DH reread CH 26 - 29

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 187283

---  "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> Alla quoted:
> > 
> > "It's all down to Neville, he really gets this Room. You've got to ask it for exactly what you need - ... close the loopholes! ..." - p.464
> > 
> Alla wrote:
> > 
> > Now, does it mean that Neville has special relationship with the room? Or does it mean that he just figured out and taught everybody how to phrase their demands? ...
> 
> Carol responds:
> 
> I don't thinks that Neville has a special relationship to the room since it responded to the newcomers by providing beds and other necessities in the proper colors and to the girls' need for a bathroom, ...


BBOYMINN:

I'm not so sure. When new people arrive, do new beds appear
because they arrived and wished for a bed? Or, is it because
Neville wished for the beds and bathroom? 

I think whether consciously or subconsciously, it is Neville
who is controlling the room.

Keep in mind that you don't even have to make a specific
conscious wish. When Harry created the DA Club practice room
he didn't specifically wish for books or cushions. The room
understood what was necessary to accomplish the goal and 
provided. When Harry realized his need for a whistle, he simply
thinks 'I need a whistle' and the room provided.

I think the same is true of Neville. When circumstances change,
he see the need. When more people arrive, he is concerned about
where they will sleep, and the room provides. When girls start
to arrive, he is concerned about how they will get along sharing
a bathroom, and the room provides one for the girls. When too
many people show up, Neville naturally thinks it is crowded and
it would be nice if the room was bigger, so it is. 

I don't think Neville, whether out loud or to himself, has to
say 'I need the room to be bigger', he only needs to realize
the need, and the room accommodates.

So, in this sense, I think Neville is controlling the room.

> Carol continues: 
> 
> But this isn't the first time that a character had to ask the room for exactly the right thing. Harry couldn't get in when he wished for a place to find out what Draco Malfoy was up to,... But he (and Trelawney) got into the same room when they wished for a place to hide something. ...
> 
> ....
> 
> Carol, not really interested in plumbing despite appearances in her recent posts!
>

BBOYMINN:

I'm inclined to think that Harry was asking for something the
room couldn't deliver. Just as the room couldn't deliver food,
but the room could create a corridor that lead to food.

Harry was too focused on Draco, where Draco was, what Draco was
up too, but I think in this sense, Draco was like food. Look at
it this way, if you wanted to find someone, you could simply go
to the room and wish to find that person, and where ever they 
were in the world, they would instantly be in the room. That
seems Extremely unlikely. 

So, Harry, in a sense, was wishing for Draco and the room 
couldn't provide Draco; it was beyond its capability even
though Draco was inside the room itself. Just as the room
could not provide food, even though the castle was full of
available food. 

Trelawney, simply wanted to the room where everyone dumped 
their rubbish, and it was clear that room existed for centuries,
and was readily accessible regardless of whether Draco was in
there. Trelawney wished for an existing known room independent
of whether Draco was in there or not. And the room provided.

I think, if Harry had know to wish for the room, that specific
room, rather than Draco, he could have gotten in. In fact, 
when he needed a place to hide his book, as many a person had
needed a place to hide other things over the centuries, the
room provided the 'Room of Hiding Things'. 

I think if Draco had been in there at that moment, Harry would
have been able to get in and find Draco, because he would have
wished for the right thing.

Can't prove it, but that's what I believe.

Steve/bluewizard