Slytherins come back WAS: Re: My Most Annoying Character/Now Rowling's control

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 180584

> Betsy Hp:
> I completely agree.  Which is why his defeat in the end wasn't all
> that climatic for me. <snip>

Mike:
When I came to the end of "The Forest Again", knowing it was near 
the end of the book and purposedly not pre-reading the chapter 
titles, I thought Eggplant was getting his wish, Harry was going 
to die. I wasn't happy to have gotten a chapter like "King's 
Cross", but after that I knew Harry was going to vanquish Voldemort 
and live. So, yeah, both the defeat of Voldemort and Harry's 
survival were foregone conclusions by the start of the last chapter. 

But that's not to say I didn't enjoy that chapter, I actually 
enjoyed Harry talking smack to Riddle. <eg> I was more confused 
than enthused with the Elder Wand being the key to the final 
victory. Though I understand it now, I was a little miffed the 
first time through to reach the point of ultimate victory and 
have to say, "Huh? What just happened there?"



> Betsy Hp:
> Instead of spitting out so much information on Voldemort in 
> ready-made, tv-dinner servings, I think it'd have been better 
> to have him be this growing force in the background.  It's a 
> pretty standard rule of thumb in horror-stories: don't give 
> the audience a clear picture of your monster.  Let their 
> imaginations do a lot of your work for you.

Mike:
Hey Betsy, you're not old enough to remember TV dinners. <rbg> 
But this does bring up the whole Riddle-exploration of HBP. It 
gave her readers a nice background story on whence came Voldemort, 
and introduced the Horcruxes as theme for the Trio's Travels in 
DH. But how did knowing Tom Riddle's story help Harry in actually 
defeating Voldemort? I'm asking in earnest. There seemed to be one 
heck of a lot of useless backstory in that book, useless to Harry, 
not for the reader.


> Betsy Hp:
> But I do agree, and I think we're saying the same thing. I meant  
> "interesting" as in nuanced or multi-layered, which I don't think 
> Voldemort needed to be (madness would be enough: power-hungry 
> or bent on destroying all muggleborns or the WW or something).
> But yes, Voldemort's *abilities*, his power and stratigic 
> skill needed to be horrifyingly formidable.

Mike:
Yes! That's the kind of phrase I was looking for, "horrifyingly 
formidable." That's what he was at the end of GoF, for me. He 
lost that somewhere on the way to DH. He was no longer the Loki
(of Norse mythology) that I so wanted him to be.


> Betsy Hp:
> <snip>
> And again, we wouldn't need to get a clear look at Voldemort's 
> powers.  Just have people disappearing, families slaughtering 
> each other for no apparent reason, news like that trickling into 
> Hogwarts so Harry really feels a ticking clock (Voldemort needs
> be stopped *now*) and also, really, really scared.

Mike:
Heh, I'm afraid if we continue in this fanfic vein we might have
to bring this over to OTC. <g> I'll just say that you've captured
the kind of "horrible formidability" I wanted Voldemort to retain.



> Betsy Hp:
> Exactly!  Because it wouldn't be magical skill (that would be the 
> low point where Harry realizes he's not going to out-magic this 
> guy) and not even overly clever stratagies (Dumbledore barely able 
> to hold his own), instead it'd be doing something that hadn't been 
> done for *generations*: Unite the houses of Hogwarts.  And yes, 
> that *includes* Slytherin.

Mike:
We've had this discussion before, about the use of magic. I've 
always wanted more, always thought that magic was the thing that 
made these books special for me. You are a different reader, magic 
was more of a vehicle for you and not as important to the overall 
story. Difference in taste, that's all. But it also let me enjoy DH 
more, because I got a lot of magic, and some newer magic at that.

Still, I see your point about Harry not being able to out-magic 
Voldemort. (Heh, not that I gave a whit about uniting the houses). 
But it comes back to the theme of LV not being that formidable, so 
Harry *does* out-magic him in the end with master of the Elder Wand 
thing.



> Betsy Hp:
> Oh!  And then we might have gotten an interesting look 
> at the Founders, too.  Why the rift, etc? <snip>

Mike:
Yeah, whatever happened to this? The Bloody Baron killed his love, 
Helena Ravenclaw, that was it? I really wanted something more on 
Godric and Salazar. Wasn't that the theme of the first six books,
the rift between Slytherin and Gryffindor continuing to this day?



> Betsy Hp:
> Seriously, for me, Draco and Snape were the "face" of Slytherin.
> That they didn't get redeemed in the end, that Harry never 
> really saw them as people (that name thing doesn't work for me, 
> too little, too late, too lame), and that *they* never got a
> chance to change was the biggest failure of the books, IMO.

Mike:
Redeemed wasn't as necessary for me as resolved was. I was sorry 
LOLLIPOPS was the ultimate answer for Snapes loyalties, I *thought* 
he was deeper than that. Nonetheless, his story was resolved imo.

Draco, NO, his story was left hanging, imo. And after five books 
of cardboard cut-out Draco, to give him his own story line in HBP, 
only to drop that in the well,.....? 


> Betsy Hp:
> Once Dumbledore was dead, push him off the damn stage and put 
> Snape in the spot-light.  He's the more interesting character 
> anyway.

Mike:
YES, puhleeeze! 
Whatever happened to "Portraits can only regurgitate cliches. They 
are less realized than ghosts." ?? <not bothering to look up the 
exact JKR interview quote>


> Betsy Hp:
> And get Draco off the darn Tower.  Good Lord, but that was a
> scene that went absolutely no where. <snip>

Mike:
Ditto!


> Betsy Hp:
> Force Harry and Draco to work together for a similar goal 
> (defeat Voldemort), and let them have their different reasons,
> and let Draco realize that it's not just Voldemort's methods 
> that are questionable.  

Mike:
OK, a little too much rewriting, but I understand and agree with 
your sentiment. I too wanted Draco to finish the story he started 
in HBP, and I never would have believed he was going to be friends 
with Harry. I had a hard time even seeing them become allies, not 
that I didn't want to see it happen. Instead, all I got was
wimpering!Draco. :-P



> Betsy Hp (everytime I think I'm through discussing, something
> pulls me back in. *g*)

Mike, cyberactively pulling a Tonks on Betsy's Lupin - "But I don't 
care either, I don't care!"  - We'll never let you go, Betsy 
:Really big, humongous grin as he pulls on Betsy's hand dragging her 
back into Room of Requirement: