Can we trust Sirius? WAS RE: Tonks's age: A possible solution RE: [the_old_crowd]

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, ewe2 <ewetoo at g...> wrote:
> 
> So where DO we throw Sirius? If he was that troublesome, and we assume DD is
> really dead, who's going to tell us all in book seven? 


DD memories cached in the Pensieve?
Snape pouring out revelations as he gasps his last, no doubt with a sardonic
smile hovering in the region of his yellowing dentures?
Or maybe it's already nesting in Harry's little grey cells, just needing the magic
phrase for realisation to flood his limited intellect?
Petunia? It's a good bet that she knows more than she's letting on.

> 
> Call me suspicious but a dead Sirius means a lot of untidy authorship smoothed
> away, and a soon-to-be-dead Lupin is the necessary corollary. In other words,
> I don't really expect answers that already seem redundant.
> 

Spreading it a bit wider than just Sirius:
A papering over of the cracks is the least satisfying resolution, but probably the
likeliest IMO. If one could imagine that the complete series had been published
in its entirety, most of what the fans spend hours happily dissecting, analysing
and hypothesising would hardly be a matter for more than a passing mention.
Certainly as the series has progressed it's possible to trace a curve tracking
the incidence of speculative ideas that were possible as opposed to probable
(given the canon extant at the time). Peaked around GoF, by my estimate.
And can it be coincidental that it was around then, or soon after, that herself
upped, indeed instituted a regular flow of clues, hints and revelations to moans
from avid theorists as they had to abandon their strangled offspring? 

To a certain extent most of the boards have been playing a glorified game of
Consequences, where layer upon layer of theory (call it wishful thinking if
you like) has built up, with little more than the reader's perceptions as the
foundation. A lot of fun, of course - and I for one intend to keep on doing
it, but I'm under no illusions about the probable accuracy of my musings. Nor
are most of the fans, that's what makes these 'clarifications' by Jo so 
disheartening. We already know that there's not a snowball's chance in hell
that 99% of our ideas will bear any relation to the eventual explication and
conclusion. 

So what? Does that matter? Hardly. Many *want* it to be more subtle, 
convoluted and for the apparent clues to have more plot significance than 
would be justified by an objective reading. But do they really expect it 
to turn out like that? In their dreams, maybe; not in the cold light of day.
However, there is this niggle. Jo seems so set on cutting back the luxuriant
growths that have sprouted in the hot-house of fan imagination that when
that final day dawns it might be a cold one indeed; that there could be a
killing frost of disappointment, that the ending may not live up to what
has gone before, let alone the fevered dreams of fandom.
Maybe that's just my in-built pessimism stirring. Hope it's wrong.

On the boards aspects of HP have escaped the confines of the writers control
- the fans have grabbed it, or bits of it, and run off into strange lands, 
alternative 'realities' where anything can happen and undoubtedly does. 
DIY HP.
Project your own preferences onto the author's template. SHIPpers,
conspiracy theorists, fluffies, gore-fest enthusiasts, even - God help us -
the anti-abuse crusaders on other sites, it's open season for all.
More power to their collective elbows, says I. It's an exercise in personal 
imagination, usually harmless, and improves typing skills. 
And it has no significance whatsoever. 
But my word, it's fun. 
There is/will be the cold print of canon and the fancies of fertile minds; two 
conflicting views - why not believe both? For the time being, anyway.

Kneasy