Half-Blood Prince

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 183877


>Lynda:
 I've just never seen reason to over ponder
> what was obviously (to me) taken care of (Draco's getting a HoG) 
outside of
> the text.  To me, its just one of those things that would have done 
nothing
> but lengthen the books to include and could, in fact be simply 
mentioned, as
> it was, later in the story.

Potioncat:
Is it over pondering? Maybe for some fans, but pondering is what we 
do best here.

I find it particularly interesting when someone gets a different 
meaning from a passage than I did. I'm generally open to either view 
being valid---even if I really think mine is correct.

For example, Lily's letter drives me crazy. All sorts of explanations 
for it have been posted; I've come up with one myself. But the fact 
remains, its location drives me crazy, as does its content. It 
doesn't bother others one bit. 

The Hand of Glory was jarring. It pulled me out of the story long 
enough for me to think, "Oh, JKR is letting us know that Draco did 
get the Hand after all." But the more the HoG is discussed, the less 
plausible Draco's having it seems. At the least, it seems an awkward 
bit of writing. (jmho)

One of my favorite discussions has been the events behind "Oops." 
This is the scene in GoF(I think) when Harry's vial of potions 
shatters on the floor. Many readers think it's very obvious what 
happened. It's so obivious that the events have been hotly debated, 
because what is obvious to one reader is not the same as what is 
obvious to another.

If we don't bring out these differences we won't have anything to 
discuss.