LV's bigger plan (was:Fawkes possible absence)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 166406

Magpie wrote:
> <SNIP> As to what parts are a standalone and what are not, I look at
the things that were resolved and the things that were not. HBP is
full of things that are not resolved, which is what makes it the first
part of a two-part story. The things that were solved were solved. 
> 
Alla responded:
> Well,sure, except reasonable minds can differ on what was solved and
what was not. Things that seemed to be resolved to you may not be to 
somebody else IMO. <snip>

Carol responds:
I think we all agree that the Snape subplot is still unresolved, as is
the Horcrux subplot and the whole central conflict of Harry vs.
Voldemort. I agree with Magpie that the identity of the HBP and
Draco's mission have been resolved. (We don't quite agree regarding
Voldemort's intentions, but Draco has already told his side of the
story, and we'll probably never know how those coins worked or some of
the other annoying little details.)

It seems to me that we can tell which plots are finished (though they
may have ramifications for the later books)--they're the ones that are
explained to Harry or in Harry's presence by a character other than
Dumbledore. (Dumbledore's idea of telling Harry "everything" is rather
different from most readers' idea of "everything," especially with
regard to Snape.)

In SS/PS, we hear Quirrell's story. Granted, we later get a few more
details from Voldemort (and Snape's version as presented to the DEs,
probably not altogether trustworthy), but to all intents and purposes,
that subplot is finished. Quirrell is dead (sorry, CV) and will play
no important future role.

In CoS, we hear Diary!Tom's story. True, we later find out that the
diary was a Horcrux (and some details about the when and how and which
murder was involved are still unresolved), but Tom's intentions in
creating it and his use of Ginny are explained and that plot is ended.
Even Lucius Malfoy's motives for dropping it in Ginny's cauldron are
later revealed. (The plot thread about his not knowing that it was a
Horcrux is tied up later, but it doesn't "unresolve" anything that was
already resolved in CoS.

In PoA, we hear Lupin's and Black's stories, which clear up the
identity of the traitor and establish Black's innocence. Scabbers is
revealed as Wormtail, who scampers off to join his master. Now,
granted, the stories of those characters are still unfinished, and we
have yet to know the full story of MWPP in relation to Snape, but the
identity of the "Grim" is permanently resolved, as is the question of
Crookshanks's supposed guilt in eating Scabbers. Harry is no longer
under the delusion that Black is trying to murder him and he now has a
godfather. Though Black later dies, those revelations are not
"unresolved."

In GoF, we learn through Barty Jr.'s confession exactly how and why he
put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire, not to mention why "Bartemius
Crouch" is sneaking around Snape's office and how Winky got the wand
that conjured the Dark Mark. What happens in the graveyard has further
ramifications, but the Barty Jr. subplot is fully wrapped up. (I do
wonder what was done with his still-living body after he was
soul-sucked, but I probably don't really want to know.)

In OoP, we learn from Umbridge herself who sent the Dementors to
Little Whinging and from Lucius Malfoy and the Death Eaters that
Voldemort tricked Harry into coming to the MoM through an implanted
vision that he thought was a dream. And, of course, the mystery of the
dreams he's been having all year is also resolved. And while LV may
still have some interest in the Prophecy, making a Trelawney kidnap
plot likely in DH, the MoM Prophecy subplot ends with the destruction
of the orb and the arrest of the Death Eaters. Dumbledore himself
wraps up the loose ends, revealing the Prophecy (but leaving the
identity of the eavesdropper out of the story because he's Snape),
explaining Snape's role in sending the Order to the MoM and his own
reasons for concealing information from Harry all year. Tere will be
no more dreams of the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries.
That subplot is resolved even if we see the Veil and the Love room in DH.

In HBP, the identity of the Half-Blood Prince is given to us by the
HBP himself, Snape. Draco answers Dumbledore's questions, revealing
his motives and strategies in the plot to murder Dumbledore and his
own plan involving the Vanishing Cabinets and the DEs. While we still
have questions relating to Snape, especially regarding the UV and
exactly what happened on the tower (mutual Legilimency, for example),
the Draco subplot is resolved with regard to what he was doing in the
RoR and why. It's unclear what will happen to him from here (a return
to Hogwarts seems out of the question), but we know as much as we're
going to know about the Vanishing Cabinets. Even the Hand of Glory and
the Peruvian Darkness Powder have served their purpose. (I do hope
we'll hear a bit more from Madam Rosmerta, but she's only a loose end,
not a main element of the subplot.)

All that is to say that JKR uses exposition-through-dialogue at the
end of the books, especially from characters other than Dumbledore, to
wrap up the mysteries relating to the individual books. What is hidden
in the third-floor corridor and why is Snape (erm, Quirrell) after it?
What is the monster that's Petrifying the Muggleborns and who is
releasing it? Who is helping Sirius Black get into Hogwarts and what's
 going on with Crookshanks, Scabbers, and the "Grim"? Who put Harry's
name in the Goblet of Fire and how does it tie in with the Death
Eaters at the QWC? Why is Harry dreaming of a door and a corridor and
why won't Dumbledore look at him? Who is the HBP and what is Draco up
to in the RoR?

Those questions (and others) have already been definitively answered.
The Snape and Horcrux questions (along with what will happen to all
the characters and what really happened at Godric's Hollow) remain
unanswered.

We may dispute the motives of characters whose minds we're not
privileged to enter, from Voldemort to Snape to Dumbledore, but
Draco's motives and intentions in HBP are clear, and the mystery of
the HBP's identity has been resolved. 

Carol, who thinks that story structure and narrative technique can
tell us what *not* to expect in the final book