Fluids and Fluidity: Potions and Horcruxes

This is a post I promised a while ago, but it has to do also with some upcoming stuff on the "psychic physics" of Rowling's world and the discovery of the Red-Hen writer. Potions and Horcruxes I have had this thought since around 2/12, that what we have said before about Potions as connected to the water element and cunning etc: That potions is a sort of "cruxing" that has the potential for "horrible crossings." In Potions you mix magical elements together, sometimes you want them to blend, and sometimes you want to keep them separate (hence my theory on how exactly the Sectum Sempra spell might be used in potions - to cut elements in such a way that they will not recombine once in solution - following on Pauli's observations from others that the spell may be not originally so dark and may be a very commonly useful one). In either case, Potions as an art is practically defined by the con-joining different magical elements. Fluids and Fluidity To see this tenet if potions as a form of magic, it helps to contrast it to charms and transfiguration, both of which are based in spells and require a wand. The word-play in the sub-title has to do with the obvious fact that a potion is usually a fluid, but the furthermore with the fact that spell-based wand-magic requires a certain fluidity that potions does not. Potions requires precise calculations and precision in chronological timing (cf the post on "narrative defined," perma-linked on the left side bar), but Charms and Transfiguration require, in short, a certain grace of movement and speech. Notice in book 1 the introductory first year Transfiguration lesson and the teaching of "ferraverto." Notice also, in that same book, Flitwick's emphasis on the "swish and flick" in the "wingardium leviosa" charm. Another good place to look for the importance of this fluidity and grace is in the "Dumbledore's Army" chapter of book 5 - there is a lot in what Harry notices about how people are doing the spells. Calculations and Cunning As I said, Potions requires a high level of calculation (or cunning, in the sense that you say a cunning person is very "calculating"), in contrast to the fluid grace required for the other arts. This calculation connects with what I have said in many places about Divination. In short, there are 4 arts involved in this consideration on calculations: Astronomy, Astrology, Divination and Arithmancy. AstroLOGY is the application of "logic" to the movements of the stars; AstroNOMY, on the other hand, takes that more intuitive thing of logic and turns it into an iron-clad law ("nomos" = the Greek word for "law") - just as "science" seeks to impose a tyranny of materialism over human physicality (I would call human physicality "Flesh and Blood" vs the "calculating" term used by somebody like DesCartes, "Res Extensia" - or "extended reality" - ie physical matter, vs spiritual matter, which he called "Res Cogitens" or "thinking reality") As we find out from Firenze in book 5, even true prophecy (ie, that of when the Centaurs get it right, which takes years and is tenuous - vs what Trelawney does most of the time), in the sense of fore-casting, is not that sure and not that valuable. What Trelawney usuaully does is not even this level, but a mere sham of it - and her valid prophecies have nothing to do with her active reading of stars or crystal balls or tea leaves, but an unconscious trance in which she basically channels the voice of true prohecy. So, we have 3 sceinces that deal with the stars and fortune telling, and the worst of them, I think, is Astronomy (IE Dumbledore's death atop the tower, Sinistra as professor etc)- that which seeks to apply the tyrannical "laws" of science (which were not really ever meant to be prescriptive laws, but rather descriptive) to the stars, and I would call this an evil manipulation of the role of the science of mathematics, a complete marterialization of it (ie making it a solely materialist enterprise rather than one ope to the evidence of the transcendant breaking into and out of the material of nature). The answer to the "tyranny of science" is, as you can guess I would say, Arithmancy: Arithmancy is the use of names and numbers to tell about a person's character. Arithmancy is also known as Numerology. The only information given is that the subject is quite hard — therefore attractive to Hermione — and running parallel to Divination lessons at Hogwarts. An optional subject, taught from the third year to the seventh. (taken from here) All of the stuff here on Divination and Astronomy vs Arithmancy has been really for the purpose of developing this idea of the character and place (in relation to other central tensions such as magic numerology and prohpecy) of the "calculation" of cunning used in potions so you can get a better idea Interesting: Polyjuice in the "X" This is just sort of a side-thought in light of the chiastic sturcture of the series - I had thought at one point this might be a clue to something about Horace Slughorn but I found a simpler answer. One of the key potions in the series thus far has been Polyjuice Potion. As I said in the Chiasm post (cf left side-bar), look for an element in book 4 as the center and then it's presence in an earlier book and then in the matching later book. So I saw PJ potion in 4, and in 2 ... and I thought "OOOOOOOOHH? Was Sluggo really somebody else?" - but then I realized that the presence in book 6 was already known and was minor: Crabb and Goyle as the two girls Harry always sees Draco with. Maybe there is something more going on with Crabb and Goyle being girls etc but I think my main point here is just to realize what a central role potions play, as evidenced the way PJ potion is used in the x-structure. It only fits, that potions relate in a central way to the idea of Horcruxes. Other Cruxes This whole thing of cruxes and conjuctions is HUGE in the works. In looking up the stuff above on Arithmancy, I was looking up Sinistra first and found a list there of Hogwarts' courses arranged by those which are required and those which are optional (btw, did anybody else notice that it was Percy Weasley who suggested to Harry to take Divination?). This was connected to the list of professors, minor and major. And who can remember the name of the ministry approved Apparition instructor for 6th years? Twycross - two crosses (maybe "double-cross?") Remember that in the "Potters Pains" post I talked about the uniquely heightened awareness Harry has of the nature of this wandless form of magic.

On Seekers

I was wrong, Krum was not the only seeker ever to catch the snitch while losing the game ... Ginny does it in her first game as seeker, against Hufflepuff in book 5.

