Peter

[Barry Arrowsmith]

Many in fandom are taking a good long look at  'Spinner's End' as  
possibly one of the key chapters in HBP for unconsidered trifles that  
may turn out to be more helpful or significant than seems at first  
sight.

There was a right old kerfuffle on HPfGU when it was announced as a  
chapter title - a searching of gazetteers, maps and street plans to  
try and locate it - with the somewhat optimistic hope that it might  
provide a clue. IIRC just one Spinner's End was found (though the  
name has since changed) and that was in Cradeley Heath in the old  
West Midlands industrial area - what was spun there was not cloth or  
thread but wire ropes. Whether Jo based her description on what used  
to be there is doubtful, it was hardly on the tourist itinerary, but  
it was pretty much as depicted in the book - my home patch was only  
three or four miles away. Still, what remains of the Victorian  
industrial hey-day is more or less the same all over the Midlands and  
North of England.

Hardly the place for a bijou batchelor pad, though Sevvy seems quite  
comfy what with his books and an ersatz House Elf to flick a duster  
when required. Peter as Kreacher - or Dobby? What fun!

One of the options available in the FAQ section on the JKR site,  
round Christmas-time I think, was "Where has Peter been during OoP?"  
- that might not be the exact wording, but it's the general gist. It  
didn't win that particular poll, though Jo did allow that there was  
an interesting answer.

Now, does anyone think that for the past year Peter has been fully  
occupied with a little light housework down at Spinners End? Hardly  
seems likely, does it? What with ole Snapey fully engaged at Hogwarts  
or running errands for the Order, yet there he is in chap. 2 of the  
new book, a reluctant Igor to a domineering Sevvy. It could be that  
we're not intended to believe that El Ratto has been slaving away  
with Mrs Skower's Magical Mess Remover for the past year, it does say  
it "had an air of neglect as though it were not usually inhabited."  
OK. A nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse, so what has Ratty  
been up to while we weren't looking?

It's possible to construct all sorts of fanciful notions based on no  
evidence whatsoever,  but the possibility of a sort of future  
parallel between that silver hand and DD's blackened fist does occur.  
Having a built-in set of tongs might be eminently useful when poking  
at spell-protected Horsecluckses.

Food for thought in the bickering between Snape and Peter. At various  
times both have been proposed as characters posing as villains but  
working for DD. If they are they're each either unaware of the  
other's role or putting up a damn good front - or maybe they just  
hate the sight of each other. Hmm. Just how good is Peter at  
Occlumency/Legilimancy? Who knows what about whom? His failed attempt  
at eavesdropping - plain nosiness or is he reporting back? And who  
to? Voldy or DD?

A lovely tangled web of conjecture to paw over.
What more could anyone want?

Kneasy