Chapter Discussion: Prisoner of Azkaban Ch 22: Owl Post Again

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 191245



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Mike Crudele" <mcrudele78 at ...> wrote:
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> POA Chapdisc 22: Owl Post Again
> 
> Summary <SNIP>
> 
> > Questions:
> 
> Everyone pull out your time-turners and give them about five thousand turns. Now that you are back where you were when you just finished reading this book for the first time


Alla: Done and done :)

> 
> 1.  Snape is raving mad and thinks Potter had a hand in Sirius's escape *before* Dumbledore drops the hints about "being in two places at once". Does Snape suspect time-turning was involved?

Alla:

I would assume that this was not the first time turner ever given to a student, so I would speculate Snape is somewhat familiar with it, but before Dumbledore says it? Not sure, but after I would think definitely yes.


> 3. Dumbledore tells Harry that the life debt is "magic at its deepest, its most impenetrable". Knowing now how Pettigrew's debt plays out, are you satisfied with Dumbledore's proclamation? Do you think JKR did this supposedly grave issue justice?

Alla:

Yes, and no, I will say more in one of your next questions. I did not notice much consistency with how life debts are handled in a sense that some people whose life was saved do not have those according to JKR, but I was more or less happy with how Pettigrew/Harry final connection played out at the end if I do not call it a life debt, but just a debt of the sorts.

  
> 4. Remember in the first book, how we learn of Snape's "life debt" to James, and how that comes to the fore in this book. Do you think this life debt "deep magic" is as powerful as the ancient love magic that Lily invoked when saving Harry? Do you see enough evidence of the "life debt" magic to be convinced that it exists?

Alla:

My goodness NO, I have not seen any magic, I have not seen any evidence that Snape has life debt to James, I had seen an evidence that some *people* in Potterverse may think that saving one's life may suggest that as decent person you do something good for them as well, but I have not seen any magic to that effect. Sorry, do not mean to sound agitated Mike :), it is just the thought of Snape and James and supposed magical debt makes me laugh and not in a good way.

> 
> 5. Dumbledore also tells Harry that "the time may come when he will be glad he saved Pettigrew's life." For those Lord of the Rings fans amongst the group, how would you compare and contrast this James/Harry-Wormtail connection with the Bilbo/Frodo-Gollum connection?

Well, I AM a huge LOTR fan and actually while I think that Frodo-Gollum connection paid out much more beatifully and significantly, Harry-Wormtail connection may not have been as significant and helpful for his general task, but to me was wonderful in a sense that the worm like Pettigrew may not have enough humanity left in him to do a *decent* thing, but he at least tried to do a *half-decent* thing.

 James/Jarry and Bilbo/Frodo connection to me is just the connection of relatives, I find James/Harry connection more poignant, but thats probably because Harry's longing was after his dead father and Bilbo was alive.


> 
> 6.  Did you have any idea what could possibly have been Trelawney's "first" real prediction? Tell the truth now, did you have any inkling that it would turn out to be *the Prophesy* of all prophesies?

Alla:

No clue.

> 
> 7. How did Dumbledore know James's nickname was Prongs? Did he know about the Marauder's Map?

Alla:

Well, you know Dumbledore, he is very smart ;) and his guesses are always correct ;)

> 
> 8. Disregarding the needs of the author for plot development, should Hermione have told Harry and Ron much earlier about the time-turner? If you were Hermione, would you have told the boys sooner?

Alla: Actually, you know how I think that a lot of things in Potterverse could have been dispersed with very short conversation, this one actually made sense to me. If time turners are not supposed to be wide spread knowledge, kind of makes sense to me teacher would want her to keep it a secret.

Thanks for awesome questions Mike.