A sandwich

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 178734

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sistermagpie" <sistermagpie at ...> wrote:

Magpie:
> But I think everyone understands that it's not supposed to be a big 
> deal. (In an earlier interview JKR said the House Elves are about 
> slavery and she is aware that people have strong feelings about that 
> so it's an odd choice for a "no big deal" line.) However, as the 
> last line of course it's important. Sam's "I'm back" would not be 
> any less important if he'd just thought it, just different. His 
> saying it out loud just underlines all the Sam isn't saying to his 
> family but that we understand from his line.  Harry is thinking of 
> putting his feet up and going back to his comfortable life. But if 
> the last line has someone's domestic bliss including having the 
> servant bring him a sandwich then that's part of the picture of 
> domestic bliss. I don't see how this can be described as reading 
> anything into it or creating a storm in a teacup--that seems just 
> like calling a spade a spade. I think you have to do far more work 
> to make it about anything but Harry thinking about asking his slave 
> to make him a sandwich the way said slave has done many times before 
> when Harry was feeling peckish. It is NOT "undermining the structure 
> of the wizarding world" at all. Quite the contrary. It shows in one 
> more way that Harry has taken his place in the structure of the 
> Wizarding World--his place at the top.

Geoff:
This takes us right back to where I started. What you have written is
how you view the matter. I view it in a different light and we both have 
the right to hold our own views on this. 

You talk of "Harry is thinking of putting his feet up and going back to 
his comfortable life." I don't actually recall Harry having had a particularly 
comfortable life; one way and another, he's had a pretty grotty time of it 
so the thought of putting his feet up might especially appeal to him.

I think many of us reached the "agree to disagree" point over the differing 
interpretations of DH some time ago and reiterating the same arguments 
ad infinitum is not likely to change our own individual takes of the situation.