Twist JKR? (was:Re: Dumbledore's pleading...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 141557

> >>Nora: 
> No.  Scabbers is the one genuinely grand case of the twist which 
> surpasses the boundaries of a single volume...

Betsy Hp:
That Voldemort is Slytherin's heir has an importance that goes 
beyond CoS.  The fall of the house of Crouch is most probably 
limited to GoF, but the return of Voldemort is not.  And, as I said, 
Voldemort's easy manipulation of Harry, while not as BANG-y to the 
readers, certainly has connotations beyond OotP, as does Sirius's 
death.

> >>Nora: 
> ...(excepting the continually open question of Snape, which has   
> been left open enough and deliberately so that I don't really     
> count any resolution as a 'twist', more as simply finding out the 
> background). 

Betsy Hp:
Ooh, I think you're *really* mistaken here.  The resolution of 
Snape's story arc will send screams of either joy or pain throughout 
fandom.  Folks on both sides of the issue are near positive they 
know the real story.  Whatever reveal is made is sure to have some 
sort of twist element to it.  Heck, the very fact that the Snape 
question is taking two books to answer is suggestive, IMO.  And not 
of simple house-cleaning.

> >>Nora:
> But there are lots of dead or unproven/able theories (soon to be  
> riding the SCOW) which rely upon this kind of grand twist.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
So?  That many suggested twisty theories have been shown to be wrong 
doesn't mean there's not going to be any twist whatsoever.  The 
twist is JKR's method of operation.  As you point out in the part I 
snipped, every book has had a twist of some sort.  It would be weird 
if the ending didn't, I think.

> >>Nora:
> Theories are fun for the sake of theories, but that's not what I'm 
> dealing with at all here.  I'm on the canonical possibility and 
> prediction track, and that's where I think people are convincing 
> themselves it's going to be much more complicated than it really   
> is.  I can imagine something legitimately considered twisty for    
> Snape's end, but I can also imagine something more direct.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
It depends on your definition of complicated, I suppose.  Each book 
has had it's own twist, some more BANG-y than others, most, IMO, not 
all that predictable.  Snape has been involved in each of them. 
(Except for CoS, actually. Huh.)  In a way, I think it's *less* 
direct to expect a Snape related twist to *not* occur.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > JKR's handling of the Slytherins in HBP strongly suggests, IMO, 
> > that the most straight forward reading is not necessarily the   
> > correct one.

> >>Nora: 
> Not evil, but still venal and generally unpleasant?
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Yup! <g>  The "not evil" bit is exactly it.  I'd been arguing that 
point for a while and it was very nice to have it cleared up once 
and for all.  Slytherins are just as human as the rest of the 
Hogwarts' student body.

Betsy Hp