What Harry thinks he knows. Was: Harry can still contact dumbledore ?

[anne_t_squires]

No: HPFGUIDX 168814

Michelle wrote:
> 
> I see  no reason why Dumbledore can't communicate via his Headmaster 
> portrait. It  would be pointless to have his portrait in the office
if he won't be 
> able to  communicate thru it. Maybe the reason he is "sleeping" in
his frame is 
> he has  not been laid to rest yet? I don't recall them going back to
the 
> headmaster's  office for the rest of the book after Harry leaves
before the Minister 
> of  Magic arrives. I'm sure he'll be awake in HPDH. 


Neil wrote: 
> I agree and the question of whether Dumbledore was asking Snape to
kill him  
> should be answered.  If the portrait can talk and no one asks that
question  
> immediately shame on JKR for playing with us and with Harry. 
Actually if  we 
> go even 1/3 of the book without knowing the answer to that question
I'll  be 
> upset.  It would certainly be the first thing I would ask  Dumbledore. 
> 
>  
> Neil

Anne Squires now:

I agree that the question of whether DD was asking Snape to kill him
should be answered.  However, I tend to disagree that this question
will or even should be answered in the first third of DH.  

For me, and I suspect for many others, the question of whether Snape
is DDM!Snape, OFH!Snape, or ESE!Snape is THE major question that needs
to be answered in DH.  Yes, there are numerous other questions and
plot lines that need to be addressed.  However, this question, for me,
is THE largest of all the questions.  I am hoping, and even expecting,
to read a book that first leads in one direction and then in another
in regards to this question.  I anticipate numerous red herrings along
the way to distract me, to challenge me as a reader.  Remember JKR has
stated that books six and seven should be read as two parts to one
large novel. (paraphrasing somewhat here) Snape AKing DD is, without a
doubt, the climax of our two part story.  The rest of our story will
likely lead us on a journey to find out what happened on that tower. 
IMHO, the revelation of what exactly happened on that tower should
come toward the end, rather than the beginning, of DH.  This is the
largest and most interesting question that needs to be answered.  I
hope JKR leaves it to the end.  If she answers this question too early
on, for me the rest of the novel would not be nearly as interesting, I
suspect.

Also, Harry thinks he knows exactly what happened on that tower.  From
his POV there is no need to ask DD's portrait, DD's ghost, or any
other manifestation of DD that he might encounter about what happened.
 From his POV it would make as much sense to ask say Sirius or Cedric,
if he had the chance, how they died or about the circumstances
surrounding their deaths.    Harry wouldn't ask  Cedric or Sirius how
they died.  Nor would it occur to him to ask either one of them who
killed them.  Nor would he ask why they were killed.  Harry is not
about to ask DD any of these questions either. This is NOT a mystery
for Harry.  It is a mystery for us, the readers.  But, for Harry this
is not even a remote consideration.  It is a non issue from his pov. 
To me, the irony that the largest question of all is not even on our
hero's  radar is simply delicious.

  Harry is living this; he doesn't know he is the title character in a
series of novels.  He thinks he knows what he knows.  And he knows
without a doubt that Snape killed DD.  He knows without a doubt that
Snape is ESE.  For the third time (fourth if you count his mother)
Harry is a witness to murder.  He doesn't think there are any
questions this time, just as there weren't any questions the other
times.  Why would he think there is a reason to question what he heard
and saw.  He was there.  He doesn't think about the "plot" the way we
readers analyze everything.  For him, this isn't even a "plot" that
follows certain conventions.  For him it's his life.

Just my opinion.

Anne Squires