Rialb on Slugs and Slughorn

Merlin and I have been pretty busy getting ready for the Baptism tomorrow of my third son and his God-son. Well, that and everything else both sacred and profane. Rumor has it that Merlin is editing an entire encyclopedia for a mad professor-friend of ours. Don't worry - all deadly weapons have been hidden well out of Merlin's reach in case he goes postal. In the meantime, Rialb has a good post on the Hogwarts' newest potions master that provokes some thinking and is an especially refreshing reverie from the horcrux speculations, Snape speculations, the "is-Dumbledore-not-quite-dead-yet-like-the-Black-Knight-in-that-Monty-Python-movie" speculation and the "will-Trevor-the-Toad-kill-Mrs.-Norris" speculation.

Umbridge's Shadow

I was listening recently to the part in book 5 where Umbridge puts Trelawney on Probation. I believe I have gone through some of these ideas in posts long gone by, but I'll repeat here because this is a more clear idea of them and based in some specifics of book 5. What is in a Name Before I go to the specifics of book 5, I want to note something about Umbridge's name and Biblical typology and prophecy. Really, in the Biblical way of seeing things, typology is what real prophecy is all about - the fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecies in New Testament Realities is based not in the mere physical details, but in the typological "making full" of the symbolsic connections. St. Ambrose was one of what are refered to as "The Mystogogical Fathers," Fathers of the early Church who focussed not only on the typological fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New, but on the living out of that typological reality in the Sacraments of the Church. Ambrose in particular had a very broad and richly developed vocabulary regarding this typology. One of the terms he specifially made us of was the term for "shadow" ... which is (you guessed it) "Umbra." Prophecy as Forth-telling, not Fore-Telling Umbridge asks Trelawney to predict something, anyhing. This is a very materialist outlook. The thing is, in true prohpecy (as I am purporting Rowling sees it, in line with the definition my one professor, Dr. Hahn, has given of it - primarily "forth-telling," not fore-telling) you cannot predict in a vacuum, you cannot simply predict "something." You always have to have a specific situation to look into and understand the inner working of what is going on it, the real essence of the thing, in order to "predict" how history is going to "rhyme" (going back to Dr Hahn's favorite Mark Twain quote: "History does not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme"). The True Seer Although undoubtedly not in the way she meant, Umbridge gets her demand fulfilled and becomes herself the subject of prophecy by a true seer, or seers - the centaurs. Her "shadow" or umbrage is fulfilled in a prophetic revelation of her true nature. The whole way along Ron and Hermione, and basically all of the students accept Malfoy's gang, have been decrying what a nutter Umbridge is. When she comes face to face with the true seers of the woods, her luncacy is revealed for what it has been all along. The true diviners force her into a more realistic, or full, actualization of the craziness she already embodies and she winds up batty in the hospital wing. Back to the "Normal," Back to the Nut-house You might ask why we then see Umbridge again in book 6 at Dumbledore's funeral, back at her job with the ministry, if she has been revealed to be a nut case. That is the point, she was already a fruit-cake all along, and those with "eyes to see" saw that ... and those like Fudge thought her lunacy to be wisdom. Unfortunately Scrimgeour, although a bit less of an idiot, is unfortunately pretty much the type of bureaucrat who, while not being so buddy-buddy with her, still thinks her relatively safe and sane.

Earth and Sky: The Divided House of the Seekers

"And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. " -Genesis 1 : 7-8 Ok, This is a post sort of conitinuing that on the "order of the seeker." I have been listening to the point in book 5 where Harry and Cho kiss and Hermione's explanation of Cho's emotional state to Harry and Ron (loved the part where Harry wonders if mamybe Cho was crying because he is a bad kisser and Hermione says of course not, and Ron flares up and asks how she would know that.) This connects with Harry's thoughts on Neville in book 4, about how it is Voldy who has orphaned them all and broken up all these families. Here is another house and family that Voldy broke, but before it even had the chance to form, and that is the love of Cedric and Cho. And this is sort of my thought on why Cho is so broken up about Cedric's death, why she is so confused and hurt by it and seeks out Harry. As a member of House Hufflepuff Cedric is earth; and as a member of House Ravenclaw Cho is air or sky. These two divide the waters above and the waters below, and their unification in love/marriage would be a pathway to a communion between those two waters (not necessarily a union that loses distinction, but one of harmony.) But that path is cut off by Voldy killing Cedric. These two seekers are thwarted from finding the golden snitch of union that could begin to be a path to the communion that would make the water element whole and healthy. This is not to say that the separation of the waters is unhealthy, at least as it occurs in creation before the Fall. It simply distinguishes the waters. Like I said, "reunification" would not undo this distinction, but make it full healthy. And taht is what the Fall, in the form of Voldy as the serpent, cut short. Voldy wants the water element un-whole and unhealthy,all for himself and at his own disposal and whims. I'll simply end by noting that in being cut off, Cedric does not participate in the cutting off the way Adam participated in the fall. These things, as concern Cedric and Cho, are not the fall itself but the effects of the fall. Cedric did not sin ... he was murdered.

