Post by Lolua on Sept 15, 2004 2:46:06 GMT -5
If you've explored the Flash version of J.K. Rowling's official website (www.jkrowling.com), you have probably found some of the hidden "Easter eggs", which reveal early notes and drafts from JKR's files, which, as she jokes, "to the untrained eye might look like a collection of wastepaper." One of the items in this bonus material on the site is a barely legible, water-spotted and handwritten page from a 1991 draft of Book 1, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorceror's, in the U.S.) Stone.
As part of my effort to check things off my ever-expanding To-Do List, I've finally re-typed the manuscript for easy reference.
As JKR says on her site, the except shows "plot line that was abandoned" which"would have changed everything." But the excerpt has brought the plot of the first book to my attention. There are a few Socratic questions I'd like to address:
If you hate this Survival Theory, never fear. I've got another one in the works about phoenixes. ;D :-p
As part of my effort to check things off my ever-expanding To-Do List, I've finally re-typed the manuscript for easy reference.
“So this Flamel bloke found the stone --“ said Ron.
“No -- he made it,” said Harry. “He was an alchemist, which means --“<br>
“Someone who burns[turns?] base metals into gold,” said Hermione. She had that old proving-I-know-more-than-everyone-else look on her face, the other two noticed. “Of course. I read about [it?] in Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science by Argo Pyrites --“<br>
“I missed that one myself,” muttered Ron.
“-- of course, it’s some of the most difficult magic you can do. And you can end up not just with pure gold but also with a funny stone thing --"
“Which is what I’m on about,” said Harry. “The Philosopher’s Stone, yes. And it works too. It kept Nicholas Flamel and his wife alive for about five hundred years.”<br>
“What?”
“I know,” said Harry. “But it’s true. He was spotted at the opera in Paris in 1762 and he was born back in 13-something.”
Ron whistled.
“But he’s dead now?” he asked.
“Of course,” said Harry. “Someone stole his stone so he couldn’t make any more Elixir of Life, could he? It takes a while to make another Stone and by that time, I suppose he was just too old to live without his Elixir until a new Stone was ready. And now I’ll tell you something else really weird that I haven’t told you up to now -- the Stone was found in my parents’ safe at Gringott’s bank.”<br>
But instead of the interested noises Harry had expected, Ron and Hermione simply stared at him.
“What?” said Harry.
Ron cleared his throat, opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again.
“What?” Harry said.
“Well, Harry,” said Hermione. “I mean . . .”<br>
“You mean what?”<br>
He stared at them both as they shuffled their feet and tried not to look him in the eye.
“You don’t think,” he said suddenly and angrily, “that my parents stole the Stone?”<br>
“Um . . .” said Ron.
“Look,” said Harry furiously, “that’s like saying they murdered Flamel . . .”<br>
“Oh Harry, we never thought . . .”<br>
“Not much, you didn’t,” said Harry. “I don’t know how it got in there, but the Stone wasn’t put there by them . . .”<br>
“Right,” said Ron quickly. “I’m sure you’re right.”<br>
“There must be an obvious explanation,” said Hermione.
Harry wasn’t at all convinced that they meant it, but at that moment the bell rang, which put an end to the conversation.
“No -- he made it,” said Harry. “He was an alchemist, which means --“<br>
“Someone who burns[turns?] base metals into gold,” said Hermione. She had that old proving-I-know-more-than-everyone-else look on her face, the other two noticed. “Of course. I read about [it?] in Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science by Argo Pyrites --“<br>
“I missed that one myself,” muttered Ron.
“-- of course, it’s some of the most difficult magic you can do. And you can end up not just with pure gold but also with a funny stone thing --"
“Which is what I’m on about,” said Harry. “The Philosopher’s Stone, yes. And it works too. It kept Nicholas Flamel and his wife alive for about five hundred years.”<br>
“What?”
“I know,” said Harry. “But it’s true. He was spotted at the opera in Paris in 1762 and he was born back in 13-something.”
Ron whistled.
“But he’s dead now?” he asked.
“Of course,” said Harry. “Someone stole his stone so he couldn’t make any more Elixir of Life, could he? It takes a while to make another Stone and by that time, I suppose he was just too old to live without his Elixir until a new Stone was ready. And now I’ll tell you something else really weird that I haven’t told you up to now -- the Stone was found in my parents’ safe at Gringott’s bank.”<br>
But instead of the interested noises Harry had expected, Ron and Hermione simply stared at him.
“What?” said Harry.
Ron cleared his throat, opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again.
“What?” Harry said.
“Well, Harry,” said Hermione. “I mean . . .”<br>
“You mean what?”<br>
He stared at them both as they shuffled their feet and tried not to look him in the eye.
