Friday, June 20, 2003 :::
At NRO today, Kopel writes favorably about a book that writes favorably about Harry Potter. It comes with some speculation:
Harry will be revealed as the true heir of Godric Gryffindor and the climatic battle will be fought at Harry's birthplace, Godric Hollow. The heir of Gryffindor will confront the Heir of Slytherin (slithering, like a snake), Voldemort. Dumbledore has powers of invisibility; that is how he knew that the orphan Neville Longbottom (no-village, long at the lowest place) stood up to his friends in Sorcerer's Stone. Dumbledore will die, because Harry must defeat Voldemort himself. Snape's mixed feelings about Harry -- he saves Harry's life, but is angrily jealous of Harry's fame -- can be traced back to Snape's school days; then, Snape loved the green-eyed Lily (perhaps a Slytherin student, since the house color is green) who rejected him for James. No matter what -- love and sacrifice will battle with death, at first appearing to be defeated, and then triumphing gloriously.
I agree that Dumbledore will probably die in book 7. I don't know whether or not Harry follows suit. The Snape/Lily conjecture is intriguing. I think Snape is the most mysterious of the characters.
Just over eight hours. I'll be at Harvard Book Store this evening.
UPDATE: Why, yes, I do think the author of the book has read too much into it. I think he's right on some things (e.g., the name "Draco Malfoy") and wrong on others (e.g. Neville Longbottom's first name; probably the Philip Pullman connection). Some things could go either way (Pilgrim's Progress). But don't underrate Rowling's awareness of what she's doing -- especially when names have French, Latin, or mythological meanings.
Incidentally, each book covers a year, except for the first book which had some preamble. Also excepting the first book and the newest, each book begins with Harry's birthday, July 31, or late in the evening before. Order of the Phoenix (the new book) starts on August 2, and 150 pages in, it's August 12th. It's a long book.
::: posted by Steven at 3:51 PM
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