Structure of the Seven books (Long)

zgirnius zgirnius at yahoo.com
Sun Jul 23 15:35:52 UTC 2006


No: HPFGUIDX 155864

ivogun:
> Rowling has made it known that she has an overall plan for all 
seven books. Much of the 
> planning involves keeping the events of the plot straight, but I 
think to some degree she  
> may be utilizing a classical design where the first book mirrors 
the last, the second book 
> mirrors the next to last, the third book mirrors the third from the 
last, and the forth is a 
> pivotal book or climax. 

zgirnius: This is a n interesting idea.

ivogun:
> I see a lot mirror images or parallels between book two (COS) and 
book six (HBP).

zgirnius:
Yes, definitely, I'm snipping 'em all...

ivogun:
> I also see a few parallels between book three (PoA) parallels with 
book five (OotP).

zgirnius:
Arguably, I see more parallels between Books 1 and 5.

ivogun:
> In OotP, Harry loses 
> Sirius and learns of the Order of the Phoenix (another secretive 
group. In PoA, Sirius 
> escapes prison. In OotP, Hogwarts becomes a prison. 

Zgirnius: Can't match PS/SS to those


ivogun:
In PoA, Lupin is the best DOA 
> teacher that Harry ever had. In OotP, Umbridge is the worst DOA 
teacher that Harry has 
> ever had. 

zgirnius:
Of course, in PS/SS Harry's teacher is possessed by Voldemort, ans 
totally ineffective, which is pretty bad...

ivogun:
In PoA, the hippogriff bites Draco. In OotP, it is the same 
hippogriff that is hurt. 
> And of course, dementers attack Harry in both PoA and OotP, and 
Harry's Patronus are 
> important in both books too.

Zgirnius:
Can't match those either.

ivogun:
> Both PoA and OotP portray treacherous and loyal individuals. In 
POA, we find that Sirius 
> (falsely accused of betraying the Potters) and Pettigrew (an 
opportunistic snitch--a rat). In 
> OotP, Umbridge should have been accused of traitor (but wasn't) and 
Marietta who was 
> pressured into a betrayal.

zgirnius:
In PS/SS we have "The Man with Two Faces" and Snape as our 
treacherous and loyal individuals. 

ivogun:
> In PoA, Neville gains a bit of confidence with Snape in the Bogart 
class. In OotP, Neville 
> faces Bella (who tortured his parents into madness) with a 
surprising amount of 
> confidence.

zgirnius:
In PS/SS Neville wins the House Cup for Gryffindor, for his 
courageous attempt to stand up to his friends.

And now, onto my additional Book 1/Book 5 parallels:
-In both, Voldemort is after a magical object which only Harry may 
remove from its protections. (The whole main story of the books is 
the same!)
-In both, Harry is kept in the dark about the object by Dumbledore 
and the other adults.
-In both, Harry (unwisely) does so, though based on the information 
Harry has his decision is reasonable. 
-In both, Voldemort is nonetheless defeated and fails to attain his 
end. Dumbledore comes to the rescue in both.
-In both, Harry (incorrectly?? Jury is out to some extent for OotP, 
though I know what I think) believes Snape is in league with the bad 
guy.
-In both, Harry falls into disfavor. (PS/SS over the loss of points 
rescuing Norbert, in OotP owing to the Daily Prophet's smear campaign 
painting him as delusional or a liar.)
-In both, Harry learns more about his parents, and sees them. (PS/SS-
that they were wizards, were killed by Voldemort, and about his 
mother's sacrifice, and sees them in the Mirror. In OotP, sees James 
and Lily in Snape's Pensieve memory).
-On both Harry learns important pieces of Snape's backstory: the 
prank and his rivalry with James in PS/SS, more on that rivalry and 
(though Snape is not named until book 6) Snape's overhearing of the 
Prophecy.




Ivogun:
> Of course, since book seven is not yet written so the parallels 
between the two books are 
> unknown, but I think the assumptions that parallels exist between 
the two books gives rise 
> for interesting speculation.

Zgirnius:
Care to speculate?

I'll go for it. Assuming Book 3 is the correct model and not 5, I 
will make the following predictions:

-Dementors will play a role in the events leading up to the ultimate 
climax of the series.
-Harry will have to deal in Book 7 with a fugitive murderer/traitor, 
who may not be what he seems (<bg>).








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