Alchemy (Was: Re: Okay, Who Dies?)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 170703

> Bruce Alan Wilson: 
> I think that Hagrid and Fred will die.
>  
> Hagrid because of his first name--Rubeus. The third and final stage
> of alchemical transformation is the Rubendo, or Red Stage.  The 
> first two are the Nigrendo (Black) and the Albendo (White).  So far 
> we have had Sirius BLACK and ALBUS Dumbledore die.
 
> Goddlefrood:
> First, Nigredo - it means blackening, sorry to be pedantic. 
> This stage of the alchemical process refers primarily to what 
> happens before there can be any progress. All that has been 
> formed is broken apart and becomes dark and dead. It would be 
> more appropriate to compare the stages to Harry's reactions to 
> death rather than to try to make it into a pattern of how the 
> deaths roster would proceed.
> 
> In other words, Sirius's death leads to a shattering of all 
> Harry's beliefs in the inherent underlying goodness in the 
> wizarding world. Black's death marks the end of Harry's wonder 
> of all things wizarding. From that point on he is focused to 
> his task of tracking down and destroying Lord voldemort and 
> all his evil works.

Jen:  You know, I've always agreed with Bruce's outline above which I 
first read on John Granger's site and found to be a fascinating and 
reasonable interpretation of the events in the series.  Now I think 
your explanation gets my vote in the alchemy category. :)  

>From doing a little research on alchemy after reading Granger, I 
think JKR is using alchemy not only literally with the introduction 
of the Philosopher's Stone but also adhering to the belief of some 
alchemists that the physical process of extracting gold or silver 
from lead could have the effect of transforming a person's soul if 
the alchemist worked to that end.  As the series has progressed and 
with the introduction of the soul in HBP, it seems that Harry 
understanding how his power to love is the power 'the Dark Lord knows 
not' is the quintessential process of Harry's transformation in the 
series.

Back to what you said above, the imagery in OOTP leads me to think 
the entire book was about the blackening stage and not just Sirius' 
death.  The Disillusionment charm at the beginning of the book marked 
the process of Harry being stripped down to his essential elements 
and not liking all that he finds there.  The process ends when he 
learns 'everything' from Albus and recovers a lost part of himself.  
That signaled a change to the next stage, enlightenment.

Goddlefrood:
> Second, Albedo - it refers to the whitening or enlightening of 
> the process. Albus Dumbledore throughout HBP has been preparing 
> Harry for what lies ahead. Harry is being taught and through that 
> teaching he reaches the point by the end of HBP that he is aware 
> of what he must do to move forward in his quest.
> 
> The wise old wizard must be got out of the way for the hero to 
> proceed, this hads been achieved and JKR has also referred to it 
> as something that had to happen. The upshot is that Albus had 
> to die, but not because his name means white, as Albedo on a 
> literal translation does not.
> 
> Albedo in fact has its roots in washing or cleansing. Harry has 
> gone through the process of cleansing himself to proceed by both 
> coming to terms with the deaths of his mentors and by accepting 
> what he must do.

Jen:  There's an element of Albus teaching Harry and also an element 
of Harry changing internally as the year progresses.  With 
Dumbledore's pushing and permission, Harry accesses parts of himself 
he hasn't used much, like finding his cunning, taking time to plan 
his actions and starting to gain some control over his emotions.  Or 
rather, setting aside his emotions as secondary to what he must do.  
As you mentioned, by the end of the book he's translated his time 
with Dumbledore into resolve and strength of purpose about his quest.

Goddlefrood: 
> The final stage, Rubedo has its roots in love, despite it being 
> interpreted as the reddening phase for the alchemy based death 
> prediction theories. It will be through love that Harry conquers 
> Lord Voldemort. There doesn't seem to be much real dispute about 
> that and it has been a theme that has run throughout the series 
> to date. Love being the power Voldemort knows not will be his 
> ultimate downfall.
> 
> Rubeus will be fine, Madam Maxime will make sure of that. We 
> shall all soon see though.

Jen:  This one interests me the most since we haven't seen the Rebedo 
phase in action.  Several thoughts spring to mind:  One, that Harry's 
resolve about his quest will be turned in a way he didn't expect as 
he claims more of his past during the Horcrux search.  His past and 
the past of the WW will be front in center if I'm divining JKR's 
clues correctly. ;)  So as JKR said, Harry knows or thinks he knows 
what's ahead, which leaves room for the more important process to 
take place internally.  The last stage of his growth is truly 
incorportaing all he learned in the Albedo stage and the lessons of 
love in the Rubedo stage in order to understand how Voldemort can be 
vanquished.

Thanks, Goddlefrood, interesting post.  There aren't many alchemy 
discussions on the list anymore!

Jen