And in the end...SS/PS

[cdayr]

No: HPFGUIDX 164658

"Don' you worry Harry
Everyone starts at the beginning at 
Hogwart's
"  (US Ed. pg.86)

Greetings!
As I'm sure many of you have been, I have been re-reading the series 
again in advanced final preparation to Know Everything on July 21. 
Although I would happily talk about Snape, and Snape alone until the 
last moment <g>, I had an idea to try and mix it up a bit.

I would like to propose that once a month (this being the first of 6 
months before the big day) we begin a thread focusing on one 
particular book, starting at the beginning and working through to 
HBP by July. This "zoom in" look at each book would focus on the 
question, "What in this book will be important to the end?" I will 
be happy to start this thread each month, but would also be glad to 
accept volunteers who might want to start the discussion in any 
given month. If you would like to volunteer, just e-mail me off-list 
at cdayr at yahoo.com and I will make a schedule.

I have been focusing my attentions on PS/SS for the last week or 
two, and have compiled these items that I believe (and I know many 
of you believe) may be essential to the finale. I've tried to come 
up with a few that have not been heavily discussed lately, and tried 
not to dwell too heavily on recently discussed topics (with moderate 
success).  In responding to this thread, I hope you will add to this 
list (I know my list is only skimming the surface), tell me where 
I'm totally off track, and break off into new threads, maybe even 
some that are not about Snape. Or are.

So let's go: PS/SS!
Just to change it up, I'll start with a reference I'm interested in 
at the very end of PS/SS (all references are the U.S. Paperback Ed):

1.	"Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends," 
(pg. 304) says Hagrid, as he gives Harry the photo album at the end 
of the book. This seems to be a reference to a number of old friends 
that Hagrid has easy access to. Do we know any of these old friends 
(aside from Lupin, the only one we know for sure)? Is this the 
Order, or are there further relationships between characters we know 
and the Potters that will be revealed in DH? (assuming JKR is 
truthful that no new major characters are to come.) Will Harry's 
ability to pull people together also include his parents' friends? 

2.	Hagrid is the Keeper of the Keys (pg. 48). Although this has 
been discussed ad nauseum in the past, I still believe that in this 
title lies the fact that Hagrid is a "key" to the ending of the 
books and the defeat of Voldemort. How, you ask? Hmm
a piece of 
information he has, something he witnessed, something from Tom's 
Hogwart's years that he knows, something about Snape? What do you 
think?

3.	"Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die." (Hagrid, 
pg. 57) Hmm, awfully close to horcruxes during the very first 
discussion of Voldy! This statement is so close to what we finally 
learn to be true 6 books later, I wonder
is this just the writing of 
a woman who was unsure any more books in the series would be 
published? Or does Hagrid know more than he lets on? Or is it common 
knowledge that VM is less than human or changed? Seems like a very 
accurate statement from Hagrid at this point. I'm keeping my eye on 
Hagrid.

4.	"There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who 
wasn't in Slytherin." (pg. 80) The alienation of the Slytherin crowd 
is a huge theme, started here in SS/PS, which I believe will hold a 
key to the resolution of the series as well. As someone (sorry I 
forget who) said recently, this statement is both extremely biased 
(poor Harry never stands a chance of thinking fairly about the 
Slytherins- he didn't even make it through his first wizardish day 
without being told that Slytherins are no good) it is also just 
untrue (Peter Pettigrew, anyone? And at the time, everyone thought 
Sirius was a bad as they come- oops, sorry, wrong book, getting 
ahead of myself). How do all of our "good" characters get to justify 
this bias? How does JKR? How does this bias self-perpetuate, as in 
Draco's desire to be in Slytherin? What will break this down (as I 
believe it must be broken in the end)?

5.	Ollivander's eyes, his creepy glassy eyes really stuck out 
to me as I was reading today. "Wide, pale eyes, shining like moons

Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy

Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes." (pgs. 82-83) 
I am of the belief that Ollivander is not dead, but captive or fled 
to Voldemort, and will be important in DH. This description of him 
is far more sinister than I remember, and reads to me as someone 
hiding things- similar to Snape's glittering eyes. Will Ollivander 
be able to alter VM's wand to operate successfully against Harry? 
What else might a sinister Ollivander do to alter the possible final 
outcome of the books? Where is he?

