Harry Potter Revealed

9. The Order Of the Phoenix unmasked
Like a lot of things in Harry Potter, there appears to be more to the Order of the Phoenix than first meets the eye! Why for example is it an “Order” rather than a society / association / group / etc? The answer lies in the Arthurian legends which form the core inspiration for J. K. Rowling’s plot. Rowling writes nothing at random (ok, with the exception of Mark Evans) and an ‘order’ is a term for a group of knights. This particular order is the Order of the Phoenix, and the phoenix, as we know, is a (red and gold!) bird which dies by spontaneous combustion and is born again (resurrected, one might almost say) from the ashes. Yet again we come face to face in Harry Potter with the motifs of life and death, but more than this, the idea of rebirth implied by the Order’s name leads us to suspect that there is another, deeper motivation behind the Order’s existence than is yet fully apparent in the story. We have already predicted that Harry will have to pass beyond death by some means or other, and that Godric Gryffindor will return from the dead to help the fight against Voldemort. (We favour this interpretation over the idea that Harry will merely seek his advice in the underworld, because, as we argued in our previous post, the painting shows Godric Gryffindor fighting alongside Percy and Harry.) We think that the Order is a chivalric or knightly one which may have been in existence for a very long time – maybe even ever since the time of Godric Gryffindor himself – and that it exists primarily to serve Godric Gryffindor, his beliefs and his heirs. This places the fight against Voldemort in the context of a long history of struggle, whilst not diminishing its importance as potentially the most significant.

Other evidence also points to an interpretation which likens the Order to a chivalric order of knights. We have already demonstrated, in the form of Percy Weasley, the existence of a character equivalent to the Perceval of Arthurian legend, but at least one further character may be likened to a member of the Round Table: Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth.

What first got us thinking about Aberforth was his name. ‘Forth’ makes you think of phrases like ‘go forth’, ‘venture forth’ and so on. ‘Aberr’ is an old verb meaning ‘go astray’ or ‘wander off’. So Aberforth’s name perfectly describes the man as we know him: he used to be an active member of the Order, whereas now (apparently) he is not, and most people seem not to know where he is. All we have been told about him is that he is Dumbledore’s brother, that he is an odd bloke, and that he was accused of performing inappropriate charms on a goat! Additional clues left by the author provide us with information as to his current whereabouts: he is barkeeper at the Hog’s Head in Hogsmead. We get the impression that he is also the owner of the premises, and we think he has probably been so for quite some time – probably since the last time that the Order was active. He doesn’t seem to be in hiding as such – at least, not from his brother, since Albus Dumbledore uses the Hog’s Head to interview Professor Trelawney. Dumbledore says that it was Trelawney who chose the location, but we think this is a cover story Aberforth appears to have stepped back from a visible role in the Order of the Phoenix at around the same time as the allegations against him surfaced. Similarly, another of the knights of the Round Table, Lancelot, is the subject of rumours about himself and Guinevere, who is King Arthur’s wife. Lancelot feels his honour to have been besmirched and leaves Arthur’s court, renouncing the life of a knight. However, he sees reason at the last and takes up his sword again to fight with Arthur in the final battle. We see a Lancelot in Aberforth (and think it is a little joke on the part of J. K. Rowling that “Guinevere” and “goat” both begin with “g”!) and expect that Aberforth, too, will return to the fray on the side of good in the final reckoning.

So that’s it pre-Book 6 ! In a day or so we will all know how accurate our predictions have been. We will all have much more to go on ahead of the publication of Book 7 and plenty of time for more theorising. Hopefully, Book 6 will enable us to work out how exactly the return of Godric Gryffindor will help Harry to finally vanquish Lord Voldemort

We hope that you liked our Blog and that it adds to your enjoyment of Books 6 & 7.

Watch this space for our retrospective on our theories once we have had the opportunity to read Book 6. Also look out from Nahs & Nai’s Book 7 (Pillar of Storgé) blog.

8. Harry Potter and the Holy Grail
This painting comes from a mediaeval manuscript of grail romances currently in the Bibliothèque National in Paris. There are many aspects of this painting which are relevant to the Harry Potter story; so much so, in fact, that it seems inconceivable that J.K. Rowling did not come across this manuscript while studying French at university.

