Harry Potter Speculation - Page 31

chideltjen · #1 06-28-2005, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BetteDavisEyes
I was on the J.K. website & in the rubbish bin, I broke the blue pen & the ink leaked. It revealed 3 items to find to get a clue. I so far have the broken eggshells & the blue stones but I can't figure out what the hell the stick things are. Can anyone help?

There are hidden "cookies" all over the site. I can't remember where the sticks are, but honestly, I would just go to different places and start clicking on things that seem out of whack.

If you get really frustrated, you can check out mugglenet.com and go to the JK Rowling site section and it will give you the answers to all the secret stuff.

chideltjen · #2 06-28-2005, 10:32 PM

What is the significance of Neville being the other boy to whom the prophecy might have referred?

Finally, I am answering the poll question! I am sorry it has taken so long, but let me start by saying how glad I am that this was the question that received the most votes, because this was the one that I most wanted to answer. Some of you might not like what I am going to say – but I'll address that issue at the end of my response!

To recap: Neville was born on the 30th of July, the day before Harry, so he too was born 'as the seventh month dies'. His parents, who were both famous Aurors, had 'thrice defied' Voldemort, just as Lily and James had. Voldemort was therefore presented with the choice of two baby boys to whom the prophecy might apply. However, he did not entirely realise what the implications of attacking them might be, because he had not heard the entire prophecy. As Dumbledore says:

'He [the eavesdropper] only heard the beginning, the part foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn his master that to attack you would be to risk transferring power to you.'

In effect, the prophecy gave Voldemort the choice of two candidates for his possible nemesis. In choosing which boy to murder, he was also (without realising it) choosing which boy to anoint as the Chosen One – to give him tools no other wizard possessed – the scar and the ability it conferred, a magical window into Voldemort's mind.

So what would have happened if Voldemort had decided that the pure-blood, not the half-blood, was the bigger threat? What would have happened if he had attacked Neville instead? Harry wonders this during the course of 'Half-Blood Prince' and concludes, rightly, that the answer hinges on whether or not one of Neville's parents would have been able, or prepared, to die for their son in the way that Lily died for Harry. If they hadn't, Neville would have been killed outright. Had Frank or Alice thrown themselves in front of Neville, however, the killing curse would have rebounded just as it did in Harry's case, and Neville would have been the one who survived with the lightning scar. What would this have meant? Would a Neville bearing the lightning scar have been as successful at evading Voldemort as Harry has been? Would Neville have had the qualities that have enabled Harry to remain strong and sane throughout all of his many ordeals? Although Dumbledore does not say as much, he does not believe so: he believes Voldemort did indeed choose the boy most likely to be able to topple him, for Harry's survival has not depended wholly or even mainly upon his scar.

So where does this leave Neville, the boy who was so nearly King? Well, it does not give him either hidden powers or a mysterious destiny. He remains a 'normal' wizarding boy, albeit one with a past, in its way, as tragic as Harry's. As you saw in 'Order of the Phoenix,' however, Neville is not without his own latent strengths. It remains to be seen how he will feel if he ever finds out how close he came to being the Chosen One.

Some of you, who have been convinced that the prophecy marked Neville, in some mystical fashion, for a fate intertwined with Harry's, may find this answer rather dull. Yet I was making what I felt was a significant point about Harry and Voldemort, and about prophecies themselves, in showing Neville as the also-ran. If neither boy was 'pre-ordained' before Voldemort's attack to become his possible vanquisher, then the prophecy (like the one the witches make to Macbeth, if anyone has read the play of the same name) becomes the catalyst for a situation that would never have occurred if it had not been made. Harry is propelled into a terrifying position he might never have sought, while Neville remains the tantalising 'might-have-been'. Destiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences.

Of course, none of this should be taken to mean that Neville does not have a significant part to play in the last two novels, or the fight against Voldemort. As for the prophecy itself, it remains ambiguous, not only to readers, but to my characters. Prophecies (think of Nostradamus!) are usually open to many different interpretations. That is both their strength and their weakness.

christiangirl · #3 06-29-2005, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MysticCat81
And in OotP, Sirius told Harry how he ran away from home when he was 16 or so -- he went to live with Harry's father's family. Like godfather, like godson?

