Today, we started off by discussing father figures in Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling mentions in one of her ABC interviews that she never had a father and by the end of the series, JKR has killed off a lot of father figures. It seems that JKR's own father figure experience is reflected in her writing when she kills off so many fathers and father figures. Were these father figures killed off because it was neccesary or because Rowling has a vendetta against father figures?
We also talked about mother figures such as McGonagall, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley. It is interesting that McGonagall ends up being the first head mistriss (except for Umbridge) at the end of the Harry Potter series. Women aren't as promenate of characters or as powerful of characters. Yes, Hermione is smart, but doesn't necessarily have power. Not to mention we dont' know what happens to her after the book series ends.
Then we moved onto the topic of revolution. Our professor posed the question on whether or not there was a revolution in Harry Potter. If Voldemort had claimed power, there would have been a definite revolution and rapid change of how the current system fuctions. The old order would have been dramatically changed if Voldemort had successfully taken power. One girl argued that the revolution began when Voldemort first tried to take power some fourteen years ago and all Harry is trying to do is restore the former order before Voldemort ever existed.
It is interesting for us to take a look inside the Harry Potter government structure, or the ideas of rebellion, revolution, and social order to see how another culture deals with problems.
Of course, we finished watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! No class next week due to Thanksgiving so I will not be posting. I might just post my three papers instead of class discussion for anyone who would like to read them.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
She Thinks You're The Choosen One... But I Am The Choosen One
My post is a little late! However, I promise it will be very interesting... Last Tuesday, we had student presentations on their topics for their papers. I think one of the presentations was particularly interesting and is definitely worth sharing.
One of the students presented to the class a conspiracy theory, if you will, on Ron and Dumbledore. Essentially, the theory states that Ron and Dumbledore are the same person. JKR has denied this relationship between the two characters. However, the theory is rather interesting and there is some interesting evidence that suggests that they could be the same person.
Here is the relationship explained on a fan page:
Book abreviations are used:
SS/PS= Sorcerer's Stone (book 1)
CoS=Chamber of Secrets (book 2)
PoA= Prisoner of Azkaban (book 3)
GoF= Goblet of Fire (book 4)
OotP= Order of the Pheonix (book 5)
HBP= Half Blood Prince (book 6)
DH= Deathly Hallows (book 7)
1. Uncanny Resemblance
We often joke about how unobservant Harry is, and though he hasn't made the connection we have, he does indeed dutifully describe for us both Ron and Dumbledore's appearance. Harry describes both Ron and Dumbledore as tall, thin and possessing a long nose (though Dumbledore's has been broken a couple of times). These three characteristics are repeated by Harry when he meets either of these two characters for the first time in almost every book.
Dumbledore is described as having long fingers, while Ron is described as having large hands and feet. Unless Ron is a mutant, having large hands would also mean having long fingers. Dumbledore is very, very old with white hair when we first meet him, but when Harry visits a fifty years younger Dumbledore in Riddle's diary, he is described as having auburn hair. In other words, Dumbledore was once a redhead just like Ron. While we know Dumbledore has sparkling blue eyes, JKR has very curiously neglected to have Harry mention Ron's eye color for five whole books now. We know nearly everyone else's eye color, including Arthur Weasley's (blue), but we don't know that of Harry's best friend.
Dumbledore's one other key characteristic, the scar above his left knee, is mentioned in the first chapter of PS/SS. While Harry hasn't noticed any tell tale scars shaped like the London Underground on Ron, we do indeed know from PoA that Ron has sustained a serious injury to his left leg. Though JKR curiously, and very pointedly, dances around which leg exactly it is that Ron has broken, we have determined that it is indeed his left leg. When Sirius conjures the manacles and attaches Peter to Ron and Lupin, he attaches Peter to Ron's left side. If you are injured and using only one crutch, you would, of course, use the crutch on the side of your injured leg. Sirius shackled Peter to Ron's injured side - his left.
2. How sweet it is...
Though on the surface Ron and Dumbledore seem to have little in common, they both have a great love for sweets. When we first meet Dumbledore he offers a lemon sherbet to Professor McGonagall. When we first meet Ron he introduces Harry to the wonderful world of wizarding candy. In PoA, he goes into a blissful trance describing to Harry and Hermione the wondrous confections to be found at Honeydukes, the magical sweets shop in Hogsmeade. In CoS we learn that Dumbledore likes to use the names of sweets as his office password. In PoA, Ron suggests to Hermione that they bring Harry back some Cockroach Clusters from Honeydukes. In GoF, when Harry returns to the castle to alert Dumbledore of Crouch Sr.'s strange appearance on the grounds of Hogwarts, he must guess the password to Dumbledore's office. He goes through a whole list of normal sweets, but to Harry's disbelief, the password ends up being, you guessed it, Cockroach Clusters.
But that is not all... In the last chapter of PS/SS, Dumbledore tells Harry that he lost his taste for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans after eating a vomit flavored bean in his youth. There is one problem with this... Bertie Bott was born in 1935. While Dumbledore is over 150 years old, and for him, 'youth' is a relative term, he could not have possibly eaten a Bertie Bott Every Flavor Bean until the 1950's, most likely even later, making him well over a hundred years old. Even in Dumbledore terms this is hardly his 'youth'. Before anyone makes the brilliant observation that the Bertie Bott card isn't canon, be sure to read the statement from Wizards of the Coast concerning their collaboration with JK Rowling on the making of the cards posted to The Leaky Cauldron.