The 8th Horcrux: The Scar and Last Things

Ok, so I have been arguing for the scar as horcrux. This post is something that really got my brain buzzing when it came to me, but it is not an argument per se for the scar as horcrux. It is simply an attempt to delve into the numerological symbol of Theology that the works open the doorway for and explain how I think the scar being a horcrux would fit really well with what is already going on in the text of Rowling, in part because it goes on in the world that stands behind her thought, especially because she would have studied that world as a classics major in college. The 7th and 8th Days Most know that in the Genesis creation account (chapters 1 and 2) the 7th day is the Sabbath. It is not as commonly recognized, though, that the Sabbath is particularly within the created order and thus destined to be transcended in the Eschaton (Heaven and our participation in Eternity), and that this is foreshadowed in the Old Testament by the fact that circumcision is on the 8th day and that circumcision is fulfilled in Baptism (which St Paul speaks of as a circumcision of the heart, following the language of the last chapters of Deuteronomy). It is also not too well known, outside of the circles of us academic nerds LOL, that St. Augustine waged within his own mind a great debate near the end of his life/"career" over whether the Eschaton was, symbolically, the 7th or 8th day (I think it is the latter ... but the issue is more complicated than it seems on the surface.) The core idea he used of seeing world/Salvation History as a 7 stage process was picked up later by St. Bonaventure. The key thing for our purposes here is that the number 7 is the number of perfection, but perfection in creation - although even that perfection cannot be reached without the Transcendent. But the fullness of that transcendence is properly the 8th day, the 8th age of the world that completely transcends all other ages, but (from this side of the veil) informs the very being of those ages. The 8th Horcrux Anyway, I'm just going to throw a suggestion out there on the table. I suggest Voldemort did create 6 Horcruxes, with his original self as the 7th. Here I'll offer my only attempt at "evidence," and it is by no means conclusive. But I think the way he talks to his death eaters in the graveyard in GoF, at least sounds to me, when he speaks of "you all knew the measures I took long ago to protect myself against death!", like he actually got 7 total horcruxes including his original self. Of course, one horcrux could have protected against death, but it just seems to me like there is something in his voice like he got everything accomplished he wanted to in that regard, ie 7 HCs (of course it could just be wishful thinking on my part LOL). One interesting aspect here is that his original self is not the 7th, but the first - there is something seminal here. I cannot pin it all down yet in my mind but it is very similar to the fact that in the Greek of the Septuagint text of Genesis 1:5, it does not say "the first day," it says "the one day" (the word mia, not the word protei) ... Voldemort's original self as the "first" horcrux is seminal, it is the one for which all the others exist and they are not equal to it for him. The Irony is that that is how he transgressed, he worshipped that "one" and for it's sake became more than "one," more than a singular, whole and healthy person. My main theory here, though, is that he already had 7 HCs when he went in to kill Harry. And then he accidentally created another ... an 8th one, one that opened him to the transcendent - and that was what undid him. That 8th horcrux was on another person, and it is the mystery of the human person (especially in the Incarnation) that always undoes heresies and sorceries. For this to be part of Rowling's thought, however' does not mean that she necessarily has all that I have said here in mind (but ... and I have said this a million times and will keep saying it, tipping my hat to her ... she may, she is a pretty bright person, you know) - her thought could be (if she is thinking along these lines at all) simply, "Voldemort undid himself by opening himself to going too far - he wanted to stop at 7 ... but he couldn't. In trying to hold onto himself this way, he slid himself right into something much larger than himself." Just a thought :)

Number 4 Privet Drive and the Order of the Seeker: of Enemies, Friends, Lovers and Saviors

So, it is late here but I just had to get this one out before it slips from my brain-pan - and because I really like it. My brother Steve (the one from whom I got the original idea for the key biblical allusion in the image of the Quidditch seeker, linked to in the post on Krum) and I were on a bit of a drive and I was telling him about some of the stuff I have been writing here, and especially about my prediction of Krum chasing Harry like the golden snitch, and then about Ginny as seeker ... and then it came to me. But only 3 seekers came to me at first, not 4 ... but when I told Steve what I was thinking he brilliantly filled in the 4th seeker in such a way that it suggested not only 4 seekers (besides Harry himself) BUT ALSO a progression in the way each of these actual Quidditch seekers seeks Harry as the Golden Soul/snitch. The part about Krum is based in my prediction of his final "seeking" in book 7 (and since he is the final of the four seekers listed here, this whole post is really predictory in nature) but the remembrance of Malfoy as seeker came, as I said, brilliantly from Steve. So Here they are, in their progressive order (listed in the title of this post): 1. Malfoy, Slytherin Seeker, seeks Harry as Enemy And if he converts in book 7, as we all hope he will, he makes a wonderful chiastic structure of this whole thing in that he will also seek Harry in the same way as does Krum, fitting since both are water elements, from house Slytherin and Durmstrang, respectively. 2. Cho Chang, Ravenclaw seeker, seeks Harry as Friend. I am right now at the point in book 5 where Cho has turned out at the Hogshead meeting of the DA and Harry's Heart is doing backflips over her attention. But we all know that that whole thing (the romance) goes south (wind may invigorate fire but they cannot unite). But if you watch the way she approaches Harry at first, she is really looking for a friend, and particularly one she can relate to in coping with Cedric's death. Harry was the one who was there and bore witness (marturia) to that death, and in book 5 his defense of the truth, against Umbridge's quill (what a blood image), is as much a defense of the honor of Cedric's death (bearing witness to the true gravity of what killed him) as anything else. To come to grips with the death, Cho needs Harry's friendship and his support (remember, Cedric was a seeker too ... and the one to whom Harry lost in book 3 at the match in which he fell from his broom). 3. Ginny, Gryffindor seeker, seeks Harry as Lover. This is pretty clear: it is just after she has won the quidditch match in HBP, that is she has caught he golden snitch, the she "gets" Harry, the Golden Soul, as her lover. 4. Victor Krum, Bulgarian seeker, will (I predict :) ) seek Harry as Savior. Krum will be in hiding from the "dark side" that has sought his soul at Durmstrang and hounded his steps ever since the death of Karkaroff, and he will seek Harry (the Golden Soul) and Hermione as the only ones who ever really respected or cared about him, at least within the scope of main characters (doubtlessly his family does, but they make only a cameo in book 4, and Karkaroff really only uses Krum as a path to fame and glory). Note: Krum, as the first and only non-Hogwarts seeker, represents a globalization of the salvation - in terms of the Judeo-Christian background of the Harry Potter series, he represents (or will represent, I predict) the first fruits of the "mission to the gentiles."

