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.

Re-reading Chamber of Secrets

Harry is lying in the hospital wing, re-growing the bones in his arm, and he overhears Dumbledore and McGonagall talking after bringing in the petrified body of Colin Creevey.

"What does it mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently.

"It means," said Dumbldore, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."

"But, Albus . . . surely . . . who?"

"The question is not who," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin. "The question is, how. . . ."

Dumbledore was there the first time. Dumbledore didn't believe Hagrid did it then. How much did Dumbledore know about Tom Riddle's role in it, both at the time it first happened, and how much has he figured out since then?

From the above dialog, we can conclude Dumbledore knew Tom Riddle was behind it the first time and somehow knows or assumes that Voldemort is behind it again.

What I would really like to read, after I've finished reading the Deathly Hallows, is a re-telling of the events of all of the books from Dumbledore's perspective. I suppose we'll never know how Dumbledore came to know all that he has figured out about Tom Riddle, but I sure am curious.

Dumbledore says he wouldn't presume to say he knows all of Hogwarts' secrets (he says this at dinner during the Yule Ball, I believe, when he talks about finding the room full of chamber pots early in the morning). Yet we know he's been at Hogwarts over 50 years, was there when the Chamber was first opened -- why didn't he figure it all out sooner? Hermione figured it out. Is Hermione smarter than Dumbledore?

Gilderoy Lockhart's ideal birthday present

I'm re-reading CoS. I'm just up to the Peskipiksi Pesternomi chapter, and I noticed that his ideal birthday present is harmony between all magical and non-magical peoples. Though he added the alternative of a case of Ogden's Old Firewhisky, I found it strangely inconsistent with his secret ambition to rid the world of evil and market his own line of hair-care products. I mean, rid the world of evil sounds like something a DADA professor would say. But why is his birthday wish "harmony between all magical and non-magical peoples"? Does this sound familiar to anyone. Like the song of a certain old and dirty hat?

Is this what will happen when Harry finally kills Voldemort? Will there finally be harmony and unity and no more name calling?

I guess we'll have to wait and see.