3. "Dumbledore knows pretty much everything anyway" -- JKR
Dumbledore really does seem to know 'pretty much everything', even for a very wise old man with an army of pictographic spies.
In PS/SS, he knows precisely what Ron saw in the Mirror of Erised and exactly why Ron saw what he did. He tells Harry that there are other ways of being invisible, but are we to believe that Dumbledore was really waiting around every night for Harry to show up in front of the Mirror? He either knew exactly when to show up, or he was there the first time as Ron. When Harry asks Dumbledore what he himself sees in the Mirror, Dumbledore tells him he sees himself holding a pair of socks. What is it that Ron's mother is always giving him, but he never appreciates? Socks.
Dumbledore also knows the exact moment to show up and save Harry from Quirrelmort. In fact, Harry leads us to believe that Dumbledore orchestrated the entire thing. Now, we know Dumbledore lets Harry do some things he wouldn't let an ordinary student do, but isn't keeping a Pawn of Voldemort around for an entire school year a very dangerous thing to do? Why yes it is... unless of course Dumbledore knew that everything would turn out okay in the end.
In CoS we learn that Dumbledore never really trusted Tom Riddle, even before the murder of Moaning Myrtle. In the Chamber scene, Riddle tells Harry that Dumbledore never liked him as much as the other teachers. When Fudge comes for Hagrid and Lucius for Dumbledore, Harry and Ron are hiding under the invisibility cloak. Dumbledore knows exactly where they are and gives Harry a message. Not only that, but does anyone else think it odd that Dumbledore wasn't worried about what might happen to Harry after he leaves? Once again, Dumbledore sets Harry up to complete a very dangerous task. Either Dumbledore is truly mad, or he knows how it all turns out.
In PoA, Dumbledore very readily accepts the innocence of Sirius Black. One might come to the conclusion that he knew Sirius was innocent all along. In fact, many have. The only testimony he hears comes from Sirius himself (a convicted felon). He has already made up his mind to send Harry and Hermione back in time before they get a chance to tell their side of the story. When Harry and Hermione do go back in time, you will notice that every single thing happens in exactly the same way both times. There was never a time through in which Buckbeak was killed or Harry didn't cast his Patronus. JKR is even very careful to put in the door slamming from the second time through in the first time through. Yet... it is Dumbledore himself, as his 'first time' self, who ends up saving Buckbeak - he distracts everyone inside Hagrid's hut so that Harry and Hermione can make off with Buckbeak. Later, when Harry tells Dumbledore about Trelawney's prophecy, Dumbledore is not in the least bit phased. In fact, Harry is surprised he can take it so calmly. In addition, Dumbledore seems to be very adamant about Peter getting away being a 'good thing'. Oh sure, Peter owes him a life debt, but Dumbledore is just a little too convinced that it is all for the best.
GoF is a special case. Though we do find one really huge piece of evidence of Dumbledore's ability to know what he really shouldn't, we think that this was one of the times that Ron/DD may have actually tried to change the course of events. He goes to great lengths to prevent the younger students from entering the Tournament (the age line). He goes to great lengths to find the most trustworthy DADA professor possible (for only one year, and as a special favor) - Mad Eye Moody, someone he knows really, really well. Still, in the end, we believe the end result was exactly the same (except, perhaps, the death of Cedric).
So, what are we left with? Crouching Death Eater, Hidden Moody. When Dumbledore discovers that Moody is an imposter, he shows up with Snape and McGonagall in Moody's office. He tells McGonagall to go fetch Padfoot. He tells Snape to go fetch Winky and some Veritaserum. Oh wait... go fetch Winky? How did he know to fetch Winky? Barty Crouch Jr. still looked like Moody. Perhaps Dumbledore really is a super genius, and figured out there had to be a connection to the Crouches. However, Crouch Jr. was thought to be dead and Crouch Sr. was present with Moody the night the names came out of the Goblet. Oh wait, you say, perhaps Dumbledore suspected Crouch only began impersonating Moody AFTER Halloween. Or maybe, just maybe, he was able to figure out that Crouch Jr. wasn't really dead between the maze and Moody's office. Maybe... but he tells Harry 'you never knew the real Mad Eye Moody'. Everything else aside... this is something he could not possibly know with any certainty.
