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[prep0strus]

No: HPFGUIDX 178219


> Allie:
> 
> And here I MUST comment because it becomes clear from DH that MANY 
> MANY things were planned in advance, from the time that SS was written:
> 
> For example:
> 
> Harry's invisibility cloak - the fact that it exists, that it's the 
> only one of its kind, that is is a Hallow, and that it was in 
> Dumbledore's possession because he was investigating it as a Hallow.  
> (To quote SS:  Your father left this in possession before he died.  It 
> is time it was returned to you.  Use it well.")  That completely fits 
> in with JKR hinting on her website that it is significant that DD had 
> the cloak.  She knew what it was even then.
> 
> Grindelwald - DD's legendary duel with Grindelwald is mentioned in the 
> VERY FIRST BOOK, clearly she knew all along that he was signifant.  I 
> have NO trouble believing she had planned the Elder Wand back then.
> 


Prep0strus:
I don't doubt many things were planned from the beginning, but I don't
see your examples being any kind of evidence.  Maybe it's because I
think the hallows weren't very well thought out.  It seemed to me,
even as I was reading it the first time, as a device she thought of
later and fit the fact that Harry had an invisibility cloak into that
structure later on.  The cloak itself served a fun separate purpose
over the other books - it's presence does not mean that she had a
specific plan for it in the end.  The same could be said for anything
- if the firebolt had turned out special, or Hedwig, or any number of
things that DIDN'T turn out that way.  There is no reason JKR couldn't
have adapted something in the story to a purpose she thought of later
on.  The same goes for Grindelwald, and as for the Elder wand... well,
I think that part of the story is the one that makes me most believe
it was NOT planned out.

If a really convoluted plotline involving wand ownership rules was
going to be one of the primary forces in the final book, wouldn't we
have heard about the wand rules earlier on?  Wouldn't that have been
one of the first lessons taught in SS/PS?  Wouldn't it be something
people were aware of?  There was a whole war that happened not that
long ago - losing wands or controlling others' wands surely must have
occurred.

And yet, we the readers only become privy to this information in the
final book when it becomes pertinent.  That's something we should have
had understanding of long before if it were truly planned out in that
much detail.

And, on a slightly separate note... these people need to come up with
more wand related magic.  I mean, I'd certainly want my wand on some
kind of string tied to my belt so that I couldn't really lose it even
if I dropped it.  I'm sure magic can cause that effect as well. 
Everybody drops, loses, and relinquishes the most important item in
the world a bit too often for my sake.

When I read them, I guessed Ginny/Harry and Hermione/Ron were planned
out from the first book. I bet that Dumbledore was always going to die
before the end, and I could even buy Harry having a piece of Voldy's
soul in him.  But the whole Hallows thing felt so rushed and awkward,
it's hard for me to believe that they were planned out.  And fitting
things together can be done just as easily (maybe even easier, if
possibly more awkwardly) backwards as forwards.  I think it's very
hard to have concrete evidence of any real plan.  It's just what we
see in it and trust in JKR.

~Adam(Prep0strus)