Expecto auxilium

[olivierfouquet2000]

It has been a long, long time since I have written something about
dear old Harry (not that I ever posted much, mind you) but this recent
flurry of activity-the last convulsion of the HP fandom or the
beginning of a grand era of Potterology?-has lured me out of the
broken vanishing cabinet. And for what? To discuss fairy tales.

It has been noted that the HP series start as a classical fairy tale,
what with the escapist theme, the mean step parents and the perfect
deceased ones, the classical auxiliary objects (invisibility cloak and
Nimbus 2000), the old and omnipotent wise man that doesn't do
anything, the initiatory rite of sorting and overcoming trials... But
then the logic is disrupted when it is Quirrell and not the iconic
vilain Snape that turns out to be the bad guy and from that point on
everything goes downhill. Once a fairy tale, this story about wizards
somehow manages to become one of disenchantment. The magical prompts
lose their semi-mystical aura (Moody can see through the invisibility
cloak), perfect parents and trusted mentors turned out to be all too
human... 

However, this pattern of moving away from the fairy tale genre runs
parallel to another pattern of symmetry between books. What is laid
down in book 2 (Tom Riddle's mysterious and dangerous powers, as well
as, at least if you share my idiosyncratic approach to symbolism, a
statement about the dangers of sexuality) is undone in book 6
(Voldemort's mystery is elucidated and love is lived as an entirely
normal and positive thing). What is established in book 3 (that Harry
can find a powerful inspiration in the memory of his father and that
Sirius will be free) is cancelled in book 5. So I entertain the
altogether banal idea that DH will rerun through the fairy tale genre,
in one way or another, and in particular with the use of auxiliaries. 

In good old fairy tale style, I thus wonder if some of the characters
from the previous books will not return as pure auxiliaries,
fulfilling their role once and for all. Dobby, Kreacher, Krum,
Norbert, even Peter... I would expect each of them to come back to
Harry's side at one crucial moment.

In the same spirit, I would expect the return of magical prompts:
Fawkes, the Invisibility Cloak, Gryffindor's relics, the Mirror of
Erised and that of Sirius. They should come back as well, if DH is to
revisit the dairy tale genre.

So many things, so little time.
Olivier