In OotP, Dumbledore knows from the very beginning to avoid Harry's gaze. While three years have passed for us, only one month has passed for Harry and Dumbledore. How does Dumbledore know when to begin avoiding Harry? He avoids his gaze from the very first time they meet in the courtroom (despite telling Harry later that he sensed something behind his eyes - he never looked Harry in the eye, something Harry was exceedingly peeved about). This is BEFORE Dumbledore knows about the dreams. This is BEFORE the attack on Arthur Weasley. Dumbledore absolutely can not know that Voldemort is already in Harry's mind. Later on, when the attack on Arthur does take place, Dumbledore knows the precise questions to ask Harry about the nature of the attack. We now know that Dumbledore is a Legilimens, however... Dumbledore could not have used this on Harry as he could not make eye contact for fear Voldemort would 'spy' on him. Speaking of which... the issue couldn't have been spying as such. After all, Harry is still observing Dumbledore. He still hangs out at Order headquarters. He still knows the identities of most of the members of the Order. While he is left largely in the dark (with disastrous consequences), he still observes much that would be useful for Voldemort and his followers. Dumbledore does, however, give us a hint as to what it is he doesn't want Voldemort to see:
"I was sure that if he realized that our relationship was - or had ever been - closer than that of headmaster and pupil, he would seize his chance to use you as a means to spy on me." (US OotP Ch27 pg 828)
Now, we do know that Dumbledore really loves Harry. He tells him as much in that same scene. However, it is curious that JKR would emphasize (by placing it between dashes) the phrase 'or had ever been'. It is not as simple as Dumbledore not wanting Voldemort knowing his true feelings for Harry and therefore be able to use them against him. After all, Voldemort now knows that, and his not knowing that ended up putting Harry and even more danger (the possession in the MoM). No, the significance is in the phrase 'or had ever been'. The truth is, as far as Harry is concerned, they really aren't any closer than Headmaster and pupil. Why was the line referring to a past relationship? Harry's relationship to Dumbledore has been constant all through the series. Dumbledore orchestrates hoops for Harry to jump through, Harry jumps, they chat about it at the end of the school year. We believe this 'had ever been' refers to Dumbledore's prior relationship to Harry as his best friend Ron. Dumbledore, of course, would not want Voldemort to know of this prior relationship because that would make Ron a target as well, messing up EVERYTHING. Without Ron, without Dumbledore, the game and the war are lost.
4. Foreshadowing
Ron makes it very clear on several occasions that he hates the color maroon. Could it be because he will eventually be 'marooned' in time?
In OotP, Ron is nearly strangled by some purple wizard robes while cleaning up Grimmauld Place. Who do we know wears purple robes? Dumbledore, of course.
Socks are a running theme throughout the series. They are used as symbols of freedom, redemption and love. Ron, however, doesn't ever really fully appreciate the socks his mother gives him. In PoA, he tosses them aside to gush over Harry's Firebolt. In GoF, he gives his Christmas socks to Dobby. Socks are also seen attached to Molly specifically - she is seen fussing over socks, looking for socks, folding socks, packing socks. And if Molly wasn't mother figure enough, Tonks tells Harry her own mother has this special knack for magically folding socks. In fact, the first time we see Harry, he is in his cupboard, looking for a pair of socks (though he has to knock the spiders off of them, not having a mother to fuss over them for him). Dobby is set free with a sock. Hermione knits socks for the house elves. Dumbledore, the man who clearly has all of the fame, power, respect, possessions and wisdom one could hope for in a lifetime, sees himself holding a pair of wooly socks in the Mirror of Erised. If you read this scene with Dumbledore being Ron in mind, it takes on a whole new and really huge significance Ron indeed becomes greater than all of his brothers, yet as an old man, he is still wistful for those socks his mother gave him and he never fully appreciated.
Ron's vision in the Mirror of Erised is rather curious. He sees himself as Head Boy, Quidditch Captain and holding both the House and Quidditch cups. We know that Ron has this uncanny knack for predicting the future. If, indeed, he is a Seer as many suspect, might he able to see his future in the Mirror? As of OotP, he seems to be on his way to this future - Prefect (it's the first step towards Head Boy!) and he is on the Quidditch team. Currently, he plays Keeper, a very appropriate position for a Knight, guarding a castle. If he does indeed end up becoming Quidditch Captain, he would also get to play out that dual role once more on the Quidditch field - Knight, as Keeper and King, as Captain.
In a few different places in the series, Ron is shown to hero- worship Dumbledore. Of all of these scenes, the most striking is at the end of PS/SS where Ron is extremely impressed with Dumbledore's orchestrating the rescuing of the Stone.
"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"
"Well," Hermione exploded, "If he did - I mean to say - that's terrible - you could have been killed."
"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."
"Yea, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly.
In OotP, Draco composes a lovely song - Weasley is Our King. If that isn't foreshadowing, I don't know what is. One line in particular is given significance by Draco. He is heard singing it loudly during the game by Harry, and Draco later quotes it in italics - born in a bin. While Draco likes to make fun of Ron's poverty, the phrase has a double meaning. 'Bin' is also a prefix meaning 'double' or 'two' - think 'binary'. Was Ron 'born' twice? Leading a double life? Is Draco trying to tell us something important?
Movie!Canon, but worth mentioning anyway... in Dumbledore's office on the CoS DVD, there is a hidden Easter egg that reveals a portrait on the wall of two wizard chess masters. One wizard is in red, the other in green. The floor beneath them is checkered like a chess board. As the camera pans towards the picture, ominous music is played. In another part of Dumbledore's office, there is a portrait of Dumbledore (there are two Dumbledore portraits in all) where he is depicted in maroon robes standing next to a chess set.
Okay... I told you there was a lot of evidence. I think it is a very interesting theory... I'm just not sure if I buy it.
I at least thought I would share! We also watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (SOMEHOW we obtained a copy)
That's all for now Potter Fans!