Oooooh, I didn't think of that! Maybe? I don't know, Mystic Cat does have a point there. Maybe when he's a bit older and wiser, he won't make such a foolish decision. But I think either Harry or Voldemort's got to die by book 7. If it's Harry, then that's it (I don't think so though). If it's Lord V, then he's got nothing to worry about, nothing to keep him in that house? Ooooh, what do you think Harry will grow up to be if he lives, d'you think he'll really become an Auror, or will he just teach DAtDA at Hogwarts? Or do both, like Mad-Eye?

BetteDavisEyes · #4 06-29-2005, 01:03 AM

I finally figured it out thanks to help from the Godrics Hollow website.

The stick things are leaves of grass. Just click on the Extra Stuff coffee mug & the grass is hidden behind paper. Just keep looking. You get a drawing of Peeves that she made.

Also, if you type in the numbers that form P-E-E-V-E-S (7-3-3-8-3-7) & you get another surprise. A drawing of Nearly Headless Nick.

abaici · #5 07-03-2005, 02:21 AM

http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/index.html

lauralaylin · #6 07-03-2005, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by abaici
http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/index.html

Yeah, Harry Potter for Grown Ups is a yahoo group where they discuss the books in great detail. People write huge essays all the time. It's really fascinating, but since the last book there are just too many posts for me to keep up. Something like 150 a day. You should see it after a book comes out, it's something like 1000 posts a day.

sailorchicDG · #7 07-07-2005, 04:44 PM

My bookstore just got the first shipment in of HP6 on Wednesday. I'm excited...

efcheerBB · #8 07-07-2005, 04:47 PM

I just preordered my book today. Here's to hoping that even though I just now preordered, that it will get to me on the day it is released!!

christiangirl · #9 07-07-2005, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by efcheerBB
I just preordered my book today. Here's to hoping that even though I just now preordered, that it will get to me on the day it is released!!

It will, the preorders don't stop till the 10th-13th or so.

christiangirl · #10 07-07-2005, 05:46 PM

In the paper (couple weeks old, sorry) Rowling says that she's definitely going to kill off more characters and that the mirror Sirius gave Harry will be significant in the last 2 books (and Sirius may not really be dead). What do you guys think, who's going to die (besides Harry and Lord V)? Do you think one of the good guys will go evil? Who? I think Malfoy's dad might die, he'll get in just a bit too deep and when V goes down, so will he. He's already in Azkaban, but he's bound to break out, that's just how it is.

AUDeltaGam · #11 07-07-2005, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by christiangirl
In the paper (couple weeks old, sorry) Rowling says that she's definitely going to kill off more characters and that the mirror Sirius gave Harry will be significant in the last 2 books (and Sirius may not really be dead). What do you guys think, who's going to die (besides Harry and Lord V)? Do you think one of the good guys will go evil? Who? I think Malfoy's dad might die, he'll get in just a bit too deep and when V goes down, so will he. He's already in Azkaban, but he's bound to break out, that's just how it is.

Ooh, I hope it's not a good guy- Sirius dying was bad enough!

9 days! I pre-ordered my copy in April and am picking it up at midnight

chideltjen · #12 07-07-2005, 08:56 PM

As I read on mugglenet.com:

You can't have a war without deaths. Good and bad.

christiangirl · #13 07-11-2005, 03:41 AM

The new paper came out today with all the answers to the questions. So many people think Dumbledore will die! Also, they think Sirius is not dead and the mirror will be useful in bringing him back. Remember when Luna alluded to the fact that she knew what was behind the veil? Why did Harry ask her so he could get serious back?!?!?! She was talking about he'd see him again one day, how all those people were just behind the veil but not gone...

JenMarie · #14 07-11-2005, 10:02 AM

Only a few more days ya'll.

I'm still trying to convince the boyfriend to go with me to the pre-release party.

BetteDavisEyes · #15 07-11-2005, 10:58 AM

Did anyone see the back cover of the book already? We know that the front has Harry & Dumbledore looking at the Pensieve but the back cover has Ron, Hermione, and two others who might be Ginny and some boy (it's hard to tell) and they are staring at the Dark Mark in the sky. It looks great!

As for the mirror, it might be helpful between Ron & Harry or Lupin & Harry. I don't think we'll be seeing Sirius again but I do hope I'm wrong on that count.