[the_old_crowd] Thoughts on HBP

[Steve Vander Ark]

> 
> Lexicon Steve:
> >So here's a more general question that I've wondered about. 
> What's up 
> >with the "Prince" thing?
> 


Something someone said jogged my memory. Rowling said in an interview with a
Vancouver newspaper that people don't ask about her Christian faith very
much, which is a good thing or else they would be able to figure out how the
stories end. 

With that context, the Half-Blood Prince could be a Christ figure, not just
in the Messianic sense that someone mentioned, but in the melding of two
worlds sense. Jesus, in Christian belief, as both God and man. So the
Half-Blood Prince would be a legendary figure, someone who is held in
reverence by the Wizarding community, someone who will mend a breach which
is intrinsic to the world as we know it. That scenario would fit what
Rowling said in that interview.

As I write that, the possible connections to the story and to Rowling's own
philosophy just tumble through my head. 

- the Sorting Hat pleading for unity
- the emphasis on acceptance and understanding with Kreacher
- the whole Fountain and it's twisted meaning
- the fact that CS, of all the books, harkened back to the "time of legend,"
the founding of Hogwarts
- Arthurian overtones: Albus/Albion, the baby king hidden away to grow up in
safety, etc
And I could go on and on. Arthur is supposed to return some day to reunify
Britain under his enlightened rule, isn't he?

[Okay, I need someone to write an essay on the Arthurian connection to
Potter. Any takers?]

It also makes sense to me that the titular character will be someone new,
not an existing character whose Secret Identity is suddenly revealed. I
think it's possible that someone in the current pantheon of characters will
be connected to that legend somehow, and that it may not be Harry who is the
connection, but I don't think the HBP himself will be, say, Seamus or
Hagrid. 

Steve
Looking eagerly for that essay