|
 |
|
|
|
|
Musings #10: Additional Art Analysis
by Matthew Vines
July 11, 2005
Since the covers of the main three editions of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were released in March, three more intriguing pieces of artwork have surfaced: the deluxe edition cover, the back cover of the UK children’s edition, and the back cover of the US edition.
I’ll begin with the deluxe edition cover, drawn by the wonderfully talented Mary GrandPre. Here we have a curious Harry and a wary Dumbledore traipsing through a forested glen. Exactly where is debatable, though the Forbidden Forest is a plausible supposition. Just in front of Harry is a broken-down fence and what appears to be an uprooted tree (perhaps the work of Grawp?). Dumbledore is focused on a knife thrust in a tree to his left, while Harry’s gaze is directed straight out.
Now that we have established their surroundings, the next question that comes to mind is what Harry and Dumbledore are doing in the forest. It could be that they are looking to recruit Grawp, Aragog, centaurs, or other forest creatures for the Wizarding War, but then again, it’s just as likely that they’re searching for something completely different. (For example, if, before the book was released, we saw the drawing of Umbridge, Harry, and Hermione marching into the forest from the chapter “Fright and Flight” in Order of the Phoenix, I seriously doubt most of us would have guessed that they were going to be attacked by a herd of irate centaurs and then be saved by Hagrid’s half-brother.)
Several ominous signs are present, the most unsettling of which is Dumbledore’s look of trepidation. Dumbledore has made it through some pretty tough stuff without even flinching – what is so terrible that it truly incites fear within him? In Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore single-handedly rescued Dolores Umbridge from dozens of stampeding centaurs in the Forbidden Forest and walked out completely unscathed. From what we heard, he wasn’t remotely nervous about anything that he might encounter off the beaten path in the forest. Later that evening, he had a lovely chat with Lord Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic without showing any signs of anxiety. The only notable time throughout the first five books that Dumbledore has really been frightened was just before Lord Voldemort possessed Harry in book five. Perhaps I’m overanalyzing (always a distinct possibility), but seeing a Dumbledore who isn’t perfectly content is disconcerting.
Two other subtle bits of eeriness are the knife in the upper right hand corner of the cover and the ghostlike figure floating around the bottom left hand corner (if you turn your head quite a ways to the left, you can see what looks like eyes and a beard that rivals Dumbledore’s). The knife is probably important, whereas the latter is likely just another case of over-analysis.
Moving on to the full book jacket of the UK children’s edition! Location: cave. Objects present: boat, giant slab of concrete that resembles a sundial, pensieve with clawed feet. People present: no one…or so it seems. No one appears to be in the boat at first glance, but two heads (Harry and Dumbledore’s?) are observable in the boat’s reflection. The two invisibility tactics that we are most familiar with – Invisibility Cloaks and Disillusionment Charms – both seem like they would be able to retain their magical powers over water, but that can’t be said with complete certainty, seeing as it hasn’t yet been tested.
Regardless of who is in the boat, the claw-footed pensieve demands our attention. It is different than the pensieve on the cover of the American edition (which is set atop an Ionic column) in many respects, leading me to believe that it is either a different pensieve or just a strikingly different interpretation of the same one.
If I had to venture a guess as to where this cave is, I’d say the Chamber of Secrets simply because it’s logical. Put yourself in Dumbledore’s shoes for just a few minutes. Say you’ve been at Hogwarts for more than a century and are pretty darn familiar with it and with most of its secret passages. Then say that, in June, a second-year student discovers a vast underground chamber, made by one of the school’s founders over a millennium ago, that you knew existed, but never knew how to enter. Summer break comes along and you have two months all to yourself. What are you going to do? Explore the chamber, of course!
I imagine that’s precisely what Dumbledore did the summer after Harry’s second year at Hogwarts. (Harry thinks otherwise, however: “Harry had no idea where Dumbledore went during the summer holidays. He amused himself for a moment, picturing Dumbledore, with his long silver beard, full length wizard's robes, and pointed hat, stretched out on a beach somewhere, rubbing suntan lotion onto his long crooked nose.” – page 21, Goblet of Fire) Surely Dumbledore discovered a multitude of mysterious things in the chamber – after all, it is called the Chamber of Secrets, not the Chamber of the Secret, and so far, we’ve only found out one of its secrets. Perhaps he found Salazar Slytherin’s pensieve and is bringing Harry along to show him?
It doesn’t seem too far-fetched to think that Salazar Slytherin might have left a pensieve full of his memories inside his chamber, so that his heirs could see them someday. If that is the case, I will throw maturity out of the window and run around squealing when I read it. I would absolutely love to watch the four Hogwarts founders converse, build, teach, quarrel, and part ways – what fabulous backstory! Anyway, I must not get too hung up hoping for that to transpire…
Pardon my switching topics, but this just hit me and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it last August: Character X (the character described in the Half-Blood Prince excerpt) is Godric Gryffindor, seen through Salazar Slytherin’s pensieve. It makes perfect sense: “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.” Well, no wonder he looks like an old lion, because that’s the Gryffindor house mascot! Once again, my apologies for the interruption. Back to the topic at hand….
The Ring of Fire: It’s difficult to tell whose hands are connected or why, but I think it’s safe to say that something is being transferred, likely a power of sorts. A reader suggested that the ring that appears on the book’s spine is being transferred from the Half-Blood Prince to Harry, and because of the ring’s amazing magical powers, a fiery connection is formed between the giver and the receiver. I suppose that could be accurate, but we really have nothing to go on but the drawing on this one. And about the ring: the only theory I’ve got is that it belongs to the Half-Blood Prince and that it’s very powerful.
And now, onto the last piece of artwork: the back cover of the US edition. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and … someone else are gazing upwards at the Dark Mark, which looks to be positioned above Hogwarts. A killing at Hogwarts would unite the school - just as real-life disasters can unite countries - and could help in the long run. But who is the victim? Definitely not Dumbledore … at least not in this case. Dumbledore can defend himself perfectly well, but if Lord Voldemort attacks Hogwarts, he may have a tough time defending everyone else as well.
If someone at Hogwarts is killed, we know that it can’t be Ron, Hermione, Ginny, or Hagrid (the first three are clearly fine after the fact and Jo said that latter would make an appearance in all seven books), and it probably won’t be a nobody either. Gryffindors – especially those who are half-blooded - are the likeliest targets, as Voldemort despises them. Maybe Dean Thomas, who is half-blooded and whose father actively fought against Voldemort before his downfall? Or Seamus Finnigan, another half-blooded Gryffindor? If either Dean or Seamus was killed by Voldemort at Hogwarts, it would have a profound effect on Harry and the rest of the school, despite the fact that they weren’t best friends.
We’ll just have to wait and see!
Back to HP Musings | Feedback
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
