Baby-Harry Corpse-Horcrux: An Elegant Twist

March 20, 2007 by 7 Comments

A month ago I posted here (and here and here) some thoughts on how Harry became a Horcrux that were so speculative — and said so little about the Five Keys — that I left them out of Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader. The theories generated a fair bit of discussion here, there, and around the internet and I learned something about blogging in the comboxes. The notes left in these boxes, especially after the original posts disappear under the screen’s virtual horizon, are lost to view except for the bizarre HogPro reader who constantly looks in the archives to see if anyone has dropped any diamonds on the back pages.

A reader calling him/herself “TNM16” wrote a wonderfully elegant and just-quirky-enough-to-be-possible twist on the “how” of Harry’s becoming a Horcrux that would be lost to readers not checking the “Recent Comment” sidebar over to your right. I post it here for your comments and correction: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Plot Points

Sonorus 2007: HogPro John and Lexicon Steve Do LA 6/9/07

March 19, 2007 by 1 Comment

Sonorus 2007

If you’ve been cruising MuggleNet the last few days or The Leaky Cauldron, you may have seen the announcements about a Harry Potter One-Night conference this June called Sonorus 2007. If you live near LA — and I mean Los Angeles not Lower Alabama — I hope you can come. Because I’ll be there with Steve Vander Ark to talk about Deathly Hallows, literary alchemy, and why Steve insists on wearing Gryffindor pj’s to bed at least until July.

This promises to be a lot of fun and I’m already looking forward to seeing Janet and Carrie and Greg and Linda and other LA/CA friends while I’m out there. Register today! June 9th, Lancaster, CA, See you there!

Filed Under: Unlocking Harry Potter

Interesting Miscellany: Three Bits of Stuff on my Desk

March 18, 2007 by 1 Comment

Every once in a while I need to clear my desk of these notes I think you might be interested in. Today’s pile includes the story of a man and magician who has made predictions of exactly how Deathly Hallows will end, the thoughts of a favorite L.O.O.N. who is anything but Loony, and a review of Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader on Amazon I hope you can read.

First, the magic man who knows the ending of Deathly Hallows:
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes, Unlocking Harry Potter

Wands for the Goblins? Good Point!

March 18, 2007 by Leave a Comment

eve05 wrote:

I also think that Olivander is in hiding making wands for the impending war, but I think he is fashioning wands for the Goblins, not the elves. Elves have their own source of magic, which is quite powerful… e.g. Dobby overpowered Lucius and sent him crashing down a flight of steps and when”Dobby raised a long, threatening finger”, Lucius “hurried out of sight” CoS pg338

Elves don’t need wands. But Goblins do, and resent not having any.

The Goblin Wars were finally ended only when the Wizards confiscated the Goblins’ wands. The Goblins are still angry with the Wizards for having disarmed them.

DD is preparing for the final showdown with V by seeking allies: he sent Hagrid and Mme. Maxime to the Giants, Lupin to the Werewolves, and Bill to the Goblins.
It has never been explicitly mentioned, but allowing the Goblins to have wands again would be a very strong inducement for their support. Bill is back from his mission, but there has been no mention of its outcome. We only have been told that Olivander and Fortesque, an expert in Medieval history(Goblin history?) are missing.

I would guess that Olivander is making Wands for the Goblins using Fortesque’s knowledge of Goblin History.

I’ve argued at some length (in agreement with the theory’s founder, Travis Prinzi, of Sword of Gryffindor.com) that it is the house-elves who Dumbledore is arming to turn the tables at story’s end with Ollivander wands and I hope you’ll review this thread over at my HogwartsProfessor blog and share your thoughts about it.

There is, of course, no reason that both goblins and house-elves cannot be the heart of Dumbledore’s real army and the wands be his bait to win over the goblins. The house-elves are the more interesting and likely of the two because of their being “the last” among all magical brethren and, hence, the ones most likely to become “first” to satisfy the postmodern theme of the periphery defining the center (not to mention, the amount of space given house-elves versus that devoted to goblins…).

But I love the goblins angle and look forward to reading what you and other readers think about their role in Deathly Hallows.

Filed Under: Unlocking Harry Potter

Snape as Symbol of Christ? Three Reasons Why

March 18, 2007 by 2 Comments

Oriflamme wrote:

John, I must thank you. The first time I read one of your articles about Christian Symbolism and heard about your book ‘Looking for God in Harry Potter,’ I was wandering across the net(surfing) for some issue about Snape. I was in a sad mood and this surfing seemed to me an obvious waste of time. Finding Christ in Harry Potter appeared to me like a ‘Sign’ and I do believe in ‘Signs’ in our life. This is a bit ‘pompous’ maybe, but your brilliant analysis helps me to stand the strain.

What about Snape and Christian Symbolism? I like the theory developed by Dave Kopel about Snape as St. Christopher(Reprobus)and I agree that he figures sometimes as a Christ symbol himself (maybe also as a symbol of the Church).

I have a theory about Snape’s childhood. I tried to explain it on the ‘narrative misdirection’ thread (reply 48). My thought is that the young Snape is a victim himself of what could be called a rape of his mind by the Imperius Curse. He walked a long way from wishes of vengeance to the wait of justice with DD(Christ)’s help. But Snape himself, he must help Harry to go further, to forgiveness and mercy(love).

You’re very kind, Oriflamme, and your thoughts and question about Snape are interesting.

I explain in Unlocking Harry Potter that Snape is one of the three Christ figures in the melodramatic scene on the Astronomy Tower and the chase afterwards — and that Snape is a lot more difficult for folks to understand in this role than either Dumbledore or Buckbeak. How is Snape Christ-like?

First, he *is* the Half-Blood Prince. Like it or not, the signature is a pointer to the “Double-Natured King.”

Second, he *saves* Harry’s life from the enormous Death Eater determined to destroy him via the Cruciatus Curse. Only Snape’s invoking the Dark Lord’s instructions causes the near-giant to let Harry loose.

Third, he is much more, perhaps, than those without “eyes to see” can see. Every exchange he has with Harry before being chased off the grounds by the razor claws of Buckbeak/Witherwing are superficially mean-spirited and goading, especially to the child-man who believes Snape has just murdered his mentor. Each exchange, though, on examination is helpful even critical or salutary instruction about what Harry must master in himself and technically in his magic before facing the Dark Lord.

And the whip-like curse that hits Harry in the forehead? Well, if you read Unlocking Harry Potter, you’ll learn why I think Severus is just hitting the switch on Harry’s Horcrux and neutralizing it as a means for Voldemort to monitor Harry’s emotions/perceptions or to survive another destruction of his body. Severus, the master of self-control, doesn’t lose his cool when called a “coward;” he is putting up a show for cover when the Dark Lord explodes about the destroyed Horcrux…

Even if this is way off (as almost all speculation of this sort is bound to be), Severus’ position as the Good Guy surrounded by bad guys who cannot understand who he is until the Evil One is removed — this is a sacrificial part. Snape, taken from afar, is a convincing Christ figure, I think.

I look forward to reading your comments and correction.

Filed Under: Traditional Symbolism, Unlocking Harry Potter