HB and HBP

[rj_anderson]

First, I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to shoebox2, who has recently returned to the Canadian Idol recapping scene with the advent of CI3 -- huzzah!

Second, in regard to the just-released full cover of HBP, lizbee and I had this conversation on IM tonight:

* * *

Me: I think the wizardly clasped hands are Harry's and Snape's. Doesn't that corded, black-robed arm with the faint tattooed mark on it look Snapeish to you? Have we ever seen Dumbledore wear black?

Liz: I had the same thought, but then I decided that fandom had warped my brain...

Me: I totally called Snape on that one the moment I saw it, because of the black sleeve and the faded, half-obscured mark near the wrist. Isn't Snape's Dark Mark somewhere on the underside of his forearm?

Liz: Yes. Yes it is.

Me: Then I thought to myself, "Girl, you are just obsessed." But I can't think of any other useful candidates. Voldemort wouldn't wear his own Mark, and besides he's all white and skeletal-looking these days. Dumbledore's robes are notoriously gaudy and bright-coloured. It's clearly not a woman's arm, and Sirius Black is dead, so...

Liz: Oooh, now I'm almost interested. :-)

Me: Now does that mean Snape is the HBP? I really doubt it. I still think the HBP is going to be like the Fisher King in Mage: The Hero Discovered (now there's an obscure reference for you) -- a character we've never seen before and whose appearance/identity really isn't important, it's more what he represents and the quest that circles around him that matters.

* * *

Make of that what you will. I feel pretty confident I'm right, though.

* * *

ETA, as the conversation continued:

Me: *squints at arm* The only thing is, that mark looks like a bow. Like somebody tied a cute little black ribbon around Snape's wrist.

Liz: Hmmmmm. Carelessness on the part of the artist? Inability to portray Dark Mark?

Me: Maybe there's a secret order of the DE's devoted to worshipping Dolores Umbridge?

Liz: I wouldn't be surprised, but I doubt you'd find Snape in their midst.

Me: Actually, I think it's more likely that they fudged the artwork a little so as not to make it too obvious.

Liz: Ah. Good thought. Because Snape is the only DE likely to be holding hands with Harry... outside of slash fic.

Me: Heh. Well, it could be like an arm-wrestling match...

Comments

[boji.livejournal.com]

Sorry to de-lurk and barge on in, but:

Mage: The Hero Discovered Was the film The Fisher King based on book w/ this title? Still remember the scene of the entire crowd of homeward bound commuters waltzing in Grand Central Station.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately not: Mage was a graphic novel published by Comico back in the 80's, written and drawn by Matt Wagner. There was supposed to be a Mage movie coming out eventually, but it hasn't made it to the screen yet...

And no need to apologize for commenting! Always welcome.

[boji.livejournal.com]

If you're saying what I think you're saying, which is that JKR was er inspired by Mage, it makes sense. A friend who is a comic-addict showed me the first issue of The Colour of Magic (Gaiman and Alan? - anyway) when the 1st HP book came out. She made it clear that boys with guardian white owls, wearing Lennon round glasses were not an original idea. Well not an orignal idea of JKR's anyway.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I don't think JKR's ever read Mage, or at least I'd be very surprised if she had: I was just using the way the Fisher King was handled in that particular story (meaning Mage) as an example of how a character might be vitally important as the centre of a quest, and yet his identity and appearance be really not important at all.

Throughout Mage Kevin Matchstick and his friends are trying to find and protect the Fisher King, as are the bad guys, and as the story unfolded lot of fans were speculating about the King being this or that character we'd met in the context of the books. But when we actually see the Fisher King in the last issue, he's nobody we've ever seen before, has no dialogue, and only appears in a couple of panels. And yet, in the context of the story, it makes perfect sense -- it's not any kind of cheat, because the story is about Kevin, not about the King.

So what I meant is that I could see JKR doing something of that kind in this book, seeing as the series is about Harry, not about the HBP. But like I said, I really don't think she's read Mage or was inspired by it in any way. It's... a lot different from HP.

[boji.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the length explanation. I have to say that no matter how I wish it were otherwise, I do agree. JKR not only writes from Harry's POV but makes sure that he's got tunnel-ish vision. I had issues in Book 5/OOTP with how his friends seemed almost incedental when not converging as the DA.

Why? Well he's at boarding school. He's tripping over people, their junk and their moods, morning, noon and night. No matter how angry and/or depressed you are it's unavoidable. I wish she'd brought more of that out.

Thankyou again for clarifying.

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think that's supposed to be Dumbledore's arm (although I would prefer it to be Snape's). ;=)

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Now that I've realized Dumbledore is (inexplicably) wearing black on the cover, I can see the logic. Still, I wonder about that tracery on the older man's arm near the wrist -- it really looks like a faded tattoo (or the Dark Mark) to me, which is not something Dumbledore would be expected to have...

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

Hate to tell you, but I think it's just scumbling in pencil to try to define the wrist muscles. It's NOT a design or anything.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I see the sinews running down the length of the forearm -- that looks like pencilled muscle definition to me -- but closer to the wrist it looks pretty weird to be musculature. What are those loops, for instance? But anyway, I guess time will tell.

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

Map of the Berlin subway system? :=)

[pgoodman13.livejournal.com]

I'm not particularly fannish here, but I can't comment intelligently since I haven't seen said cover. Linkage, please? My Google-fu is weak this morning.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I've now edited the original post to include the link -- sorry about that!

[atrata.livejournal.com]

*delurks*

I want SO MUCH for it to be Snape. But that's his right arm, and the Mark's on his left, so that's probably just forearmage. Still, though. I'm clinging to my Dumbledore-always-wears-purple argument.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

You know, if that's Snape, he's picked up an awfully nice tan...

[(Anonymous)]

I, too, thought that the 2 arms were Harry's and Snape's

How many adults have we seen wear black in the books - the only Hogwarts teacher is Snape.

Maybe it is some form of magical binding contract that Harry and Snape enter into, so that Harry knows he can trust Snape.