Lockets

[Kimberly]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "carolynwhite2" 
<carolynwhite2 at a...> wrote:

A whole bunch of stuff about lockets, upon which I reflect: 
> 
> On lockets, don't forget the other two given to Ron and Molly at 
> Christmas. Just JKR's little joke, I'm sure.

Just a note:  Neither of these is specified as lockets, just golden 
necklaces.  In fact, Ron's is pretty well described as something 
other than a locket.  In fact had it been a locket I'm sure we'd have 
been treated to a description of Lavendar's picture blowing kisses 
from within.  Hee!

<snip>

> I do think there 
> are substantive problems with the cave aspect of the heist. Of 
> course, if you are meta-thinking, JKR will find a solution to them, 
> but nevertheless they seem to cry out for our attention now.
> 
> 1) What is the point of replacing the locket with an imitation one, 
> and replacing the potion after emptying out the first lot? The 
note, 
> yes, can understand that. RAB wants Voldie to know he did it. But 
the 
> rest of it just seems ..superfluous. Why not just concentrate on 
> getting the hell out of there and destroying what he's found, since 
> judging by DD, RAB has only a very, very short time to live?

Maybe the locket was replaced sort of like how Indiana Jones had to 
put that back of sand in place of the idol he stole out of the cave.  
Very possibly it worked out for Reggie just as poorly as it did for 
Indy, but he had to try.  Plus, points for flair, what with the 
cheeky note inside.  As for the potion, I'm thinking it's self-
filling, which is why it took so long to drink it up - like running 
up an escalator?  That would explain it being full after the original 
locket had been removed - not because the theif brought along or made 
more potion, but because it refilled itself.

> 
> 2) And RAB didn't destroy it, did he? Shades of the One Ring? It 
> wouldn't let him? Didn't have the power to do it, and/or was 
murdered 
> before he found out how to destroy it?

I just don't think he knew howe yet.  It is, after all, advanced dark 
magic that the nastiest book at Hogwarts refuses to discuss.  I do 
assume he died before he succeeded, but who knows?

 
> 3) Plus, not for the first time, I am puzzled by Lord V's 
ineptitude. 
> DD says: `[he] would not want to kill the person who reached this 
> island.' `He would want to keep them alive long enough to find out 
> how they managed to penetrate so far through his defences 
'
> 
> So far as we can understand it, this has now happened twice, and 
> although both the intruders have died, Lord V hasn't the slightest 
> idea who they are, or even that they have nicked his precioussss. 
So, 
> is DD lying?

Yeah, no idea, there.  Also not sure, however, that the potion 
necessarily kills.  After all, bezoars are the new polyjuice.

> 
> 4) Alternatively, let's assume that Lord V is not so incompetent. 
> Surely, the very first thing he would do after being rebodied is do 
a 
> little tour of his horrockses. He finds out that the diary is 
> destroyed, and Lucius is suitably punished, but presumably all the 
> rest past muster. How can this false locket fool him, since he of 
all 
> people must be able to know the real thing, and obviously the 
potion 
> would be no barrier to him? Do we really believe that he took a 
quick 
> look at the green surface and didn't check further, or couldn't 
> actually sense whether or not his own soul was in there? The only 
> possible explanation would be that the locket was still ok that 
> summer of 1995, and has been subsequently swapped.

There's no reason to suspect so far that he took the time to check up 
on his corpuscles, though.  We know he's pretty pleased with himself, 
he probably doubted anybody would find or be able to get to them.  
Besides, there's a reason you make multiples.  Bound to always be a 
spare.  

> 
> Kneasy:
> Then there's the whole Cave set-up.
> What's it for?
> The Diary wasn't surrounded by no-touch spells, nor presumably was 
> the ring with the black stone, nor (if the theorisers are correct) 
is 
> the Tom Riddle Cup in the Trophy Room. Only when their contents are 
> accessed do the spells appear. Why should the locket be different?

I'm thinking the Diary wasn't protected because it was of a different 
sort - it was meant to be used for other purposes, altogether aside 
from being a sparkplug.  Also, being his first attempt, it's maybe 
natural that it would be less sophisitcated, but I don't think that 
indicates necessarily that the other hockeypucks won't be protected 
more like the locket.  Seems like there were some protections on the 
ring.  Talk of DD's diminished reaction time or reflexes or whatever 
it was make more sense if he hurt himself retrieving it than if he 
was hurt destroying it, at least to me.

<snipping the rest so as not to go on forever>

Basically what I'm trying to say is, yeah, there's stuff that's not 
explained, but I don't think there are necessarily as many problems 
with the cave setup as all that. 

kimberly - using a lot of words to say very little