The manuscript states that the knight is Perceval and shows one of Perceval’s adventures during his quest for the Holy Grail. He and a lion are coming to the aid of a lion cub which is being attacked by a serpent. Perceval, one of the Knights of the Round Table, is sent by King Arthur to save the life of a dying king. In the castle of the dying king he sees a chalice being paraded by a group of maidens, but is unaware that it is the Grail. He wants to ask who they serve, but doesn’t out of a fear of seeming foolish. Later he discovers the identity of the chalice and that he could have saved the king’s life had he enquired of the Grail’s attendants “whom does the Grail serve?” (The answer is “the Lord our God and His Son Jesus Christ”.) After twelve years trying to find the Grail again, Perceval once more finds himself in the king’s castle. This time he asks the right question and realises the answer for himself, and is then told by the maidens that he is the Good Knight that they have been seeking. In this way he is redeemed of his earlier mistake.

We believe that in relation to the Harry Potter story, the lion represents Godric Gryffindor who aids the lion cub, representing Harry (the Heir of Gryffindor), against the serpent or Lord Voldemort. Perceval, seeking to redeem his earlier error of omission, fights alongside the lion. We think that Perceval represents Percy Weasley, whose estrangement from the rest of his family stems from an error of judgement with respect to Harry and who will redeem himself by fighting heroically against Lord Voldemort. In fact, we think that by referring to the painting, we can predict the configuration of characters who will take part in the final battle. The final, irrefutable piece of evidence that this painting is the key lies in the fact that Perceval is clothed in a jerkin of red and gold and carries a similarly coloured shield: red and gold are the colours of Gryffindor House.

7. The Half-Blood Prince Revealed
We think that the lion imagery is key to working out who the Half-Blood Prince is.

The lion has a special place in the Harry Potter series, being the emblem of Gryffindor House. We already know that the emblem of Slytherin House, the snake, is no mere emblem, but also features large in the imagery surrounding Voldemort, who is the Heir of Slytherin , i.e. a direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin. Voldemort’s ‘familiar’ seems to be a snake (Nagini), in Book Five he is shown ‘possessing’ a snake, he even looks rather like a snake with his red slit-like eyes, and most importantly perhaps, like Salazar Slytherin, Voldemort can speak Parselmouth. So the snake is also symbolic of Salazar Slytherin himself. We think that, for the sake of the story’s symmetry, the same must be true of Gryffindor: surely a man of lion-like appearance must be none other than Godric Gryffindor himself?

This idea receives backup from the fact that the man wears wire-rimmed spectacles, which suggests somebody intelligent or even intellectual, rather as one might expect a founding father of a school to be, particularly one in which, as the sorting hat says, the founders were aiming at excellence. A Half-Blood Prince with, one must assume, even more magical knowledge and wisdom than Dumbledore, is exactly what is required at this point in the story. With Sirius is (apparently) dead and Dumbledore about to be so, Gryffindor would be just the person to help Harry with the huge task ahead of him.

But Godric Gryffindor is long dead: surely this is enough to make it impossible for him to take any meaningful part in the story? The problem seems to be insurmountable and has been enough to make others discount him. We have come up with three potential solutions. The first one, that he, like Nicholas Flamell, has been taking the Elixir of Life all these years, we discarded immediately, because not only was there supposed to be only one Philosopher’s Stone still in existence prior to its destruction at the end of Book One, but also we don’t think J. K. Rowling would use the same idea twice! An alternative is that Godric Gryffindor will never actually appear in the flesh in Book Six, and that we only see an image of him, like in a Pensieve. Or maybe there is some way of meeting him despite the fact that he is dead, or even of bringing him back from the dead (permanently or temporarily).

We have mentioned in a previous post that we think the veiled arch is in fact a sort of gateway to the ‘underworld’, or place beyond death, and that one of Harry’s adventures will take him there. Our guess is that the real reason Harry will have to visit the ‘underworld’ will be in order either to go and get Godric Gryffindor, and bring him back to help fight the good fight, or else to visit him to seek his advice. Such a journey into the realm of the dead would have a direct counterpart in Lord of the Rings, where Aragorn is advised to seek help on the Paths of the Dead. A group of ghosts known as The Dead return with Aragorn to aid in the fight against the forces of evil. On this journey Aragorn is accompanied by his faithful companions Legolas and Gimli. Can we therefore assume that Hermione and Ron will also pass through the veil?

Whether Harry knows before he sets off the object of his quest, remains to be seen. It may be that he goes because he wants to find Sirius, and finding Godric Gryffindor is a sort of side-effect. Or maybe Dumbledore will send Harry off on the quest shortly before his (Dumbledore’s) death.. Incidentally we think this is where Sirius’ mirror will end up coming in useful. Harry wasn’t able to communicate with Sirius using the mirror at the end of Book Five, but we think that the mirror will work once Harry passes through the arch, because mirrors like this will only work when both parties are on the same side of the ‘divide’. The mirror will enable Harry to be guided by Sirius on what will undoubtedly be a treacherous journey.

Godric Gryffindor seems to us to fulfil more of the criteria than any other candidate. He is associated with the lion motif; he is probably of high birth, judging by his jewel-encrusted sword which looks as if it was intended to have a ceremonial function; he is a figure of authority; what we know of him makes us feel he must have been a man of wisdom, more so even than Albus Dumbledore; he championed bravery above pure-bloodedness and thus has the right moral credentials to take part in and possibly lead the ‘good fight’.

In the next post, we will provide more evidence to support this theory, not least of all in the form of a mediaeval painting depicting the final battle!

6. The Half-Blood Prince – Not
Let’s take a look at some candidates.

It is unlikely that an author as in command of her medium as J. K. Rowling would introduce a wholly new central character at this late stage in the story. (Although new supporting characters such as a Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher would be allowable.) But this does not mean that the Half-Blood Prince has to be one of the main characters. It might be a minor character or else somebody we know of through references made by other characters.

Some commentaries, for example our favourite one, an editorial by Ryan MacDougall on TheSnitch.co.uk, consider the possibility that Aberforth might be the Half-Blood Prince. We also toyed with this idea for a while. In order for Aberforth rather than Albus Dumbledore to be the prince, one of two things would have to be true. Either Aberforth would have to be the first-born, i.e. even older than Albus, or else if he were younger, he would have to be a half-brother of Albus who had obtained his princely status from the parent they did not have in common. Aberforth’s being older than Albus does not fit with the description of the Half-Blood Prince, who is said to only have some grey mixed in with his tawny hair, whereas Albus is already completely white-haired and Aberforth is described as old with grey hair. The second possibility, that of Aberforth being a half-brother is a real one… but that doesn’t make the hair colour fit any better ! Moreover, nobody in the Order seems to think there is anything special about Aberforth; they just think he is odd. He is not marked out as being in any way more powerful, or intellectually or morally superior to Dumbledore, and surely this would have to be a given for a prince in a story as well-turned as Harry Potter. So Aberforth’s being the prince would not help further the story because he would not be able to contribute anything which Albus himself could not contribute equally well, and the notion that Dumbledore has been allowing Harry to be exposed to so much danger over the years for the sake of the former’s brother would seem rather selfish and not something Dumbledore would be likely to do. Ryan MacDougall also discards Aberforth but for different reasons.

We can also immediately discount a variety of other characters such as Snape, Dudley, Hagrid, Harry, Voldemort, Dumbledore and Daedelus Diggle because of their hair colour, stature, appeal or degree of authority. Admittedly, in the case of Diggle, we have very little information, but a comic character whose name rhymes with ‘giggle’ is hardly likely to turn out to be the Half-Blood Prince.

Caradoc Dearborn has been suggested by some as the best candidate. While there is some interesting reasoning behind such a choice (see for example TheSnitch.co.uk: “Who is the Half-Blood Prince”), ultimately we were unconvinced. Caradoc Dearborn is only mentioned once, and this is just not sufficient for readers other than real Harry Potter fans to have noticed his existence. A Half-Blood Prince has to have made more of an impact on the reader than this in order not to seem like a completely new character, brought in by the author like a Deus Ex Machina. Some other suggested candidates such as Blaise Zabini suffer the same handicap.

In our next post we will disclose our hypothesis on the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. Our choice fulfils all the required criteria. He is a known figure of authority who has had a presence throughout the books, is possibly of high birth and has a strong claim to be a leader of the forces of good.

5. The Half-Blood Prince - Good or Evil ?
The much-discussed extract from Book Six describes a man of lion-like appearance:

“He looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp.”

