Book Covers

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 166882

Carol:
> I think the gold light (Fawkes again?) and Harry's expression 
suggest a happy ending with a triumphant, surviving Harry and a 
permanently
destroyed and defeated Voldemort, who is not (thank heaven!) AK'd by 
Harry but deprived of life in some other way. I'm glad it isn't a dark
cover, in terms of either color or mood; It suggests an exciting book 
with an uplifting ending.

> Carol, who, despite not needing blurbs or cover art to entice her 
to read DH, does find them intriguing and would really like a new FAQ 
poll and some stifled rumors before the time gets any shorter! (Come 
on, JKR. You're killing us!)

Ceridwen:
I'll play with rumors and wild speculation.  ;)

For the U.S. cover, where Harry is reaching for something, what if he 
is reaching for some*one*?  I'm reading the cover to be the viewer 
looking through the Veil's archway into the Veil Room, where Harry 
and Voldemort are standing.  I think the orange clouds might be 
explained as something, even deep inside the MoM - a fire, perhaps?  
Dragon's breath?  A lot can happen during an epic battle for control 
of an entire government.  A fire, or given the parameters of the 
world, even a dragon or several dragons and their vaporous, fiery 
breath, would fit.

So, I have us viewing the scene from the archway of the Veil.  Any 
color difference of the curtains comes from the fire/orange sky in 
the background.  The seperation of the Veil into two panels is 
deliberately meant to echo the cover of SS, curtains for the 
beginning and for the end.  We know that the world of the dead is 
beyond the Veil.  What if Harry is reaching for someone he can see 
through the archway, which for some reason is devoid of its veil?

What if he's reaching for Dumbledore?  It would make sense with 
Voldemort holding up a warding hand.  Otherwise, it could be anyone 
Harry has lost to death.  But Voldemort's reaction makes me think it 
may be Dumbledore, and after all, DD was giving JKR some problems in 
DH.

I do think the stadium seating arrangement on the U.S. cover is meant 
to convey that room in the Ministry, even if the room is rectangular 
and not round or oval.  I think it might be artistic license, with a 
purpose: to convey the idea of Harry and Voldemort in a stadium 
setting; sort-of a fish-eye view.  I'm leaning toward the shadows 
being the shades of the dead, perhaps even a "jury" or panel of 
Deathly Hallows, or hallowed spirits.  Maybe they're even there to 
judge who is worthy of winning the battle, or to judge Voldemort for 
his crimes against them.  No wands, no battle currently ongoing.

But I'm not completely convinced.  I'm just coming up with possible 
explanations of why dead people might be watching the battle.

I'm more convinced that the U.S. cover is of the Veil and its room 
since I think the archway on the U.K. Children's cover also depicts 
the Veil's arch.  And, interestingly, the veil is drawn back on the 
U.S. cover and completely missing in the U.K. cover, and both show an 
orange sky or air on at least one side of the archway.

The debris at the foreground could be the ruins of the arch's podium 
or raised dais, or even of part of the archway itself.

Oh, what if there is a fire in the MoM, a magical fire that can't be 
quenched, and to avoid a painful death, the only escape is through 
the Veil?  Which might explain the tumbled trio on the U.K. cover.  
Not the treasures, though a Christian theme is to store up treasures 
in heaven.

Another 'oh' - what if the color on the veil/draperies on the U.S. 
cover is the reflection of the gold on the U.K. cover?  The artists 
work from the same or nearly the same text.  Certain things might 
just jump out at them when composing their art.  The Veil rent, and 
golden treasure beyond, would certainly stick in my mind!  What if 
the U.K. artist decided to depict the treasure in a more or less 
ambiguous way while the U.S. artist chose to hint at it only through 
the glow of its reflection?

On the U.K. cover, I'm interested right now in the beaked snake (or 
is that an ugly flamingo?) on the breastplate.  There's so much going 
on in that cover, I can only focus on one or two things at a time.  
For people who have questioned Hermione's hair, having long hair 
myself, I can attest that falling, tripping, stubling or being pushed 
doesn't mean the hair will go backward.  It'll flop around a lot 
before the faller gets settled.

Ceridwen, in speculation mode.