“You don’t think,” he said suddenly and angrily, “that my parents stole the Stone?”<br>
“Um . . .” said Ron.
“Look,” said Harry furiously, “that’s like saying they murdered Flamel . . .”<br>
“Oh Harry, we never thought . . .”<br>
“Not much, you didn’t,” said Harry. “I don’t know how it got in there, but the Stone wasn’t put there by them . . .”<br>
“Right,” said Ron quickly. “I’m sure you’re right.”<br>
“There must be an obvious explanation,” said Hermione.
Harry wasn’t at all convinced that they meant it, but at that moment the bell rang, which put an end to the conversation.
*
As JKR says on her site, the except shows "plot line that was abandoned" which"would have changed everything." But the excerpt has brought the plot of the first book to my attention. There are a few Socratic questions I'd like to address:
- Why was the Stone in vault 713 at Gringotts? Why didn't Flamel have it in his possession? A bank vault is where you put something you think others might steal. For example, J.K. Rowling now keeps the final chapter of Book 7 in some kind of safe-deposit box rather than having it in her house. Apparently too many children (and perhaps adults, too) were sneaking around hoping to get a peek at it. It was publicly known -- at least to anyone who had read the same moldy old library books as Hermione -- that Flamel had managed to make a Stone, and that he and his wife were still alive through its power. Anyone who really wanted unlimited wealth and eternal life might have come sneaking around Flamel's house looking for it. Incidentally, 713 backwards is 317, which is possibly a reference (using British dating) to 31 July -- the birthday of both Harry and J.K. Rowling. (Credit goes to Prof Epiphanee Sinistra on the HPANA Forums for that observation.)
- Hmmm, Argo Pyrites... why does that name sound familiar? The Argo was the ship the Greek hero Jason and his companions (henceforth called the Argonauts) took in their search for the golden fleece. A good name already for someone who wrote about the search for the gold-yielding Philosopher's Stone, right? But the last name is even more intriguing... not only is "pyrite" the more technical name for the mineral commonly known as fool's gold, but "Pyrites" was a name JKR considered for another character, who had also been deleted.
- Ummm.... who's this Pyrites person? In the "Extra Stuff" section of both Flash and Text-Only versions of JKR's site, she describes the edits and changes made to the dozen or so drafts of the first chapter of Book 1: Source: www.jkrowling.co.uk/textonly/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=1Other drafts included a character by the name of 'Pyrites', whose name means 'fool's gold'. He was a servant of Voldemort's and was meeting Sirius in front of the Potters' house. Pyrites, too, had to be discarded, though I quite liked him as a character; he was a dandy and wore white silk gloves, which I thought I might stain artistically with blood from time to time.
- Why did Dumbledore have Hagrid move the Stone to Hogwarts when he did? I'm not really sure. Perhaps Dumbledore knew that its location in Gringotts had been leaked (Quirrell tried to rob the vault that same day, so we should assume he knew where to look for it), though how Dumbledore knew that (or how he seems to know everything all the time) is anyone's guess. Maybe Super-Spy Snape told him. Or maybe Dumbledore is the sick and stupid person Big Brother thinks he is and he figured the Stone at Hogwarts would lure Vapormort to the school so Harry could have the chance to face him. It's clear that full preparations at the school for the Stone's protection had not been made by the day Hagrid removed it from Gringotts -- the Mirror of Erised was still sitting in an unused classroom where Harry found it on Christmas Night. I'm leaning toward emergency removal from Gringotts under threat of robbery by a powerful Dark Wizard who could break the goblins' enchantments.
- So what's the point? We have inferred that someone may have tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Flamel, leading to its storage in the "safety" of Gringotts. We know the Stone can be used to make unlimited wealth and the Elixir of Life. The Elixir of Life a) could preserve the waning lives of Perenelle and Nicolas Flamel and b) according to Quirrell, could create a body for Vapormort to use, so he didn't have to hide under that purple turban. The Pyrites connection, while possibly coincidental, suggests to me a link (at least in JKR's authorial mind) between the Stone/alchemy and Voldemort, particularly Voldemort's survival as Vapormort that Halloween night in Godric's Hollow.
- Then could this be a clue the Big Question of why Voldemort didn't die? Had Voldemort managed to drink some of the Elixir? Could using the Stone be one of the various means by which Voldemort attempted to protect himself from death?"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah . . . pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost. . . but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know . . . I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal - to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked . . . for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it." (GoF Ch. 33)
If he's telling the truth (which he might not be, knowing Lord Voldything), that means he's gone farther than good old Nicolas Flamel, the maker of the only Stone in existence. Perhaps, once, there was another one... and perhaps Voldemort had it and used it.
If you hate this Survival Theory, never fear. I've got another one in the works about phoenixes. ;D :-p