6.	Is Quidditch included in the book just for fun, house 
rivalry, and reader interest? Is there anything about Quidditch in 
this first book in particular that adds to the overall mystery and 
fight with VM? Oh, Quidditch


7.	Alright, a lovely Snape moment that becomes more beautiful 
with our wizened HBP eyes: " Snape and Filch were inside, alone. 
Snape was holding his robe above his knees. One of his legs was 
bloody and mangled
Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but—
"POTTER!" Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes 
quickly to hide his leg
.the expression on Snape's face when Harry 
had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget." (pgs. 182-183) The 
parallels with the "levicorpus" incident in the pensieve are just 
glaring to me in this scene (sensitive about his legs, our Severus). 
And we've seen the Snape face-of-fury quite a bit now, but here is 
our first glimpse. I see his outbursts of fury coming at points when 
he may appear weak or feels out of control. What sets him off in 
this scene so dramatically? There is no reason, really, to be 
furious with Harry here, within the context of the story- all Harry 
has seen is that his leg is injured. Is it truly that he is thrown 
back in time to his "worst memory" by having a Potter see his bare 
legs? Or in the big picture, where does Snape's fury come from?

8.	Norbert must come back, right? I mean really, he's a 
Chekhov's gun, isn't he? Have to bring him back to resolve the act 
one introduction. Just a thought.

9.	"Your father left this in my possession before he died." 
(pg. 202) So, I guess we should all still be thinking about why 
James left the Invisibility Cloak with DD, since JKR says we should. 
I have read so many ideas about this over time: Regulus or someone 
else needed it to go into hiding, someone (apparently not Snape) was 
under it at GH, etc. Well, any further thoughts on the ol' cloak? 
Also, the fact that this is supposedly important does give me hope 
that JKR is planning to tell us quite a bit about the events leading 
up to the Potters' deaths- if we will know why James left the cloak, 
then hopefully we will know even more about what he was up to back 
then.

10.	I was thinking about the recent thread about Snape being 
fixated the past, or being past- oriented when reading the Mirror of 
Erised chapter again. While Harry is able to break free of the hold 
his past might have on him in the mirror, in some ways Snape cannot 
break away from the past. It seems Snape's life is very much 
dictated by fixation on the past (marauders in particular), and that 
DD's remark, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live," 
might apply to Snape, except it would be "dwell on the past." Of 
course, it also speaks volumes to what Harry failed to learn in time 
for OotP (dreams, Harry! geez
)

11.	My bulleted list of other SS/PS topics that I believe will 
play in the end:
*Grindelwald?
*Centaurs?
*"Snape was trying to *save* me?" (Harry, pg.289) 
*"
your mother needn't have died
" (Quirrell, pg. 294) 
*"Always use the proper names for things." (DD, pg. 298) (I don't 
know, every witch and wizard says "Voldemort" at the same instant, 
and PooF! Yay! (Uh oh, better wrap up, I'm getting tired.))

12.	Finally, The Biggie (and go over it again or don't, we just 
can't ignore it in this type of list, if you ask me): The missing 24 
hours. I know we have gone over it and over it, but anyway:

How does the entire wizarding world know about VM's defeat by the 
morning of that first Tuesday? Who was able to send the first owls 
out that fast? 
Where were Hagrid and Harry all day?
Why is McGonagall waiting all day at 4 Privet Drive? She must assume 
that it is possible that DD and Harry might show up at any time 
during the day, so this deepens the mystery of Where-is-Hagrid-All-
Day? When did she see Hagrid?
Who was at GH and what the heck happened? If this isn't essential to 
the end, I'll eat my hat. And it is a big, woolen hat. 

Well, that should send us off in 20 directions at once...There is 
much more in that slim volume, PS/SS, that will be 
important In The End, but those are my thoughts/questions to you all 
for now
Hope this sparks some discussion, let me know if you would 
like to be the writer for a starter "And in the end
" post for any 
of the next books by e-mailing me off-list, and let's start up the 
ramp to July 21st. Yee!

Celia (aka CDR)