Remembering the X

Ok, so as I said in the post on chiastic structure (perma-link on left side bar), I think it is key to look at the correspondence between the paired books (1-7, 2-6, 3-5), and this is one that struck my about books 2 and 6. It has to do with memory and memories. In book 2 we have Lockheart, who's only real talent is with memory charms (which, as we all know, backfires on him through the "good luck" of Ron's broken wand ... I think this wand here sort of represents a "felix culpa," a happy fault or good result of an unfortunate thing). And in HBP we have the role played by Sluggo's sluggish memory. To see the significance of this use of and emphasis on memory it helps to look at the medieval concept of memory, the way the concept is developed in the medieval Theology that underlies the medieval imagination that stands behind Rowling's world. In medieval "anthropology" a human person is seen as consisting of a physical substance called body and a spiritual substance called spirit. Now, each body is composed of smaller parts, and yet even smaller parts and so on and so forth and we still have not found the smallest "foundational building blocks" (last I heard it was "sub-quarks" but that was years ago). Each individual spirit, on the other hand, is one indivisible unity. This means that spirit has no "parts," but it does have 3 aspects that are defined by 3 capacities. The "memory" is the capacity for simple being; The intellect is the capacity for understanding (not simply knowledge but understanding the inner essence or logic of a thing) and the will is the capacity for loving. Now, the last two are not too difficult for us moderns to grasp, but the concept of "memory" in medieval thought is, on the surface, pretty different than our own, but actually not as different as you might think (as I'll try to show with a quote from one of my professors that helped me grasp the meaning). Memory is the sense of self, it is the "I." One of my professors used a good statement of the connection between this focus in the ancient concept our own focus (and a statement that importantly sets the matter in the context of communication, and thus communion ... being as the concept that is inseparable from the "I" is the concept of the "thou," which is pretty much what you find expressed in a book like Martin Buber's book "I and Thou".) So, here it is: If I did not have "memory" as the sense of myself, or as in a way possessing my own being, I could not finish a statement because I would not remember who it was that was trying to say this or that particular thing, or to whom, or for what reason etc etc.. Lockheart's problem with memory is a core one, ending in the ultimate existential question of his new book, "Who Am I?" But so is Sluggo's. Who is Slughorn in his own mind? Why is he doing what he is doing, like having the slug club? a Club which wound up facilitating Riddle's Rise by providing him connections that he built into a core group of followers. No wonder his memory is sluggish, it is sluggish out of guilt in regards to what his vanity as a teacher may have facilitated. But, unlike our fruity friend Gilderoy, Sluggo does turn out all right in the end, I think. His memory helps Dumbledore figure out some key pieces in the puzzle ... BUT, more importantly, notice how he is able to give up the memory - through a potion (the luck potion) he himself gave to Harry, even though he didn't intend this use necessarily. He is open enough for the good to be done, and, at least I think, shows one way in which the cunning of potions can be put to good use.

The Toads Tacky Tastes

I was just listening to Book 5 on tape again. I was at the part where on the Friday evening Harry misses Keeper tryouts because of Umbridge's week long detention she touches his arm and his scar sears with pain. But what I was noticing was that just as this is happening, for the second time Rowling notes that Umbridge is wearing a load of gaudy rings. Now, maybe Sirius was right, maybe the pain had simply to do with some feeling Voldy is feeling intensely that is unconnected, and maybe all that is going on with Umbridge is bad taste. BUT, maybe (as Granger and we have speculated before) the scar is a horcrux, and what makes the scar hurt is a horcrux connection ... this is what I have speculated before concerning that Dumbledore suspects (and I think rightly) that the snake Nagini is a horcrux and my own observations that both dreams in book 4 involve the snake present (I think as a horcrux channel) and Harry sees the snake's attack through the eyes of the snake itself. And MAYBE one of those gaudy rings is more than simply a ring. It is merely speculation, but there are a number of coincidentals that should be considered. 1. The line that Sirius and Hermione and Ron use in discounting Umbridge involves her being consciously a death eater or carrying Voldy in her the way Quirrel did in book 1. But maybe Umbridge has the ring unwittingly - and I mean that with an utterly negative connotation ... Many who worship bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake let themselves get connected with bad stuff out of an "the ends justify the means" mentality, hence her willingness to use the Cruciatus ... but maybe her "pure humanity" bigotry has made her think an heirloom from a "pure blood" bigot not such a bad thing to own. Thus it would not be Umbridge personally who is making the scar hurt but the ring horcrux. 2. Rowling mentions the gaudy rings at least twice, rather conspicuously. 3. In book 5 the connection with Voldy as pertains to the legilemency thing is more on the emotional level ... Harry's blood practically boils with anger/hatred when Dumbledore touches him, or he sees visions etc. The scar thing is still a unique and very distinct phenomenon, and one which cannot be explained by Umbridge and the coincidence is a pretty odd one you must admit, of how closely the two are connected - her touch with that hand full of rings, and his scar hurting. This is part of what makes me suspect so strongly that the scar is an horcrux and that the pain has to do with close proximity/connection to another horcrux and thus another piece of Voldy's soul. Iin book 1 this is obviously the horcrux of the "main part" of Voldemort's soul living on the back of Quirrel's head. I believe it is a riddle: how could Umbridge be carrying Voldemort the way Quirrel was? The answer is in book 6: a horcrux.

