Slytherin's Horcrux (was:Hogwarts Houses Unite!)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 163791

> Magpie:
> Exactly! 
> It just struck me in retrospect as possibly one of those tricky
> things that JKR does. She never uses a type of magic without
> introducing it earlier in a neutral context. <snip> If Dumbledore 
> himself hadn't introduced the idea that maybe there's a charm
> on all this stuff that prevents it from being inherited by anyone
> not a Black, we would have no reason to doubt that the will wasn't
> enough. 

Jen: Whew, glad I got your meaning because I'm getting into this 
theory now.  The blood charm is neatly sandwiched in between two 
important pieces of information that do have meaning--Sirius' 
will/disposition of GP, and the fate of Kreacher.  Both issues were 
unfinished business from OOTP, the questions of whether Sirius had a 
will or not and if so, would it be contested?  And if not, would the 
house and Kreacher pass to one of the Blacks?  The answers had 
bearing for the Order and Harry's emotional well-being since we see 
how quickly he fired up at the thought of Bella inheriting the house 
(and wouldn't have liked Draco owning it much better).  

Another option here, not nearly as exciting but possible given how 
JKR writes, is the charm was another example of how the magical world 
operates differently than the Muggle world--look, even a will can 
have a magical twist to it!  Seems like she doesn't need yet another 
example, though.

Magpie:
> So I just wound up wondering if the introduction of a charm based
> on blood wasn't actually there for a purpose all its own instead of
> just being a reason to get Kreacher there and make Harry give 
> nowhere--it turns out there is no such charm on the inheritence, as
> proved by Kreacher's having to obey Harry. It's maybe not big
> enough to be Chekov's gun, but maybe it's a Chekovian squirt gun.:-)
> Maybe, I thought, that scene is also preparing us for a time when
> there *will* be such a charm, and this was a place for JKR to
> introduce it neutrally before it becomes a plot point. 

Jen: Chekov's squirt gun indeed <g>.  This bit of innocuous 
information slides by, information that would have had meaning in 
OOTP like you said earlier.  Or if the charm had turned out to be 
true, it would have become part of the plot of HBP.  Instead the 
information is introduced and promptly dismissed.

I read it as a transition from OOTP to HBP, sort of a last gasp from 
the House of Black before dying with Sirius, leaving their legacy in 
the hands of the Malfoys.  But JKR didn't go that route with the last-
minute introduction R.A.B. and I didn't go back to rethink my 
conclusions about the blood charm.

> Magpie:
> Right--it just seems like a great device to force all sorts of
> connections and get us information. Harry's sworn he would never 
> work with Draco, so he's kind of doomed himself to needing him 
> somehow it seems to me.:-) It's a conflict set up for six books.
> Plus I admit I love the whole history of the rise and fall of the 
> House of Black, and it seems to really cry out for some resolution
> that brings together all these threads.

Jen:  JKR explores the family dynamics so carefully in the series, 
casting a clinical eye on even those families with no further 
storyline such as the Crouches or Lupins.  The Blacks and the 
Dursleys are the two families left unresolved.  There will likely be 
something with Percy or perhaps a Weasley death, but no hint the 
family will change in Harry's eyes.  The Blacks (including Malfoys) 
and Durlseys offer that potential.