One of the students presented to the class a conspiracy theory, if you will, on Ron and Dumbledore. Essentially, the theory states that Ron and Dumbledore are the same person. JKR has denied this relationship between the two characters. However, the theory is rather interesting and there is some interesting evidence that suggests that they could be the same person.
Here is the relationship explained on a fan page:
Book abreviations are used:
SS/PS= Sorcerer's Stone (book 1)
CoS=Chamber of Secrets (book 2)
PoA= Prisoner of Azkaban (book 3)
GoF= Goblet of Fire (book 4)
OotP= Order of the Pheonix (book 5)
HBP= Half Blood Prince (book 6)
DH= Deathly Hallows (book 7)
1. Uncanny Resemblance
We often joke about how unobservant Harry is, and though he hasn't made the connection we have, he does indeed dutifully describe for us both Ron and Dumbledore's appearance. Harry describes both Ron and Dumbledore as tall, thin and possessing a long nose (though Dumbledore's has been broken a couple of times). These three characteristics are repeated by Harry when he meets either of these two characters for the first time in almost every book.
Dumbledore is described as having long fingers, while Ron is described as having large hands and feet. Unless Ron is a mutant, having large hands would also mean having long fingers. Dumbledore is very, very old with white hair when we first meet him, but when Harry visits a fifty years younger Dumbledore in Riddle's diary, he is described as having auburn hair. In other words, Dumbledore was once a redhead just like Ron. While we know Dumbledore has sparkling blue eyes, JKR has very curiously neglected to have Harry mention Ron's eye color for five whole books now. We know nearly everyone else's eye color, including Arthur Weasley's (blue), but we don't know that of Harry's best friend.
Dumbledore's one other key characteristic, the scar above his left knee, is mentioned in the first chapter of PS/SS. While Harry hasn't noticed any tell tale scars shaped like the London Underground on Ron, we do indeed know from PoA that Ron has sustained a serious injury to his left leg. Though JKR curiously, and very pointedly, dances around which leg exactly it is that Ron has broken, we have determined that it is indeed his left leg. When Sirius conjures the manacles and attaches Peter to Ron and Lupin, he attaches Peter to Ron's left side. If you are injured and using only one crutch, you would, of course, use the crutch on the side of your injured leg. Sirius shackled Peter to Ron's injured side - his left.
2. How sweet it is...
Though on the surface Ron and Dumbledore seem to have little in common, they both have a great love for sweets. When we first meet Dumbledore he offers a lemon sherbet to Professor McGonagall. When we first meet Ron he introduces Harry to the wonderful world of wizarding candy. In PoA, he goes into a blissful trance describing to Harry and Hermione the wondrous confections to be found at Honeydukes, the magical sweets shop in Hogsmeade. In CoS we learn that Dumbledore likes to use the names of sweets as his office password. In PoA, Ron suggests to Hermione that they bring Harry back some Cockroach Clusters from Honeydukes. In GoF, when Harry returns to the castle to alert Dumbledore of Crouch Sr.'s strange appearance on the grounds of Hogwarts, he must guess the password to Dumbledore's office. He goes through a whole list of normal sweets, but to Harry's disbelief, the password ends up being, you guessed it, Cockroach Clusters.
But that is not all... In the last chapter of PS/SS, Dumbledore tells Harry that he lost his taste for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans after eating a vomit flavored bean in his youth. There is one problem with this... Bertie Bott was born in 1935. While Dumbledore is over 150 years old, and for him, 'youth' is a relative term, he could not have possibly eaten a Bertie Bott Every Flavor Bean until the 1950's, most likely even later, making him well over a hundred years old. Even in Dumbledore terms this is hardly his 'youth'. Before anyone makes the brilliant observation that the Bertie Bott card isn't canon, be sure to read the statement from Wizards of the Coast concerning their collaboration with JK Rowling on the making of the cards posted to The Leaky Cauldron.
3. "Dumbledore knows pretty much everything anyway" -- JKR
Dumbledore really does seem to know 'pretty much everything', even for a very wise old man with an army of pictographic spies.
In PS/SS, he knows precisely what Ron saw in the Mirror of Erised and exactly why Ron saw what he did. He tells Harry that there are other ways of being invisible, but are we to believe that Dumbledore was really waiting around every night for Harry to show up in front of the Mirror? He either knew exactly when to show up, or he was there the first time as Ron. When Harry asks Dumbledore what he himself sees in the Mirror, Dumbledore tells him he sees himself holding a pair of socks. What is it that Ron's mother is always giving him, but he never appreciates? Socks.
Dumbledore also knows the exact moment to show up and save Harry from Quirrelmort. In fact, Harry leads us to believe that Dumbledore orchestrated the entire thing. Now, we know Dumbledore lets Harry do some things he wouldn't let an ordinary student do, but isn't keeping a Pawn of Voldemort around for an entire school year a very dangerous thing to do? Why yes it is... unless of course Dumbledore knew that everything would turn out okay in the end.
