CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 10, THE HALLOWEEN LONG

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 188443

Bart:
snip
; it is still my 
> contention that the fact that Harry becoming friends with exactly the 
> people he needed to get to the Stone was either such an unbelievable 
> coincidence as to be considered incredibly bad writing, or Dumbledore 
> manipulated events to ensure that the three would become friends. I'd 
> like to think that JKR is, or was, not THAT bad a writer.


Potioncat:
There are several places in the HP series that leave some readers cold,, pulled out of the story to say "What the heck!?" while other readers sail on through. I guess this is one of them. That Harry made two good friends who would be his companions during his adventures, and who would contribute doesn't seem that far-fetched to me. That DD was a puppetmaster isn't too far-fetched either.

But it is a stretch (imho) to think DD knew the 11-year-olds well enoug to know what skills Ron and Herminone had and that Harry would need those skills in his friends AND was able to have them put together in a way that assured a friendship. This from the man who thought Snape could teach Occlumancy to Harry?

jmo, you know.