Under the influence or not? (Edition discrepancy in "After the Burial" )

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 142079

> hg:
> My assertion is still valid in terms of the timing, thank goodness,
> a point I actually had to defend elsewhere.  Harry's gone about
> five hours.  He returns to the castle after getting the memory.
> So the Felix would have been out of his system at the point he 
> and Slughorn are alone. So it doesn't matter which edition is
> correct -- he's offthe Felix either way, as far as I see it.
> Should I say "thanks" Jen?  ;)


Jen: Oh you're welcome, glad I could help ;).

Actually, I prefer the idea Harry was off Felix for plot reasons as 
well as character reasons. Here's something hg mentioned in post 
#142020:

hg: I think the hugeness, then, lies in Harry behaving as he does of 
his own accord, Slughorn making his choice freely without being 
subject to any magical influence, and the likelihood that Harry 
erroneously assumes that Slughorn will remember nothing the next day.

Jen: Regarding plot issues first, Harry feels confident Slughorn 
won't remember giving the memory. I wondered in my first reading why 
that would matter because either way, Slughorn is now in great 
danger. We already know Voldemort is a much more accomplished 
Legilimens than Dumbledore (or more willing to use this ability?), 
even capable of implanting false memories at age 16. So it doesn't 
matter at all whether Slughorn remembers giving the memory, if 
(when) Voldemort catches up with him, the evidence will still be 
there. And Slughorn will pay. That memory basically outlined 
Voldemort's entire plan for immortality and surely is the reason 
Slughorn spent the last year moving all over Muggleville to get away 
from him and the DE's.

Given that Slughorn basically gave up his *life* when he gave that 
memory, I'd prefer to think he was a Slytherin acting bravely of his 
own free will, much like Peter the Gryffindor chose to act cowardly. 
I think Slughorn knew *exactly* what he was doing that night, and 
perhaps guilt and insecurity about his own abilities kept Harry from 
understanding the magnitude of the situation. (Course, JKR doesn't 
have to take that route, but if she does, the situation is already 
laid out there). 

Thinking about the event in terms of characterization, the point 
that Harry, like Ron, was able to uncover his own natural abilities 
while believing he was under the influence of Felix appeals to me. 
As I mentioned awhile back in a post called Obsession, the theme of 
free-will vs. magical influence is a big one in HBP, particulary 
with the Merope/Riddle storyline, love potions in general, and the 
DADA curse apparently influencing some of Snape's actions. Or maybe 
I didn't mention this particular aspect, so I'm adding it here :).

Felix, too, can be used for ill-gotten gains. Harry considered using 
it for snaring Ginny and following Malfoy into the Room of 
Requirement, two things he was obsessed with in HBP. Perhaps the 
fact he didn't use Felix for those two things was enough for JKR to 
make the point, but I prefer the idea Harry openly used his 
Slytherin abilities to get what he needed from Slughorn. He did use 
the Felix to *set-up* the proper conditions as Hermione pointed 
out: "Luck will only get you so far, Harry. The situation with 
Slughorn was different; you always had the ability to persuade him, 
you just needed to tweak the circumstances a bit." (chap. 24, p. 
484, Bloomsbury) But then in a Riddle-like way, Harry obtained the 
information he needed from Slughorn. JKR makes this parallel very 
clear when Harry is viewing the real Slughorn memory shortly after, 
that he knows exactly how Tom feels trying to wheedle information 
from Slughorn, how carefully he played his cards, just the same as 
Harry with Slughorn only minutes before. 

So I see a two-fold reason for Harry to discover the Felix was out 
of his system when he obtained the memory. 

Jen