Blast Ended Slugs in Books 2 and 6

No, I will not be drawing some physical connection between blast-ended skrewts and slugs, but I do think there is a symbolical one. As THE magical creature in book 4 as the center of the series I think the BESes provide some type of paradigm for creatures in general throughout the chiastic structure of the series. In books 2 and 6 it is precisely slugs as "back-firing" In book 2 Ron tries to jinx Malfoy with "Eat Slugs" and because of his damaged wand it backfires on him and he is chucking slugs up into a bucket for quite some time in Hagrids hut (one of my fave lines: "Better out than in.") And in book 6 we meet Sluggo, or Slughorn. La Shawn commented, on my post on the House of Black, about Granger's article where he speculates about Sluggo being up to something funny and we might not be sure whose side he is really on. I am not sure who he "back-fired" for, but I do think Sluggo back-fired on somebody (either DD or Voldy), just as the "eat slugs" jinx back-fired on Ron in Book 2. It may be as simple as the fact that his house getting ripped to shreds, far from scaring him away from DD, scared him towards DD and Hogwarts as a safe haven. But it also might be something deeper and more fundamental to the upcoming plot of book 7. On a side note, I think there may be some "authorial intent" support here. In the interview with Rowling included on the extras disk for the second movie, they ask her and Columbus (or maybe Kloves, since he did the screenplay) if there is much consultation of the nature of "should we keep this in or can we drop it" and she is trying not to give anything away, so she does not mention any particular scenes, but she does say that that sort of thing does go on This is also what I mean by a progression in the chiastic structure whereby the second element is a deepening of the first by way of passing through the the cruxt. In book 2 it is merely the creatures slugs that backfire, in book 6 "Sluggo" is a person who plays a key role.

Peeves: The Ghost-world's "Polter-Crux"

NOTE: the "Polter" in "Poltergeist" means, basically "noisy" (able to noisily announce it's presence through actual interaction with the physical world, such as rapping on walls etc). I have been noticing in books 4 and 5 the stuff Peeves does, and also how the ghosts view him. Now, Peeves (according to quotes from Rowling herself) never had a body so he is not a ghost ... but like a ghost he is a pure spirit without a body (only difference is the ghosts used to have bodies) ... but the difference is that Peeves can act as though he does have one, he can interact with the physical world, and without the aid of the "soul" connection between the spirit and body. From the ghost's perspective, he is thus an abomination. Thus (in explanation of my title for this post), from the petty perspective of a ghost such as Nick, Peeves is a "Horrible crossing (cruxing) of the lines" mostly because he is noisy one - a noisy and bothersome cross the ghosts of Hogwarts see themselves as bearing. I don't think (as you can guess from my use of the word "petty") that the ghost perspective should always be trusted as the sanest or healthiest, precisely because they are ghosts and thus did not die the best (or most courageous etc) deaths (cf Nick's conversation with Harry on Sirius coming back as a ghost ... no Obi Wan's here, buddy) and thus stuck around earth as ghosts (I prefer the outlook of those such as Fred and George, who, although a bit on the wild side, are mischievous in a fearless sort of way and are also the ones to give Peeves his marching orders upon their spectacular exit in book 5 - quite possibly one of my favorite scenes in the whole series). But it is an interesting perspective all the same. Notice though, interesting that the only one of the ghosts who can handle Peeves is ... the Bloody Baron of House Slytherin.

Hagrid's a Goner in Book 7

This has just been hitting me. Having set things up in book 4 with Cedric's "return to the earth," as I have been talking about, this opens the path for books 5-7 to be the black, white and red stages of Alchemy ... and it all happens with death. In book 5 Black dies, in book 6 Albus dies (I'm sticking to my guns on that one until proven wrong) , and in book 7 Hagrid will die (sorry mate, he's a goner). But this will be no ordinary death; that would not be fitting for a half-giant. I predict that the leather gloves for handling blast ended Skrewts will come off, the wand will come out of the umbrella and, like Merlin in Lewis' That Hideous Strength, the Red One (Rubeus) will go down in a gigantic heart,soul and blood display of courage that was foreshadowed in the fight at the hut witnessed from atop the Astronomy tower in book 5. This death will pack a wallop for the dark side. I realize that, unlike Hagrid, in this particular instance I am merely a dwarf (maybe a garden gnome LOL) standing on the shoulders of Giants. Granger was the one who predicted the death of Albus as the white stage etc and I am only building on that (and my apologies if he has already addressed the red stage as Hagrid's death and I missed it ... a lot of reading to do in a busy schedule such as I have at the moment), but hopefully I will have contributed at least something unique in the prediction of how our large hearted friend (who will be missed terribly) will go down in a blaze of glory.

