Half-Blood Prince, 2

[markira]

I have remained essentially spoiler-free this time around, because I still remember the agony of reading OotP having been spoiled about the Heinous Death. On the one hand, sure, it was good to be prepared, as it were. On the other, I really did only have a "clue" so I was still on edge for 750+ pages.


I have, however been re-reading some old JKR interviews, and in one of them she said the following, taken from JKR's website:

There are two questions that I have never been asked but that I should have been asked, if you know what I mean. If you want to speculate on anything, you should speculate on these two things, which will point you in the right direction. The first question that I have never been asked÷it has probably been asked in a chatroom but no one has ever asked me÷is, "Why didn't Voldemort die?" Not, "Why did Harry live?" but, "Why didn't Voldemort die?" The killing curse rebounded, so he should have died. Why didn't he? At the end of Goblet of Fire he says that one or more of the steps that he took enabled him to survive. You should be wondering what he did to make sure that he did not die÷I will put it that way. I don't think that it is guessable. It may be÷someone could guess it÷but you should be asking yourself that question, particularly now that you know about the prophesy. I'd better stop there or I will really incriminate myself. The other question that I am surprised no one has asked me since Phoenix came out÷I thought that people would÷is why Dumbledore did not kill or try to kill Voldemort in the scene in the ministry. I know that I am giving a lot away to people who have not read the book. Although Dumbledore gives a kind of reason to Voldemort, it is not the real reason. When I mentioned that question to my husband÷I told Neil that I was going to mention it to you÷he said that it was because Voldemort knows that there are two more books to come. As you can see, we are on the same literary wavelength. [Laughter]. That is not the answer; Dumbledore knows something slightly more profound than that. If you want to wonder about anything, I would advise you to concentrate on those two questions. That might take you a little bit further.

Since it has been said before that there were some elements of Half-Blood Prince included in Chamber of Secrets, but then scrapped, I decided it was worth it to skim CoS quickly, and in doing so, I found the following exchange between Tom Riddle and Harry:

"Twice - in your past, in my future - we have met. And twice I have failed to kill you. How did you survive? Tell me everything." [snip]

"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother," he added, shaking with suppressed rage.

--from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, U.S. paperback version page 316.

As far back as CoS, Rowling has been sowing the seeds for the Half-Blood Prince. One, Tom Riddle and Harry discuss the same question JKR wants us to think about, why Voldemort didn't die, and two, Harry emphasizes his and Tom's half-blood status. What other clues are lurking in CoS?

Comments

[kattarino.livejournal.com]

Haha, I usually stick to the main pages, myself. I take a gander at the editorials when I'm looking for some late night entertainment.