And in the end...SS/PS

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 164678

Celia:
> 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? 

Jen:  I'm thinking they were people who didn't keep up with the 
Potters after Hogwarts or the wedding, people with regular lives and 
not living the dangerous life of an Order member.  I expect Harry 
will meet at least one of Lily's friends:  Hestia Jones of the 
Advance Guard.  Lupin said all volunteered with the implication being 
all had an interest in seeing Harry.  Hestia's description made her 
sound young enough that she and Lily could have been at Hogwarts 
together and in the Order.

Celia: 
> 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?

Jen:  Now I've never thought about it that way, the key to the 
ending.  I get the sense JKR is building for two of her most humble 
characters, Hagrid and Dobby, to play a huge role in helping Harry 
during his final quest since both are undyingly loyal to him. 

I like the idea proposed by Oryomai that Hagrid has information about 
a Horcrux without knowing it, maybe something he stumbled across on 
the grounds and didn't realize?  I could see the possibilty of 
Voldemort hiding a Horcrux at Hogwarts (Forbidden Forest maybe?), 
given how significant the place is to him.  Or Hagrid's been drinking 
ale out of a shiny gold cup all these years and never knew it was a 
Hufflepuff relic. :)

Celia:
> 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.

Jen: I wonder if Hagrid has connected that Riddle is Voldemort?  I'm 
keeping my eye on him definitely, because he's the only one left on 
the good side who knew Riddle (except perhaps McGonagall, but if she 
knew him it's never been explicitly stated).  Harry should pick his 
brain at some point.

> 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. <snip> 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)?

Jen: There is a bias, and there's also the fact that Riddle tainted 
Slytherin house for generations to come.  Recruiting his first 
followers from his own house caused the generational linkage of DE's 
to develop, like a poison seeping down through the years.  The end of 
Voldemort will help break this cycle, but the other necessary piece 
is for the current generation to start the peace accords for the 
future (Harry and Draco specifically).  I don't know if something 
drastic will happen, such as McGonagall dissolving the house 
structure, but I could see there being a slow movement toward 
Slytherin house becoming what it once was meant to represent (I 
believe): the importance of family heritage and how cunning and 
ambition have a place in the world--just ask Harry how he got that 
memory from Slughorn <g>.  The traits favored by all the houses have 
shadow sides, dark undebellies.

Celia:
> 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?

Jen: Oh no!  I hope he's not on LV's side.  I liked KJ's idea that 
Dumbledore hid him so Voldemort couldn't force him to make a new 
wand.  And Luna has silvery eyes, so if the two are not related, I 
very much hope there's something about their unusual eyecolor that 
indicates an intuition necessary for good wandmaking <g>.  I want to 
hear in the epilogue about Luna finding all sorts of unusual 
creatures to use in the making of her highly stylistic and unusally 
powerful wands.  

> 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. 

Jen: Norbert!  Yes, he's going to help Harry at a pivotal moment and 
Hagrid will be so happy he came back to visit his mummy. And there's 
still the infamous 12 uses for dragons' blood!  

Celia:
> 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. <snip> 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.

Jen: I'm with you, Celia--more, more, more!  Tell us every tiny 
detail about what happened between the time of the eavesdropper and 
the moment Harry landed on the Dursleys' doorstep. Slightly off the 
subject, I still wonder why Dumbledore made the choice for Harry's 
future.  It may be a moot point, he simply did because he knew more 
than anyone about the prophecy/Voldemort and no one challenged him 
after the fact.  But it's crossed my mind that the Potters (Lily 
actually) considered what to do if Sirius died as well, and talked to 
Dumbledore about the concern if not outright asking him to be back-up 
guardian.

> 11.	My bulleted list of other SS/PS topics that I believe will 
> play in the end:
> *Grindelwald?

Jen: Had a Horcrux.  Dumbledore made some critical error that cost 
him people he loved before finally defeating GW (explaining his 
outpourings in the cave).

> *"
your mother needn't have died
" (Quirrell, pg. 294) 

Jen: Important, not just Voldemort focusing on his goal of Harry. 
Considered needing her for something?  Knew something about her that 
gave him pause?  Don't know.  

> 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. 

Jen: Ack, makes my head hurt to put all the details together.  This 
would fall under my more, more more! category.  My only hope is it's 
*not* JKR's maths or a geography issue--big letdown.

Thank you Celia, now I'm motivated to plough through PS and get to 
the rest of the series before the big day.

Jen R.