An alternate RAB theory.

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 142680

> Apollo414j:
> Definitely. I think it's important to note that Rowling writes a 
> great deal of her books based on ideas of misdirection and guiding 
> people in the wrong direction. While RAB quite possibly could be 
> Regulus, it would be very "Rowling" of Rowling to lead us into 
> believing that it's Regulus and then startle us with the surprise 
> that it's someone entirely different.

Magpie:

Is that really very Rowling?  Because it doesn't seem that way to me 
at all.  Fandom always talks about her leading us on, and I can't 
honestly remember when she has.  Sometimes she'll say something that 
is only truly understood in retrospect, but as someone who 
admittedly doesn't follow interviews carefully it doesn't seem like 
she intentionally shoves people down the wrong path.  What I see 
more often are things that seem very straightforward dismissed by 
fandom because it's just assumed she's doing that.  For instance, I 
thought she all but announced Ron/Hermione in interviews other 
people find very ambiguous, and I remember her "Snape has no 
connection to vampires that I know of" turned into a cryptic way of 
saying the theory still lived.  I mean, even here, how has Rowling 
led us into believing it's Regulus?  She just put the initials in 
and when asked if RAB was Regulus gave a carefully noncommital 
answer.

In terms of RAB, while I'm willing to believe she's got a good story 
reason for whoever it is, so far Regulus is the best answer.  Not 
only is Amelia Bones not much of a fit (we normally expect people to 
have unknown middle names, not unknown first ones, so even if her 
third name wasn't Susan it would be a little contrived) but she's 
completely uninteresting as the Horcrux thief.  If it were someone 
like her or Filch we'd basically be talking about a story completely 
made up in Book VII--and that may be what we're talking about--or, 
pre-book VII, a story completely made up by fans because we could 
come up with that name.  The identity only becomes interesting after 
the author explains to us why it's interesting.  Whereas if it's 
Regulus, it's interesting already.

Regulus, to me, seems the best solution because he's been carefully 
positioned the way Rowling, to me, seems to do it.  He's mentioned 
casually in OotP in Grimmauld Place, and his story is given to us by 
Sirius, who in this case is obviously an unreliable narrator.  Then 
he's mentioned, I think, two or three times more in HBP.  We're 
reminded he's Sirius' younger brother, that he was Slytherin, that 
he was a Death Eater who only survived a few days after defecting, 
and that he and Sirius were the last of their line and the Blacks 
may occasionally use magic based on familial blood. 

So I think finding out there is more to Regulus story than meets the 
eye--that, to me, is the type of thing JKR does.  Really, in reading 
the series, it seems like she usually plays fair with things like 
that.  I spent *a lot* of OotP stewing over that vanishing cabinet 
and wondering why Montague's misery kept getting brought up and I'm 
pleased there was another reason for that.  So far I think Regulus 
has been set up to tie into the main storyline and themes of the 
series, somehow, in a similar way.  Conversations about him hit 
that "this is an important thing about the past we need to know more 
about" note, and I don't think the increased mentions of him (after 
our never knowing he existed until the casual mention in OotP) seem 
even more important.  His connection to Sirius and the rest makes 
him a far more satisfying solution than any other I've heard.  
Anyone-but-Regulus theories can get overly-complicated to me (which 
doesn't make me right, of course).  For instance, to look at the 
comparison between RAB=Regulus and HBP=Snape, sure Snape being the 
HBP was a surprise in the narrative because Harry was friendly with 
him and all that, but when you cut down the suspects to people Harry 
actually has something to do with so that the identify of the HBP 
means something to him, you pretty much come up Snape.  

-m