Questions for JKR

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 173126

> Dungrollin:
> >2. Why didn't Voldemort tell Snape to side-along apparate to 
> >Grimmauld Place with a gang of Death Eaters?
> 
> Bart: 
> I'm sure the spell would account for that; that's kind of an 
obvious workaround the secret keeper. 

Dung:
I think you misunderstood me; since DD's death Snape was a secret-
keeper, when he went to 12GP he had his tongue tied so couldn't give 
out the secret to the DEs, but what was to stop him apparating with 
some DEs the same way Hermione apparated with Yaxley. But anyway, I'm 
absolutely *not* sure the spell would account for it. When did tongue-
tying hexes stop people apparating? 

> Dungrollin:
> >3. What was Wormtail doing at Snape's house at the beginning of 
Half-
> >Blood Prince?
> 
> Bart:
> I thought that was obvious: Spying on Snape. Morty STILL didn't 
quite trust Snape. 

Dung:
Obvious? Why did we need to see it? In what way did it further 
anything in the story? What does it explain in retrospect? 

> Dungrollin:
> >6. Why did you write in Quidditch Through the Ages that no wizards 
> >can fly without brooms unless their animagus form can fly?
> 
> Bart:
> Quidditch Through the Ages is a metabook (a real world copy of a 
fictional book), and, within its continuity, it was written at a time 
when this was believed to be correct.

Dung:
Do you mean it was a mistake, or do you mean she lied for no apparent 
reason?

> Dungrollin:
> >8. Was it Harry's sacrifice (willingness to die) which made him 
able to block Voldemort's AK with an Expelliarmus, or was it the fact 
that he was the master of the Elder Wand?
> 
> Bart:
<snipped> In giving himself up for sacrifice, Harry, plus the extra 
protection, ensured that only the Morty piece was exposed to the AK 
spell. This was WHY DD couldn't let Harry (or even Snape) know that 
it would work; if Harry knew he wasn't going to die, then, 
paradoxcially, he would have. 
<snip>
> In any case, Harry wasn't expected to gain mastery of the wand, 
only the knowledge (and ability to use the stone). 

Dung:
No, I meant in the duel at the end. Harry blocked Voldy's Ak with an 
Expelliarmus, whereas he didn't try to defend himself in the forest. 
1. AK is meant to be unblockable
2. Harry blocked it
3. Which of the two plot devices allowed that? (Seems to me one of 
them is superfluous.)

> Dungrollin:
> >11. Harry can't be an auror, because he can't risk anybody else 
> >becoming the master of the Elder wand, so what was his job after 
> >Hogwarts?
> 
> Bart:
> In case you hadn't noticed, Harry had a small fortune from his 
parents, a large fortune from Sirius, not to mention his interest in 
George's successful business. So, he probably lives off investments; 
JKR has also stated that he give occasional lectures at Hogwarts, and 
it's not impossible that he does so elsewhere, as well. 

Dung:
Huh. In that interview she said that actually he's now head of the 
Auror office, but she didn't want to tell us in the book. (?!?) Bit 
dangerous, isn't it? If Harry *ever* loses a duel (even if it's not 
to the death), his plan to leave the Elder wand with no master is 
foiled.

> Dungrollin:
> >13. Why didn't it occur to Tom Riddle that other students must 
have 
> >found the Room of Requirement if it was full of their hidden 
> >possessions?
> 
> Bart:
> Look up "psychopath". I'm being serious. 

Dung:
You mean it's synonymous with "idiot"? I'm sorry, I can't be bothered 
to look it up, normally I don't need to look up technical terms not 
even mentioned in the text in order to find childrens books 
comprehensible. I thought, psychopathic as he was, Voldy was meant to 
be quite clever. 

Argh. I'm sorry, I don't mean to snipe at you. I'm cheesed off (or 
can you tell?). I shouldn't need to have an in-depth understanding of 
psychopaths to understand Voldemort's behaviour. He makes a mistake, 
thinking that he's the only person to have discovered the deeper 
secrets of Hogwarts, when it's not that secret at all, and we don't 
get an explanation in the text. I shouldn't have to research 
psychopaths to get it.

> Dungrollin:
> >14. If DD planned to be the last master of the Elder Wand, why did 
he leave clues for Harry to unite the Deathly Hallows?
> 
> Bart:
> I don't think he did; I think he left clues for Harry to know about 
them, but to NOT try to unite them.

Dungrollin:
Why? Harry didn't need to know about the Hallows in order to use the 
ring and the cloak, DD could have left him a note explaining what the 
ring did without calling it a Hallow. DD just put the clues in his 
way to tempt him, hoping his clues weren't interpretable enough to 
give Harry enough time to actually be tempted. 

The whole thing is absurd. I was expecting a symbolic "temptation" 
for Harry at some point, but one that was expressly put there by DD 
to tempt him for no adequately explained reason? And one that he 
barely agonised over, and one that we, the readers, had no worries at 
all that he would succumb to (he was only even tempted because he 
thought DD wanted him to chase them, not because he was interested 
himself) because DD has been telling us since book 1 that Harry has a 
teflon soul. There was no moral struggle, it was a pointless plot 
device that went nowhere.

The link that Joan posted in message 173112 puts it very well:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070725/cm_csm/ysawyer

> Dungrollin:
> >15. In the Hospital Wing at the end of Half-Blood Prince, why 
didn't it occur to Lupin or McGonagall that Snape might have repented 
over the death of Lily? Surely they were aware, like Lily's friends, 
that they'd been friends at Hogwarts?
> 
> Bart:
<snip>
But it is also clear from the events in SWM that the Marauders were 
not aware of HOW good friends he was with Lily; she was probably a 
little embarrassed to admit being that good a friend of a member of 
the Death Eaters crowd, especially on seeing that, at that age, she 
didn't particularly like the Marauders, either. 
<snip>

Dungrollin:
Yeah, nobody knew, apparently. Even Slughorn didn't notice. Sure. 
That's what she wrote, so it's true. Still rings false to me, the 
Marauders saw her defend him at least once, and James and Sirius saw 
them together on the Hogwarts Express in the first year. And then it 
became secret.

Hey-ho.