Seeing things as a writer...
Aug. 12th, 2012 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
clare_dragonflyYou know what would have really improved Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for me?
When they reach the cave wall and have to put blood on it to make it open, Dumbledore says "no Harry, you're too important" and cuts himself to use his own blood. Which is fairly reasonable, since Harry is young and also a destined hero. But I think it would have been way better if Harry had used his blood, and then it didn't work and Dumbledore said "oh, this must mean that Voldemort considers underage wizards beneath notice, this could be useful knowledge."
Because really, I don't mind that Dumbledore is always right. But it bugs me that he says "oh, this is just a theory, but actually I know everything about Voldemort's brain and this is how the trap works," and Harry has to go along with everything because Dumbledore said it. He--and more importantly, the reader--has no evidence of it other than Dumbledore's word. Which is fine a few times, but I got really tired of it (especially at the end of DH, but that's a whole other thing entirely).
So if there'd just been a tiny bit of on-the-page proof that underage wizards don't count when it comes to Voldemort's Horcrux protections, instead of Dumbledore's entire plan hinging on an assumption, I would have been a lot happier with the story. And it only would have added one or two fairly short paragraphs, so it's not as though it would tip the book over a size limit or anything! Plus, Harry having a cut might add to the drama of the next parts, and otherwise it wouldn't affect the plot in any way that I can think of.
So I wonder if, as the title says, I've thought of this solution now (instead of a time when I'm actually reading the book, for example) because I'm thinking about the story from the perspective of a writer, as opposed to a reader.
When they reach the cave wall and have to put blood on it to make it open, Dumbledore says "no Harry, you're too important" and cuts himself to use his own blood. Which is fairly reasonable, since Harry is young and also a destined hero. But I think it would have been way better if Harry had used his blood, and then it didn't work and Dumbledore said "oh, this must mean that Voldemort considers underage wizards beneath notice, this could be useful knowledge."
Because really, I don't mind that Dumbledore is always right. But it bugs me that he says "oh, this is just a theory, but actually I know everything about Voldemort's brain and this is how the trap works," and Harry has to go along with everything because Dumbledore said it. He--and more importantly, the reader--has no evidence of it other than Dumbledore's word. Which is fine a few times, but I got really tired of it (especially at the end of DH, but that's a whole other thing entirely).
So if there'd just been a tiny bit of on-the-page proof that underage wizards don't count when it comes to Voldemort's Horcrux protections, instead of Dumbledore's entire plan hinging on an assumption, I would have been a lot happier with the story. And it only would have added one or two fairly short paragraphs, so it's not as though it would tip the book over a size limit or anything! Plus, Harry having a cut might add to the drama of the next parts, and otherwise it wouldn't affect the plot in any way that I can think of.
So I wonder if, as the title says, I've thought of this solution now (instead of a time when I'm actually reading the book, for example) because I'm thinking about the story from the perspective of a writer, as opposed to a reader.