More thoughts on the covers

I have two words for those who think the creature behind Harry on the UK Children's edition cover is a house-elf:

bat-like ears

No, the creature on the cover doesn't have ears that could really be described as bat-like. We don't have a house-elf drawing from this cover artist, like we do for the American versions. Last time, I actually spent time looking for pictures (in the chapter art as well as the covers) of Ron, Hermione and Ginny to see whether they were the people looking up at the Dark Mark, and for a picture of a pensieve, to find out if that's what the basin on the cover was. I still think it's a Goblin, but only time will tell.

Icy-Hogwarts -- everyone wonders what's going on with the castle on the back of the UK children's cover. I think it's most likely to be Hogwarts. Maybe a Hogwarts that's mostly deserted, no students are there. Or it's under a spell of some kind. The full moon may be significant, given Lupin's condition.

The US cover -- a bunch of position type comments. They are behind the curtains, whatever that means. Both of them are definitely behind where the curtains are. Second, the floor. They are in the midst of the rubble that is there. I don't think we can tell if they're falling through it or just standing in it, but there are pieces in front of them and pieces behind them. They are both surrounded by parts of debris, whether it be broken floor or not. It appears to be both rock and wood, so I think it's most likely to NOT be a floor that's actively breaking up, but one that was broken before they got there.

One more thing -- the locket. Slytherin's locket. It's on the cover of the UK adult edition. And Harry's wearing it on the US cover. End of story. If it's important enough to be on the cover, and then Harry's wearing something very, very similar, it's most likely the same thing. I could be wrong, of course, but that's what I think.