Significance of missing line (was: HBP paperback)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 156102

SSSusan wrote:
> <snip> I thought I had made the 
> point a couple of times earlier in the thread just what I was 
> thinking of re: Regulus' return.  That is, *if* he came back (or 
> even if some of his artifacts/papers were discovered), that I could 
> see it making Harry's journey/task EASIER, not more cluttered or 
> chaotic.  If Regulus is R.A.B., then he's the one who removed the 
> locket horcrux.  If he -- or his words -- became available to Harry 
> in Book 7, it could help Harry with *that* particular horcrux, and 
> he might possibly have had information from his time as a DE 
> regarding other horcruxes, which could help Harry tracking them down.
> 
> Just one view, obviously.  You don't want to see a character come 
> back from the dead.  That's fine.  It's not high on my list of "Want 
> to sees" either.  I was simply going along with the "What if" of 
> Alla's post -- what if DD's comment which was removed from the new 
> US paperback edition was significant in the sense that someone 
> *might* be making a return from the "dead"? and what if JKR was 
> toying with people a bit regarding Regulus' status in that 
> interview?  I **doubt** that she was, but if she was, what's the 
> harm in considering how that character might play into things?  
> 
> I, for one, think it would be fun to have Regulus guide Harry a bit 
> in the hx hunt (which seems *awfully* daunting a task with just one 
> year left!).  Whether it would be Regulus in person or discovered 
> Regulus artifacts/documents which did the guiding wouldn't much 
> matter to me.
> 
> Just trying to have a little fun, I was.
> 
> Siriusly Snapey Susan
>
Carol responds:
While I agree with Lupinlore that JKR has made it clear that Regulus
is indeed dead (if she had said "Well, he's dead these days" rather
than "Well, he's dead, so he's pretty quiet these days," I would share
Alla's view that he could be alive (JKR as "unreliable interviewee"!),
but the comment seems uncharacteristically unequivocal), I agree with
you that Harry needs an easy way to solve the mystery of this
particular Horcrux. I think the key is Kreacher, who once belonged to
the Black family and now belongs to Harry. If Kreacher went along with
Regulus to retrieve the Horcrux, we won't need any artifacts (except
the locket itself) or documents to get the full story. (I do think
there's a connection between young Snape's defection from the DEs and
Regulus's death, but I don't think that Snape and DD hid him and faked
his death.)

As for the character who comes back from the dead (foreshadowed by
Peter Pettigrew, Barty Jr., and all those references to the Draught of
Living Death), my bet is Emmeline Vance. Why? Because if her survival
is linked to Snape, who faked her death using the Draught of Living
Death and some spell disguised as an AK, she could provide the first
hint that he's on the side of Good. (I'm not suggesting here that DD's
death was also faked, but I'm not ruling it out, either.)

BTW, in case this hasn't been posted yet, and I apologize if I've
overlooked it, here's the Lexicon's version of the differences between
the American and British editions of DD's speech to Draco (the
so-called missing line that began this thread):

British edition, 552-553: 'Come over to the right side, Draco, and we
can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is
more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide
her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban...when the
time comes, we can protect him too... come over to the right side,
Draco...you are not a killer...' 

American edition, 591-592: "He cannot kill you if you are already
dead. Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more
completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send
members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise.
Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me
-- forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the
Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother
-- it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe
at the moment in Azkaban...when the time comes, we can protect him
too. Come over to the right side, Draco...you are not a killer..." 	

The ellipses are from the Lexicon site; I don't know whether any of
them are in the actual text.

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/hbp/differences-hbp.html

Carol, agreeing with SSS that all this speculation is in the spirit of
fun and thinking that perhaps not everything in the books is as "pure
and simple" as it appears to some posters