The two-way mirror - a cruel useless plot device

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163676

Maria wrote:
<snip>
> The two-way mirror is not used at all during OOTP, except to make
Harry feel even worse for his actions. <snip> He  discovers the mirror
only too late, and feels even worse if that can be. But I wonder...
why? Why did Rowling write the mirror into the story? It's not needed
to make him feel regrets or guilt, he already does that. It's not
needed for any other reason so far. And, if it appears again the
Deathly Hallows, she could have introduced the device into the story
by other means, like part of the things Harry inherited from Sirius.
<snip>

Carol responds:
As others have said, it will probably be used in DH. JKR often
introduces plot devices (or characters) long before they become
significant (Polyjuice is introduced in CoS and becomes important in
GoF; "young Sirius Black" is introduced in the first chapter of SS/PS
(when he's only 22) but becomes important in PoA (when he's 34 or 35).
I could mention other examples (Bezoars?), but those should suffice.

In OoP, the mirror serves in part to prove to Harry and the reader
that Sirius Black, who only fell through the Veil, is really dead. But
its use as a plot device also illustrates Harry's tendency to forget
important things--it's there; he could have used it if he hadn't
forgotten about it (as he also forgot about Sirius's knife during the
Second Task in GoF). If Black had told him what it was, he might have
used it. Instead, he gave it to him crudely wrapped and told him to
use it if Snape gave him a hard time. Instead, he forgets about
it--never even opens it, in fact--because he's he's never in danger
from Snape and because he's trying to protect Black: "It would not be
he, Harry, who lured Sirius from his hiding place" (quoted from
memory. There's a double irony here--it *is* Harry who unwittingly
lures Black from his hiding place (if it weren't for Harry falling
victim to Voldemort's false vision, Black would not have gone to the
MoM to save him) and using the forgotten mirror instead of the
fireplace would have told him that Black was safe. Ironies of this
sort are common in the HP books. Harry will start to say or do
something and then change his mind (e.g., he starts to tell Lupin
about the "Grim" and decides not to; he tells Trelawney to talk to DD
about her experience in the RoR then prevents her from doing so after
the eavesdropper revelation). Actions have unintended or unexpected
consequences. Good intentions backfire (sparing PP) as do bad ones
(Voldemort AKing Harry).

I expect the mirror to be used in DH as a means of communication Harry
and some other living person (say Ginny if she's at Hogwarts and he
isn't). But it *has* served several purposes already, illustrating a
character flaw in Harry that rather neatly links him with Neville,
forgetfulness of easy, practical solutions to some of his problems or
dilemmas; proving that SB is really dead; providing a tiny bit of
backstory on James and Sirius; and, most important of all,
illustrating situational irony (when an event directly contradicts the
reader's expectations--Snape killing Dumbledore is a more obvious
example). Cruel, perhaps, but not useless. Harry does need to know
that his godfather is dead and not just hiding behind the Veil, and he
does need to stop throwing things into his trunk and forgetting about
them until it's too late. And, of course, the mirror will have its
uses in DH or JKR would never have introduced it.

Carol, who thinks that JKR's gift for depicting ironic situations is
one of the most enjoyable aspects of her writing