Post DH meaning of PS/SS chess game.

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 184711

> Alla:
> What do you guys think after canon is ended, did this game in fact 
> foreshadow something pivotal for the end?
<snip>
> Yes, we have Ron's sacrifice, but I think it would be a little 
wierd 
> to argue that Ron's sacrifice foreshadowed Harry's?

Zara:
If the desired parallel is about Ron, then whatever we come up with 
is going to be (in my opinion, no offense to big fans of Ron) not 
that significant to the overall plot of the series. 

If we do want to talk about that one chess game as saying something 
about the whole series, I would begin by asking, "Who is playing?" 
and to me, only one answer makes sense - Albus Dumbledore. He's the 
guy on the "good side" making the plans, moving the pieces, and 
insert your favorite chess-related cliche here.

Should we, then, consider the sacrifice of the black knight (Ron's 
piece) to parallel Albus's death? Certainly its time and manner was 
chosen by Albus, just as Ron chose when he would be taken. And 
certainly the goal seems to have been to advance other pieces/parts 
of his plan, most notably Snape and whatever he planned for the Elder 
Wand. But Albus's death does not fit so well in other ways. In the 
game, the taking of the knight is one step away from a checkmate. 

Also, the knight in the game is described as a very active piece, one 
which travels about the board removing many white pieces from play. 
(Sorry, no quote, I was checking my Lithuanian copy...) This fits 
Harry far better. And Albus carefully arranges matters so that Harry 
would choose to be taken (die, or not really die, whatever) in the 
endgame, by specifying to Snape when Harry needs to learn of the soul 
bit.

But in another way Harry does not fit, because he is the piece that 
checkmates Voldemort in the end, too. So I don;t reallty think this 
sort of correspondence can be made.

> Alla:
> So what did this game mean or was it just fun part of the plot of 
> book 1?

Zara:
Well, if it did nothing else, it dramatized for the first time a 
motif (? hope I used the right word there...) that is repeated 
through the series - someone making a sacrifice so that others could 
go on to achieve hoped for successes. Regulus, dying in the hope that 
when Voldemort meets his match, he is mortal, and Harry, making sure 
there are survivors who know to kill Nagini, and facing death in the 
same hope, are notable later examples.