> appears to be for the students appearing briefly in a flashback 
and 
> is probably not going to drive the plot further is not going to 
> appear on the cover of the books.

Hannah:  Lack of relevance?  Well, the front cover of UK PS shows 
the Hogwarts express - not the most vital plot element in that book, 
and that of UK CoS shows the flying car - again, not terribly 
relevant to the ultimate plot, though great fun.

I don't think the other pensieve scenes have been irrelevant 
either.  In GoF, it told the backstory of Crouch and his son, which 
was very very relevant.  It revealed the fate of the Longbottoms.  
It told us Karkaroff was a DE, and that Snape was a spy vouched for 
by DD.  It introduced the Lestranges.  It set the scene for what 
things were like during the first war.  While in OotP, it revealed 
the James and his friends weren't saints, that maybe there is some 
truth in Snape's comments.  It led to the termination of Occlumency 
lessons.  It showed that Lily Potter wasn't that keen on James at 
one point in their school time, and that she stood up for Snape.

And even if these scenes could be considered of minor importance to 
the ultimate plot, that doesn't mean pensieve scenes in future books 
won't be.  
 
Hannah originally:
> > I would say that past revelations, which will almost 
> > certainly come via a pensieve, are going to be of great 
> significance 
> > to the plot in books 6 and 7.  So why not feature that book if 
> it's 
> > relevant?  
> 
> GEO replied: I don't see how a potions making text is relevant in 
a 
> flashback. The main mystery of the books is what exactly happened 
at 
> Godric's Hollow on that Halloween Night.

Hannah now:  Well, it depends on what exactly *did* happen that 
night.  What about immortality potions?  What about the possibility 
of Snape being present at GH when it happened?  And while that could 
be considered the *main* mystery, it's not the only one.  Why 
Dumbledore trusts Snape, and whose side Snape really is on being two 
of them.  And the half-blood prince of the books' title, he's got to 
be pretty important as well.  Perhaps he's linked to the book in 
some way (perhaps, as has been suggested before, he is Snape).  
There are a lot of possibilities.  One possibility is that there's 
no connection between the book and the flashback.  But it's equally 
possible, IMO, that there is.

Hannah