Many, if not most, commentators believe that this refers to the eponymous Half-Blood Prince.

For various reasons, we can probably assume that the Half-Blood Prince is on the side of good. A half-blood would hardly somebody that Voldemort would want to acknowledge as a prince (even though a half-blood himself) – although that in itself would not preclude the existence of such a prince. But with the series drawing to a close it is unlikely that Rowling would introduce a prince on the side of evil - that would throw too huge a spanner in the works for the likes of Harry and Dumbledore. The positive connotations of the words 'keen' and 'grace' also point to this conclusion. But probably the most noticeable thing about the description is the word 'lion'. Lions are well-known in art and literature as a symbol of good and of Christ in particular and they are also associated with the idea of kingship; 'The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe' is a famous twentieth-century allegorical example. We already know that the series centres around the theme of good and evil, and so the use of the lion imagery means this really can't be anybody but a Half-Blood Prince who will be acting on the side of good. His name suggests in fact that his role might not merely be that of helping Harry to overcome Voldemort, but rather that his recognition by the wizarding world - or possibly his reinstatement? - may be the ultimate good towards which Dumbledore is working; i.e. that his appearance is the really big news.

But who is he?

4. Through the Looking Glass
It seems pretty clear that the Department of Mysteries—or at least the mysteries in it—will feature large as the story continues. In Book Five, the curtained arch from which Luna and Harry can hear whispering takes on particular significance as a result of Sirius falling through it when he is hit by a spell performed by his cousin Bellatrix. We do not actually see Sirius dead, although Harry is assured that he is, and we are supposed to infer from this that the way is open for Sirius to make a reappearance at some future date, whether alive or in some other form.

The arch has counterparts in the mirrors through which Orpheus and Alice pass on the way to their adventures. The Orpheus myth is particularly important to the Harry Potter plot because of the whispering voices coming from beyond the veil. Harry and Luna can hear them, but we have the impression that most of the others present can't. By making the connection between the ability to hear the voices and see the Thestrals, we are led to the conclusion that the voices are those of people who have 'passed on'. On the other side of the curtained arch, then, lies ‘the beyond’ - or ‘the underworld’, in mythological terms. One of our important predictions is that Harry will go through the veil himself into the underworld, not as a result of dying, but in order to search for somebody or something, possibly Sirius—or he may simply come across Sirius (and his parents?) when looking for something or somebody else. Who that very important ‘somebody else’ might be is a subject to which we will return in a few days. Our hypothesis is lent credence by the fact that Harry subsequently tries to communicate with Sirius using the mirror that Sirius gave him prior to his death—on this occasion to no avail— but undoubtedly the mirror will crop up again.

Incidentally perhaps all members of the Order carry mirrors… is this their method of communication???

3. Alone against the threat
The million-dollar question is: so which character will die in Book Six? Fans all over the world have been wondering that for ages. The smart money has been on Dumbledore for a long time and we must concur with this conclusion. His ultimate demise is first mooted when he describes death as being “like going to bed after a very, very long day”: the implication is that he knows how it feels to be old and in expectation of death. For the good of the story (Harry vs Voldemort) Dumbledore needs to give way to Harry in order to allow him to stand unaided against his foe. Consider how Dumbledore has rescued the situation—sometimes directly preventing Harry’s death— in all of the previous five books: He tells him how the mirror works and saves him from Quirrel in Book One, provides him with Fawkes in Book Two, instructs Harry and Hermione how to save Sirius and Buckbeak in Book Three, saves Harry from the fake Moody in Book Four and turns up in the nick of time at the Ministry in Book Five.

There is good precedent for Dumbledore’s death in other well-known stories of good and evil. In Lord of the Rings, for example, Dumbledore’s direct counterpart, Gandalf, falls in the Mines of Moria during his fight with the Balrog, thereby indirectly enabling Aragorn to develop as a leader.

For reasons that will become clear in postings over the next few days, we believe that the death of Dumbledore will result in the reappearance and rehabilitation of his brother Aberforth - alleged goat charmer(!) and currently barman at the Hog’s Head - and that Harry will receive some sort of help from Aberforth in the absence of Albus.

1. Two weeks to go until Harry Potter Six....
....but what does it all mean?

We may have left it late but we are now ready to share our views/ideas/wild guesses regarding Harry Potter and what’s going to happen in Books 6 & 7.