DH thoughts: Sirius, the pace of the book, Rose and Hugo, and the connection with Voldemort's mind

[Maria]

No: HPFGUIDX 172950

I am enjoying immensely reading all the messages in this list, seeing
things I had missed, understanding questions that had puzzled me, and
reading the general analysis.

There are a few points that I haven't seen discussed yet and that I
have been thinking about:

- The letter from Lily to Sirius: it was incredibly moving, I knew
Harry was crying and he had to re-read it a million times, each one
with a different bit of info extracted from it. However, one that is
not mentioned and got to my heart at the first reading is the comment
Lily makes about James growing restless trapped inside the house. I
could feel so much for Sirius, trapped in Grimmauld place during Order
of the Phoenix, and how often he would lock himself in his room, now I
imagine him reading this letter, looking at his photo of the Marauders
on the wall, and getting some comfort that his best friend, even
though dead, understands his feelings.

- A lot of people have complained about the book dragging a bit during
the camping months. And honestly, I don't disagree. But I see a
purpose in making those chapters drag as they did. If we are
frustrated and feel bored reading a few pages... how must have our
trio felt during those months! I think it has the right pace to make
us understand a little bit what the main characters are feeling. And
even then, we will never get close to fully grasping how long,
frustrating, desperate, those months were for Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Put the locket on top of that, and the hunger... just imagine that.

- Rose and Hugo: these normal names really caught my attention too.
But then it made me think about the Grangers. We know they are renamed
Wendell and Monica, but we have never heard their real first names,
right? Hermione may have wanted to name their kids after them, as a
tribute for all their suffering as a consequence of their daughter
being a witch. But most specially she may have done so if she hadn't
been able to find them again in Australia, which I hope was not the
case, but it is a possibility.

- One last thought, perhaps more complicated than the ones above.
Regarding the connection between Harry and Voldemort, by which Harry
could see into Voldemort's mind, I am starting to think that this was
a one way connection only. Let me explain myself: Harry sees the stuff
that Voldemort is doing, thinking, feeling, etc, and the point of his
learning Occlumency is that he will stop seeing it, so that Voldemort
cannot pretend he is doing something different and thus lure Harry
into a trap. However, we have no indication that Voldemort can
see/feel/know what Harry is doing, regardless of him being such a good
Legilimens. I am talking at a distance, not in person. I am talking of
the long-distance connection between them. I don't know if this has
been discussed before, I haven't been around the list in a while. But
going back to the main point and what I think is an addition from the
latest book canon. If Occlumency is supposed to protect from
Legilimency, then there was no point in Harry using it, because
Voldemort was not reading Harry, it was the other way around. And now
we learn (officially, I know many suspected this) that Harry is a
Horcrux and therefore has a bit of Voldemort in him. So, the
connection between them is not a two way connection, but only one way
(Harry reading Voldemort) because Harry has a bit of Voldemort soul,
but Voldemort does not have any of Harry's soul (I don't think the
blood counts, blood is physical and therefore I can understand that it
would keep Harry physically alive when he sacrifices himself, but its
not soul). Does this make sense?

Anyway, this post is getting long and there is much to discuss. I
still have some of my email allowance, so if i think of somehing else
I will post again later.

Maria