Bruised and Battered Krums from the Table: Quidditch Symbolism

In this post I noted an observation from my brother Steve, that the fact that you can lose the game but gain the snitch is an example of "losing your life but gaining your soul." Here I'd like to develop this Quidditch symbolism in relation to some of the aspects of book 4 I have been noting recently. And, as is known here, I am a huge fan of U2's latest album - on which one of the songs is entitled "Crumbs From Your Table." This meal image is very closely tied to the Eucharistic imagery I have been noting in the tradition that stands behind the Medieval elements Rowling draws on, and thus the title for this post. Now, we had some discussion a while ago on "Ever-cut" and "Ever-bleeding" as competing meanings of "Sectum Sempra" (from HBP) and it is absolutely clear that the former is the literal meaning. And this is important because the whole range of the concepts of separations and unions is broader than the concept of blood, but I do think that the blood image does have a place ... especially in connection with the heart Image ... but also in connection with the "soul" image/theme/element of alchemy and the connection in Hebrew thought (as part of the Judeo Christian heritage/tradition) between the blood (dam) and the soul (nephesh). In light of some of the Eucharistic imagery and the connections noted to the crucible of pain and the fourth cup, I think it fitting to look at the way she works it out in the Quidditch symbol, especially since (in preparation for the "battle" of the Tri-Wizard Tourney) we have a concrete example of somebody who actually pulled off, "losing his life but gaining his soul" - Victor Krum. What I would draw attention to is the descriptions she gives as Krum pursues the seeker after taking a bludger straight on in the face, how she describes his robe spattered in blood, his face covered. He doesn't even wipe it off to come to the top box for the presentations. To quote Richard Dreyfus again (from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead) - "The blood is compulsory." This may be one of my favorite quotes in the whole series thus far, on the raw dignity of humanity: "... He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all ... " (Harry on why Krum did it, GOF 114) A Tiny Prediction: For the record I am predicting, or maybe wishing out loud: a final match in book 7, containing the 2 best seekers ever to grace the pitch - Harry and Krum.

Number 4 Privet Drive: 4 Friendships

So, this will be a (hopefully :) ) shorter post following the whole number four thing - just another observation from book 4. To recap the champions: Harry = Fire Cedric = Earth Krum = Water Fleur = Air Now, CS Lewis (one of JKR's fave authors) wrote a book called The Four Loves, which I have not read and do not know for sure what the types are, but I am pretty sure there is a pretty close correspondence with the types of love I will speak about here as 3 types of friendship. The place you find them in Goblet of Fire is in the choices of hostages in the 2nd task. Notice, the 2 "sub" elements of earth and water, Cedric and Krum, both have their romantic interests taken, the persons of the opposite sex. Whereas fire and air, Harry and Fleur, have same gender friends/hostages. Fleur must defend the friendship known as family, and Harry that of his "Kindred Spirit." On Harry and Ron, in both Hebrew and Greek the word for ""breath" and "spirit" are the same word (in Hebrew it is Ruach, In Greek Pneuma) ... and what is Dobby excitedly jabbering to Harry when he wakes him? "Harry Potter must get up and go save his Wheezy!" (my poor housemates have also heard this cry echoing from my shower occasionally) Don't know if she had that in mind or not (meaning the Wheezy as "wheezing breath" thing, the rest of it I'm pretty sure seems very intentional - but think about how the twins adapt the family name in book 4 as well, might be important LOL), I just think it's really cool