In CoS we learn that Dumbledore never really trusted Tom Riddle, even before the murder of Moaning Myrtle. In the Chamber scene, Riddle tells Harry that Dumbledore never liked him as much as the other teachers. When Fudge comes for Hagrid and Lucius for Dumbledore, Harry and Ron are hiding under the invisibility cloak. Dumbledore knows exactly where they are and gives Harry a message. Not only that, but does anyone else think it odd that Dumbledore wasn't worried about what might happen to Harry after he leaves? Once again, Dumbledore sets Harry up to complete a very dangerous task. Either Dumbledore is truly mad, or he knows how it all turns out.
In PoA, Dumbledore very readily accepts the innocence of Sirius Black. One might come to the conclusion that he knew Sirius was innocent all along. In fact, many have. The only testimony he hears comes from Sirius himself (a convicted felon). He has already made up his mind to send Harry and Hermione back in time before they get a chance to tell their side of the story. When Harry and Hermione do go back in time, you will notice that every single thing happens in exactly the same way both times. There was never a time through in which Buckbeak was killed or Harry didn't cast his Patronus. JKR is even very careful to put in the door slamming from the second time through in the first time through. Yet... it is Dumbledore himself, as his 'first time' self, who ends up saving Buckbeak - he distracts everyone inside Hagrid's hut so that Harry and Hermione can make off with Buckbeak. Later, when Harry tells Dumbledore about Trelawney's prophecy, Dumbledore is not in the least bit phased. In fact, Harry is surprised he can take it so calmly. In addition, Dumbledore seems to be very adamant about Peter getting away being a 'good thing'. Oh sure, Peter owes him a life debt, but Dumbledore is just a little too convinced that it is all for the best.
GoF is a special case. Though we do find one really huge piece of evidence of Dumbledore's ability to know what he really shouldn't, we think that this was one of the times that Ron/DD may have actually tried to change the course of events. He goes to great lengths to prevent the younger students from entering the Tournament (the age line). He goes to great lengths to find the most trustworthy DADA professor possible (for only one year, and as a special favor) - Mad Eye Moody, someone he knows really, really well. Still, in the end, we believe the end result was exactly the same (except, perhaps, the death of Cedric).
So, what are we left with? Crouching Death Eater, Hidden Moody. When Dumbledore discovers that Moody is an imposter, he shows up with Snape and McGonagall in Moody's office. He tells McGonagall to go fetch Padfoot. He tells Snape to go fetch Winky and some Veritaserum. Oh wait... go fetch Winky? How did he know to fetch Winky? Barty Crouch Jr. still looked like Moody. Perhaps Dumbledore really is a super genius, and figured out there had to be a connection to the Crouches. However, Crouch Jr. was thought to be dead and Crouch Sr. was present with Moody the night the names came out of the Goblet. Oh wait, you say, perhaps Dumbledore suspected Crouch only began impersonating Moody AFTER Halloween. Or maybe, just maybe, he was able to figure out that Crouch Jr. wasn't really dead between the maze and Moody's office. Maybe... but he tells Harry 'you never knew the real Mad Eye Moody'. Everything else aside... this is something he could not possibly know with any certainty.
In OotP, Dumbledore knows from the very beginning to avoid Harry's gaze. While three years have passed for us, only one month has passed for Harry and Dumbledore. How does Dumbledore know when to begin avoiding Harry? He avoids his gaze from the very first time they meet in the courtroom (despite telling Harry later that he sensed something behind his eyes - he never looked Harry in the eye, something Harry was exceedingly peeved about). This is BEFORE Dumbledore knows about the dreams. This is BEFORE the attack on Arthur Weasley. Dumbledore absolutely can not know that Voldemort is already in Harry's mind. Later on, when the attack on Arthur does take place, Dumbledore knows the precise questions to ask Harry about the nature of the attack. We now know that Dumbledore is a Legilimens, however... Dumbledore could not have used this on Harry as he could not make eye contact for fear Voldemort would 'spy' on him. Speaking of which... the issue couldn't have been spying as such. After all, Harry is still observing Dumbledore. He still hangs out at Order headquarters. He still knows the identities of most of the members of the Order. While he is left largely in the dark (with disastrous consequences), he still observes much that would be useful for Voldemort and his followers. Dumbledore does, however, give us a hint as to what it is he doesn't want Voldemort to see:
"I was sure that if he realized that our relationship was - or had ever been - closer than that of headmaster and pupil, he would seize his chance to use you as a means to spy on me." (US OotP Ch27 pg 828)
Now, we do know that Dumbledore really loves Harry. He tells him as much in that same scene. However, it is curious that JKR would emphasize (by placing it between dashes) the phrase 'or had ever been'. It is not as simple as Dumbledore not wanting Voldemort knowing his true feelings for Harry and therefore be able to use them against him. After all, Voldemort now knows that, and his not knowing that ended up putting Harry and even more danger (the possession in the MoM). No, the significance is in the phrase 'or had ever been'. The truth is, as far as Harry is concerned, they really aren't any closer than Headmaster and pupil. Why was the line referring to a past relationship? Harry's relationship to Dumbledore has been constant all through the series. Dumbledore orchestrates hoops for Harry to jump through, Harry jumps, they chat about it at the end of the school year. We believe this 'had ever been' refers to Dumbledore's prior relationship to Harry as his best friend Ron. Dumbledore, of course, would not want Voldemort to know of this prior relationship because that would make Ron a target as well, messing up EVERYTHING. Without Ron, without Dumbledore, the game and the war are lost.
