Friday, October 13, 2006

HP7: Well, It Wasn't Snape Under That Cloak

A few weeks ago I posted a long, rambling reflection, speculating on the importance of the invisibility cloak in Harry Potter 7. I've been remiss in noting here that J.K. Rowling debunked as "rumour" one of the ideas that I happened to muse on in my blog post -- I hadn't claimed it as completely original thought (I converse with so many HP lovers I often have no idea where some ideas started) and apparently lots of other people had the same idea!

In late September, she posted the following to the "Rumours" section on her website:

Snape was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak on the night the Potters died
No, he wasn't.


Well, that, as they say, is that. I say it cheerfully, because I wasn't totally invested in the "Snape under the cloak" theory, though I thought it should be raised. I raised questions then about the plausibility of such a scenario, and I guess it turns out it was even less plausible than I thought.

So we're back to the original question of the invisibility cloak's importance to the plot, and especially (potentially) to the night of Harry's parents' death. I think I'm going to stick by the possibility that Hagrid may have used the cloak in some fashion, on Dumbledore's orders.

Just watch: that one will show up debunked in Rowling's Rumours next! ;-)

4 comments:

Erin said...

I think I like the idea of Hagrid using it, having an even more active role in it all than we knew about. But that could just be my love of Hagrid talking... ;)

Beth said...

Yah. He's so loveable! I worry about him in book 7. Seems likely he could be one of the characters to die...though I've wondered if he's not one of the ones JKR gave an unexpected reprieve to.

Wow, what an ungrammatical sentence! I'm tired...!

Erin said...

***praying for the reprieve***

Beth said...

I hear your anguish! When I think of the possible deaths in HP7, there are so many I hope against hope won't happen. In all honesty, there's not a single character on the side of right that I wouldn't feel sad about losing. I even cringe at the thought of Percy Weasley (wrong-headed though he may be) dying, especially if he doesn't have a chance to make things right with his family first.

And she better not touch Neville! (Grrrrr!)

And let's not get started on poor Harry. I've gone round and round on this one so many times at the HogPro boards. From a literary point of view, and even a theological one, I know that one could go either way and the story would be fine. I trust Rowling to know what she's doing. But oh my, at the gut level, the heart level, I so want Harry to make it.