Number 4 Privet Drive: The 4th Task and the 4th Cup

-"You are dust, and to dust you shall return." - Genesis 3:19 -"He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." - Genesis 3:15 -"I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the Witness they had born." - Revelations 6:9 Introduction: In getting to ready just now to write this key post, I had a blinding insight for the general title for this minor series on the numerology and presence of the of the Number 4 in The Goblet of Fire, the center of the series as a chiastically structured whole ... where does Harry live in the world of us Muggles? Where is that blood-familial home which has been his crucible of Duldeyonic oppression but also his protection from Voldy while not at Hogwarts (in other words, the protection of a home home when he is not at his true home, in The Church, so to speak)? Why at # 4 Privet Drive, of course. The 4th Task In the post on the riddle in the middle, in the third task, I noted that Harry faces earth but answers with the answer to a riddle. But this is kind of lopsided. It is not complete until what I am convinced is the fourth task in the REAL wizard tournament. In this task, Cedric Diggory, as a Hufflepuff and representing the earth element, fulfills the curse on the race of Adam (humanity), and returns to the dust of the earth (Adamah) ... in a graveyard. But through being steeled by his role as witness (which, remember, gives Harry new prohpetic powers in that in Book 5 Harry is able to see the Thestrals), Harry is, in this fourth task, able to complete the uneven structure of the third task (overcoming earth with riddle) by overcoming Riddle through bearing witness (in Greek, Marturia) to Cedric's murder and then carrying him back to his parents to return to the dust of the earth naturally and not be defiled by Voldy. What evidence do I have for this suggestion that there is really a 4th task? Look at how Harry overcomes in the Graveyard and escapes with Cedric's body. He uses key spells that he learned specifically for the other tasks. When he makes the sacrifice of delaying his departure to retreive Cedric's body, and thus distances himself from the cup ... he must Accio the cup to himself just as he summons his broom in task 1. What curse does he throw back over his shoulder blindly that stops a death eater who is close after him? He uses Impedimenta, which he learned for task 3 because Hermione wisely noticed that it looked like a pretty good one to know. These spells proved useful in not just one task a piece, they both proved useful in THE final task. The link with the 2nd task (the middle task of the official tournament, and thus the center) is more subtley thematic and thus rests on the more literal connections with tasks 1 and 3, and so to use it to argue for the position would sort of be circular arguing. But I will just point out the thematic connection briefly: in task 2 Harry uses the earth element of a plant to beat the water element, and in task 4 he does the same. He beats Slytherin's Serpentine Heir by the acceptance/witness of death (returning to the earth). Snape: A Heel Who Wounds the Heel Now, my theory on Snape being the spider in the maze is tenuous at best as a "material prediction" ... it would be pretty crazy for it literally to be true (but I still think it possible, or at least that he has an un-registered animagus of a spider ... 'twill be my battlecry till book 7 proves me worn LOL) ... but I do think that Snape is at least symbolically a spider, and in particular the spider in the maze. If, as I have argued in the previous sub-heading, this last task is that of acceptance of returning to the ground ("coping with death" being a key Rowlingian theme), and if, as I will argue in the next sub-heading, that task is tied to a 4th cup that is the cup Christ drank in death upon the ultimate Horcrux, the tree of shame ("cursed is every-one who hangs from a tree" Galatians 3:13) ... then it would seem fitting, would it not, that he enter this last crucible wounded in the archetypal words from the curse on the serpent when it introduced death, if he enetered it, like Lewis' Ransom in That Hideous Strength, "wounded in the heel"? And Harry does enter that graveyard with ... a leg wounded by a spider bite. What does Harry think about after seeing the trials in the Penseive? He thinks about Neville's parents and Neville as an Orphan and himself as an orphan, and he concludes that it was Voldy, Voldy who broke all these family and shattered these lives and made them oprhans. But the question here is how did he do it? Through other people who were under his control. He broke the Longbottoms through the Lestranges, and he broke Harry's family with information provided by Severus Snape. And in book 5 ("coming up" from our perspective here), how is Harry kept at a disadvantage from defending himself from Voldy's legilemency? He is kept from it by a mutual prejudice that Voldy could not have planned but that he authored none the less, for he is a father of lies. Even though they are both on the right side, Harry hates Snape and Snape hates Harry. The book 5 situation is the most obvious, but really all along this mutual antipathy has been a "Stumbling Block" to Harry focussing on school matters that are important for O.W.Ls, but even more for skills needed to defeat Voldy (Hermione has had her hands full keeping him and Ron on any kind of track for this, and the boy had definitely better be practicing non-verbals before he heads off to find Voldy) ADDED AFTER ORIGINAL POSTING: There is one I almost forgot, on a practical level and directly from book 4, on how Snape is a real heel and hinderance. Had not Snapoe played his little power game with Potter outside DD's office door, it might have been possible for the headmaster to help Barty Sr. Probably not, being as Barty Jr was probably right there in the darkness waiting for Harry to split, but Harry definitely gets the impression that Snape held up a real possibility, and this impression of Snape as too caught up in his own little vendetta to the point of hindering real things definitely contributes to Harry' problems with him and distractions from studying, particularly learning Occlmency. 4 Cups Ok, I have spoken near the end of the post on chiastic structure that the cup of the Goblet finds fulfillment in the Tri-Wizard cup (on the level of the symbolism in the sport/quest - being chosen or discerned as a champion and being proved true as a champion). I have since lighted upon a 4 cup symbolism and structure. The 4 Cup Structure Before I go on to the 4 cups of Potter, let me give a brief synopsis of the Judeo Christian background. I am drawing here on material learned from classed taken from Dr Scott Hahn. He has drawn a connection between the 4 cup formula of the Jewish Caburrah (more "informal" meal ... but all meals are religious for Biblical Judaism) and Seder (more formal meal or solemnity, such as the Passover Seder) and the Eucharist. In this structure and study he starts with the question of "what was finished?" when Christ says "It is Finished." For different reasons scholars have concluded that the literal meaning cannot be "the salvific work" (this is the larger spiritual meaning). From here the observation is made that in the accounts of the institution of the last supper there is a major breach in the form of the Passover Seder they were celebrating. They made it to the 3rd cup, the "cup of blessing" (cf Paul's exhortation "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?" - 1 Corinthians 10:16) and then they sing a set of Psalms (I believe, if I remember correctly, the "little Hallel Psalms") and then they go out into the night. They don't drink the 4th cup ... major breaking - the Passover Seder cannot be complete. And He had said that he would not drink the fruit of vine again until he drank it anew with them in the kingdom of Heaven ... but then he drinks again on the cross. "To fulfill the Scripture" he says "I thirst" and is given sour wine on a sponge on a hyssop branch (the wood used to smear the blood of the lamb on the doorposts in the first Passover) ... and then he says "It is finished" and gives up His spirit (St John's Gospel 19:28-29). The work of salvation was completed and the Kingdom of Heaven ushered in by the completion of the true Passover in the drinking of the 4th and consumating cup. (Please NOTE: there is much evidence for this reading of the matter in Medeival times etc but for contemporary scholars a theory such as this is far from ubiquitously accepted) The 4 Cups of Harry Potter So, as I said in the post on chiasm, the medeival European imagination was captivated by the Eucharist, and particularly the cup of Christ in the form of the Holy Grail; and this is the literary tradition that stands behind the alchemical structure (the crucible of transformation of the soul) used by Rowling. Whether or not Rowling knows of the Judeo-Christian Tradition element of the 4 cups that make up the Passover/Eucharist is not known to me, and so I do not know how consciously she has 4 cups, but I think they are there none-the-less. I think that it is built into the very core of the tradition on which she draws. There may even be some more immediate instantiation of a 4 cup structure specifically from within Medeival literary structures, but I do not yet know of a specific one - just saying I could see it being the type of thing those buggers would do (LOL). So, what are these 4 Cups? (In order of appearance). 1. The Goblet of Fire (The cup of selection or calling to be a champion) 2. The Penseive (cup as oracle or path to understanding) 3.The Tri-wizard Trophy Cup (a "cup of blessing" of sorts) 4. The Final Cup of Pain in the Graveyard (whose form I will discuss below) The 4th Cup Here I'll briefly note that the 4 cups and the 4 tasks inter-penetrate each other. As far as the interpenetration of the tasks with the general imagery of cups and wine (the 4th cup being one of sour wine) ... simply notice what Harry's wand produces in the weighing of the wands: "a fountain of wine." (GOF 311 ... of course Harry's wand is very central to the story, for it was used to conjur the dark mark at the World Cup, and this is the first place we see Priori Incantatem, used to reveal this fact, and a foreshadowing of the key chapter that contains the 4th Cup). But for here I will simply note that the 3rd task is closely tied to the 3rd cup, since it contains it. But it also contains the literay reversal I'll name in short order here. The 3rd task/cup is that of blessing and in it Harry overcomes Earth by answering a riddle (and then fighting the answer, yielding the wounded leg/heel). In the 4th task/Cup this is reversed and fulfilled in that Harry overcomes (Tom) Riddle by the toughness rought, as in a forge, by bearing witness to Cedric's "return to the earth" ... that and some help. So, who helps him? Thus far I have stated only that I believe the graveyard represents a 4th cup - and here I will say that the dome of Phoenix song that surrounds Harry and Voldy is, in a sense (of physical symbolism), an inverted cup. And what is it that makes me think so much that, whether consciously or subconciously for Rowling, there is no noubt that this cup is the cup of the Eucharist that so captured the imagination of medeival Europe that is the source of her imagery, that it is indeed the fourth cup of the true Passover Seder? Who is in it? ... The Martyrs that stand beneath the altar of sacrifice in Revelations 6:9 - Cedric Diggory, Bertha Jorkins, Frank Bryce and Lily and James Potter. And like "so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1 - the word marturia/martyr literally meaning "witness"), this communion of martyred saints helps Harry in the crucible of the 4th cup.