4. Foreshadowing
Ron makes it very clear on several occasions that he hates the color maroon. Could it be because he will eventually be 'marooned' in time?
In OotP, Ron is nearly strangled by some purple wizard robes while cleaning up Grimmauld Place. Who do we know wears purple robes? Dumbledore, of course.
Socks are a running theme throughout the series. They are used as symbols of freedom, redemption and love. Ron, however, doesn't ever really fully appreciate the socks his mother gives him. In PoA, he tosses them aside to gush over Harry's Firebolt. In GoF, he gives his Christmas socks to Dobby. Socks are also seen attached to Molly specifically - she is seen fussing over socks, looking for socks, folding socks, packing socks. And if Molly wasn't mother figure enough, Tonks tells Harry her own mother has this special knack for magically folding socks. In fact, the first time we see Harry, he is in his cupboard, looking for a pair of socks (though he has to knock the spiders off of them, not having a mother to fuss over them for him). Dobby is set free with a sock. Hermione knits socks for the house elves. Dumbledore, the man who clearly has all of the fame, power, respect, possessions and wisdom one could hope for in a lifetime, sees himself holding a pair of wooly socks in the Mirror of Erised. If you read this scene with Dumbledore being Ron in mind, it takes on a whole new and really huge significance Ron indeed becomes greater than all of his brothers, yet as an old man, he is still wistful for those socks his mother gave him and he never fully appreciated.
Ron's vision in the Mirror of Erised is rather curious. He sees himself as Head Boy, Quidditch Captain and holding both the House and Quidditch cups. We know that Ron has this uncanny knack for predicting the future. If, indeed, he is a Seer as many suspect, might he able to see his future in the Mirror? As of OotP, he seems to be on his way to this future - Prefect (it's the first step towards Head Boy!) and he is on the Quidditch team. Currently, he plays Keeper, a very appropriate position for a Knight, guarding a castle. If he does indeed end up becoming Quidditch Captain, he would also get to play out that dual role once more on the Quidditch field - Knight, as Keeper and King, as Captain.
In a few different places in the series, Ron is shown to hero- worship Dumbledore. Of all of these scenes, the most striking is at the end of PS/SS where Ron is extremely impressed with Dumbledore's orchestrating the rescuing of the Stone.
"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"
"Well," Hermione exploded, "If he did - I mean to say - that's terrible - you could have been killed."
"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."
"Yea, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly.
In OotP, Draco composes a lovely song - Weasley is Our King. If that isn't foreshadowing, I don't know what is. One line in particular is given significance by Draco. He is heard singing it loudly during the game by Harry, and Draco later quotes it in italics - born in a bin. While Draco likes to make fun of Ron's poverty, the phrase has a double meaning. 'Bin' is also a prefix meaning 'double' or 'two' - think 'binary'. Was Ron 'born' twice? Leading a double life? Is Draco trying to tell us something important?
Movie!Canon, but worth mentioning anyway... in Dumbledore's office on the CoS DVD, there is a hidden Easter egg that reveals a portrait on the wall of two wizard chess masters. One wizard is in red, the other in green. The floor beneath them is checkered like a chess board. As the camera pans towards the picture, ominous music is played. In another part of Dumbledore's office, there is a portrait of Dumbledore (there are two Dumbledore portraits in all) where he is depicted in maroon robes standing next to a chess set.
Okay... I told you there was a lot of evidence. I think it is a very interesting theory... I'm just not sure if I buy it.
I at least thought I would share! We also watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (SOMEHOW we obtained a copy)
That's all for now Potter Fans!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Harry, it isn't how you are alike. It's how you are not.
Today we started off by talking about the government and it's responsibility to create a social order and this order can be humane or inhumane. In the Harry Potter series, the wizards do not do a good job of creating this social order in a humane way. We discussed how it is ultimately the job of the institution to treat it's citizens humanely even if they don't feel responsible.
This discussion lead to the discussion of how one person cannot know the pain of another person (I think this went along the same lines of treating people humanely or inhumanely). We related this to showing horses about how the Olympic horses are getting injured as a result of the showmanship and this is, in our opinion, an inhumane way to treat an animal for a competition.
This lead to a discussion on professional football players and how they sacrifice mind and body to play this sport and some players ultimately end up physically and mentally injured at the end of their careers. However, we did have a debate about whether they fall into this category because they WILLINGLY participate in this sport and they KNOW the pain they could eventually suffer as a result of football. How exactly this relates to Harry Potter I am not sure. :-)
We finished the fifth movie today and class and hopefully someone will be able to obtain the sixth movie, probably not legally, so that we can watch it. If not, we will watch movies related to Harry Potter such as Star Wars or Australia (related thorugh the theme of magic).
That's all for now!
This discussion lead to the discussion of how one person cannot know the pain of another person (I think this went along the same lines of treating people humanely or inhumanely). We related this to showing horses about how the Olympic horses are getting injured as a result of the showmanship and this is, in our opinion, an inhumane way to treat an animal for a competition.