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

Ok, So, I still have some major posts coming on Book 4, but I have started listening to/Reading Book 5 and here are some things I noticed in "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" chapter and just thought I would throw in here: 1. I think that Regulus Black is indeed the RAB who got the locket HC. A Clue is the fact that when they are viewing his name on the tapestry Harry notices, "A Date of Death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth." (p. 112 - emphasis added). Regulus died just before Harry became Voldy's downfall ... I think their is some connection that will be revealed in book 7. 2. The Locket that is mentioned on p 116 follows shortly after the mention of Regulus Black (p. 111-112). It is heavy and, most importantly, it is un-openable. If it is the HC locket, and if RAB managed to destroy the HC, although maybe that was what ended his life, this is a bit like the Palantir used by Denethor and held in his hands as he burned to death by his own hands in Return of the King ... nothing is ever seen through this Palantir again but a pair of palms closed in on it. Once the object has been used for such evil, and that evil undone, the object is forever unopenable, unusable. 3.Thematically, notice that it is Ginny who has the common sense to shut the lid on the music box that is enchanting them all to sleep, just before the locket is mentioned (OotP 116). I think it is a mention of an undone HC prefaced by a hidden reference to she who will be very instrumental on Harry's side in finally undoing the main HC, Voldy himself (Voldy has lost his sense of himself as a real person, he is to himself, on the one hand, an idol, and on the other nothing more than another of his own horcruxes). 4. There is an unusually high occurrence of spider images in this chapter. Just before the music box there is a the many legged silver instrument that "scuttle up Ron's Arm like a spider" just before Sirius smashes it. Next page they move to "from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders large as saucers lurking in the dresser." (p. 117) 6. Speaking of Spiders, their intrusions into this chapter is remarkably like the description of a key character/member of the order's presence at the house: "Snape flitted in and out of the house several times more." (p. 118). Oddly, not only does this describe well the presence of spiders as an image in this chapter, it also describes the flight pattern of a bat rather well (in other words, my wild theories are as alive and well as ever LOL) 5. Speaking of the Ground (as in the ground floor where the big spiders were found), I finally noticed the blindingly obvious fact that the house elf is named Kreacher, or rather "creature." He represents nature and the earth animals under the sway of pure-blood bigotry. Notice that Dobby is quite different, but then so were his masters. Lucius was officially a death eater and Dobby could see the "true colors" of the pure-blood mentality. The Blacks were more tender-footed when it came to taking things to their logical conclusions, but they were no less bigoted.

Steel Forge Victors!

I had mentioned my "predictions" earlier in this post - they were about as vague as Professor Trelawney's, I'll admit. But I'll just point out how my analysis of the 4 elements involved in the game played out. Fire - As I predicted, fast Willie Parker was the fire when he literally burnt up the record for longest run in the superbowl with his 75-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter. Air - Seahawks controlled the air with Hasselbeck passing 273 yards to the Steelers 168. Earth - Steelers stuck to the earth for 181 yards running to the Seahawks 137. Water (interpreted as "cunning defense") - The Seahawks cunningly intercepted 2 key passes and turned one into a touchdown. The Steelers had one pick. So there you have it. Of course being a fan and a native of the 'burgh, I'm thrilled the Steelers got "one for the thumb" tying with Dallas and San Fran for the record of 5 Superbowl wins. I hope everyone found my little interpretation entertaining and my self-congratulation amusing at least.

Did I Ever Mention

... That when I was about 10 years old I played on a little league baseball team sponsored by the steelworkers union? From that comment you should be able to tell that I am posting this about 1 minute after Pittsburgh won superbowl 40 with the Harry-Cedric combo of Fire and Iron.