This lead to a discussion on professional football players and how they sacrifice mind and body to play this sport and some players ultimately end up physically and mentally injured at the end of their careers. However, we did have a debate about whether they fall into this category because they WILLINGLY participate in this sport and they KNOW the pain they could eventually suffer as a result of football. How exactly this relates to Harry Potter I am not sure. :-)
We finished the fifth movie today and class and hopefully someone will be able to obtain the sixth movie, probably not legally, so that we can watch it. If not, we will watch movies related to Harry Potter such as Star Wars or Australia (related thorugh the theme of magic).
That's all for now!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sorry Professor, but I Must Not Tell Lies
This past week we were discussing the individual vs. the institution and my professor brought up the idea that Harry and Dumbledore could resemble God and Jesus. However, we didn't get very far into this discussion because two kids in the class literally started arguing about religion essentially about the different views of Jesus. It was ridiculous and the professor didn't even really get to make the point she wanted to make because she just let these two kids argue about religion almost the whole class period. We started watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheniox which is the fifth movie. I don't know what we are going to do when we finish it though because the sixth movie doesn't come out on DVD for another couple weeks.
I also found this posting on MyLifeIsAverage.com that I thought was funny because I clearly did not realize this either:
Today, my 8 year old cousin was reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time. When she got to the part about the Mirror of Erised, she pointed out that Erised was desire spelled backwards. I'm a sophomore in college and it blew my mind. MLIA.
Thanks for reading!
I also found this posting on MyLifeIsAverage.com that I thought was funny because I clearly did not realize this either:
Today, my 8 year old cousin was reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time. When she got to the part about the Mirror of Erised, she pointed out that Erised was desire spelled backwards. I'm a sophomore in college and it blew my mind. MLIA.
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Your wand, Harry! Your wand!
Continuing our discussion from last week, we tried an experiment in divination. We used Zener cards to try to send psychic signals to one another. There are twenty-five zener cards per deck and each has a picture on it. Five circles, five squares, five crosses, five stars, and five squiggles. The sender randomly draws one card and then proceeds to try to send the image to the reciever who then trys to pick what symbol the sender is giving them.
It didn't seem to work very well except for how many should through probability. It was an interesting experiement though. I'm going to be taking the cards home with me to try some more experiments to see if any of my friends are on the same "mental wavelength."
It didn't seem to work very well except for how many should through probability. It was an interesting experiement though. I'm going to be taking the cards home with me to try some more experiments to see if any of my friends are on the same "mental wavelength."
Monday, October 19, 2009
Cedric Diggory was murdered, by Lord Voldemort
Lumos Family and Friends!
I haven't updated in two weeks! Jeez. So let me give you an overview of what we've been discussing in class for the past two weeks!
October 6th, we talked about the nature of evil. We discussed the two basic types of evil: vincible and invincible evil. The difference between the two being that when it is vincible evil the person is knowingly hurting others' as opposed to invincible evil when the person is unknowingly causing harm. The nature of evil can also be related back to the forms of authority: traditional, legal-rational, charismatic.
Voldemort performs these evil acts (being vincible evils since he knowingly harms others) so that he can obtain immortality. However, we discussed how immortality looks attractive until you look at what happens when you actually obtain it. The question is, what happens if you outlive everybody?
The basic plot line of Harry Potter is the parallel careers of two orphans, Harry Potter and Tom Riddle. These two orphans have two very different trajectories in life and used their similar situation to create very different lives. However, we did discuss that it is possible that Tom Riddle aka Voldemort is not inherently evil, he is just angry at being abandoned.
When discussing evil, other characters besides Voldemort clearly come to mind such as the Dementors, Snape, The Malfoy's, and Belatrix LeStrange. It is very possible that dementors are not evil, they are just seen as evil because of the nature of the lives they lead (considering they live by sucking the happiness out of people). I would honestly say that Belatrix is seriously demented and evil because she ENJOYS other people's suffering, but that could be a result from going crazy from 12 years in Azkaban.
The most interesting "evil" character is Snape. Snape was from Slythering and friends with many death eaters. He had the potential to gain his own following because he was such a brilliant man. However, Snape's reasoning for being such an "evil" character is out of his jealousy (and love) fo Lily Potter and her marriage to James and the humiliation he experienced while in school. We have to ask ourselves, did Snape use the best means to reach the ultimate end?
October 13th, we talked about the art of divination and forms of real life divination (aka seeing the future). There are many forms of divination in real human culture:
-Arithromancy
-Astrology
-Numerology
-Tarot
-I Ching
-Mayan Calandar
-Oracles
We as human culture believe in this ability to see the future and predict the future. This ability could be potentially very dangerous. Can you imagine if you actually had the ability to predict the future? More over, what if people KNEW that you could acurately predict the future? You would never have a moments rest!
Everyone thinks that Trelawny, the divinations professor, is a fake. Which is potentially why she is safe and not being bothered 24/7 about the future. Since people think she is a fake, she is protected from society itself.
One of the last philosophical questions we discussed in class that day was the idea that If diviners are right, it is much scarier than if they are wrong. Being right could potentially cause much more harm than good.
As always in Harry Potter class, I feel like we ask more questions to answer our questions. This class has really translated how Harry Potter and magic appears everywhere and how Harry Potter really is rooted in real life culture.
One last note before I finish this post. Today in my American History class our professor lectured on the Salem Witch Trials. Which made me laugh because as we all know, no REAL withces we caught during the Salem Witch Trials, because of course they had magically abilities to avoid capture. And those witches who were actually captured never died because they performed charms to prevent the flames from buring them!
Even though we are very close to running out of movies in Harry Potter Class, we are working on the fourth movie Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Tomorrow we will pick the movie back up at the first task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
That's all for now!
I haven't updated in two weeks! Jeez. So let me give you an overview of what we've been discussing in class for the past two weeks!
October 6th, we talked about the nature of evil. We discussed the two basic types of evil: vincible and invincible evil. The difference between the two being that when it is vincible evil the person is knowingly hurting others' as opposed to invincible evil when the person is unknowingly causing harm. The nature of evil can also be related back to the forms of authority: traditional, legal-rational, charismatic.
Voldemort performs these evil acts (being vincible evils since he knowingly harms others) so that he can obtain immortality. However, we discussed how immortality looks attractive until you look at what happens when you actually obtain it. The question is, what happens if you outlive everybody?
The basic plot line of Harry Potter is the parallel careers of two orphans, Harry Potter and Tom Riddle. These two orphans have two very different trajectories in life and used their similar situation to create very different lives. However, we did discuss that it is possible that Tom Riddle aka Voldemort is not inherently evil, he is just angry at being abandoned.
When discussing evil, other characters besides Voldemort clearly come to mind such as the Dementors, Snape, The Malfoy's, and Belatrix LeStrange. It is very possible that dementors are not evil, they are just seen as evil because of the nature of the lives they lead (considering they live by sucking the happiness out of people). I would honestly say that Belatrix is seriously demented and evil because she ENJOYS other people's suffering, but that could be a result from going crazy from 12 years in Azkaban.
The most interesting "evil" character is Snape. Snape was from Slythering and friends with many death eaters. He had the potential to gain his own following because he was such a brilliant man. However, Snape's reasoning for being such an "evil" character is out of his jealousy (and love) fo Lily Potter and her marriage to James and the humiliation he experienced while in school. We have to ask ourselves, did Snape use the best means to reach the ultimate end?
October 13th, we talked about the art of divination and forms of real life divination (aka seeing the future). There are many forms of divination in real human culture:
-Arithromancy
-Astrology
-Numerology
-Tarot
-I Ching
-Mayan Calandar
-Oracles
We as human culture believe in this ability to see the future and predict the future. This ability could be potentially very dangerous. Can you imagine if you actually had the ability to predict the future? More over, what if people KNEW that you could acurately predict the future? You would never have a moments rest!
Everyone thinks that Trelawny, the divinations professor, is a fake. Which is potentially why she is safe and not being bothered 24/7 about the future. Since people think she is a fake, she is protected from society itself.
One of the last philosophical questions we discussed in class that day was the idea that If diviners are right, it is much scarier than if they are wrong. Being right could potentially cause much more harm than good.
As always in Harry Potter class, I feel like we ask more questions to answer our questions. This class has really translated how Harry Potter and magic appears everywhere and how Harry Potter really is rooted in real life culture.
One last note before I finish this post. Today in my American History class our professor lectured on the Salem Witch Trials. Which made me laugh because as we all know, no REAL withces we caught during the Salem Witch Trials, because of course they had magically abilities to avoid capture. And those witches who were actually captured never died because they performed charms to prevent the flames from buring them!
Even though we are very close to running out of movies in Harry Potter Class, we are working on the fourth movie Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Tomorrow we will pick the movie back up at the first task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
That's all for now!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
He Was Their Friend!
This week we discussed secret societies and common traits that these type of societies have. We compared the Free Masons and Skull and Cross Bones to the Death Eaters. They all have certain aspects in common because they are all secret societies. For example, they all have alternate identities. They wear a "mask" in society so that they can hide their membership to the secret society. Another aspect is that a member only knows a couple other members so that one person cannot take down the entire society.
After this discussion we watched the beginning of the third movie Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. While watching it we made fun of their bad acting skills. Especially when Harry discovers that Sirius Black is his godfather and starts to "cry" then yells that "He was their friend and he betrayed them! He was their friend!" Such bad acting Daniel Radcliffe. We all started laughing REALLY hard and our professor told us all that we were "strange" but honestly, it was funny how bad the acting was and how we all laughed at it!
One last thought, me and my friends joined the Muggle Quidditch team her at Miami! It's a lot of fun, but it is a contact sport so there are some bumps and bruises! I'm not a very good chaser but I'm becoming a better beater so I think I'm going to stick with that. Here is a video to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UfPij5ABdo&feature=channel
After this discussion we watched the beginning of the third movie Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. While watching it we made fun of their bad acting skills. Especially when Harry discovers that Sirius Black is his godfather and starts to "cry" then yells that "He was their friend and he betrayed them! He was their friend!" Such bad acting Daniel Radcliffe. We all started laughing REALLY hard and our professor told us all that we were "strange" but honestly, it was funny how bad the acting was and how we all laughed at it!
One last thought, me and my friends joined the Muggle Quidditch team her at Miami! It's a lot of fun, but it is a contact sport so there are some bumps and bruises! I'm not a very good chaser but I'm becoming a better beater so I think I'm going to stick with that. Here is a video to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UfPij5ABdo&feature=channel
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