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Travis Prinzi

Is Dumbledore Dead?

by Travis Prinzi on July 16, 2006

Three of the most intensely debated questions surrounding Half-Blood Prince and Book 7 are “Is Harry a Horcrux?”, “Will Harry Die?”, and “Is Dumbledore Dead?” This essay (and it certainly must be essay-length) will examine the third question.

The question is more intriguing than I imagined it to be. After expressing absolute certainty that Dumbledore was dead, the reading of a few theories forced me to at least reconsider. I will present four different views on the death of Dumbledore. Two views argue that Dumbledore is dead, two that he is not. I’ll leave counterarguments to you in the comment thread.
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Around the Common Room

by Travis Prinzi on July 14, 2006

Quick trip around the Common Room to see what’s happening in the Harry world.

Naming Book 7 – A few news articles have been trickling in about the possible names of the last book, based on supposedly good information from the UK patent office.  Using this one and this one, we get these options:

  • Harry Potter and the Alchemist’s Cell
  • Harry Potter and the Pyramids of Furmat
  • Harry Potter and the Chariots of Light
  • Harry Potter and the Parseltongue Trophy
  • Harry Potter and the Great Revelation

Which, of course, just goes to show that even secret inside information can be absurd.  Hopefully they didn’t pay too much for it.  Alchemist’s Cell makes sense since alchemy is so important to the series, and it has been suggested by others.  Pyramids of Furmat…well, at least we have the stories of the Weasleys in Egypt, Bill becoming a bigger character, and now the main characters able to apparate.  So trips to Egypt in Book 7 are not out of the question.  The other three options just seem odd to me.

Will Harry Die?  I don’t agree with everything in this post, but you should read it.  If you’re really freaked out by the idea of Harry dying, this article might be helpful.  I agree with the guy – it would be a perfect tragic and beautiful ending if Harry were to sacrificially.

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Mrs. Dumbledore?

by Travis Prinzi on July 11, 2006

It seems like ever since I said I was done writing about Dumbledore, I haven’t been able to stop writing about Dumbledore. While I’m working on the essay on the various views on Dumbledore’s death, be sure to check out this intriguing post by professor mum. This is the kind of creative thinking about the series that I like.

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Death and New Life

July 7, 2006

Due to a death in the family and the impending arrival of our first daughter (due date is today, so hopefully soon!), there may be a good long pause before I can write much more here.  Keep discussions going in the comments, and I’ll stop in when I can. 

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Around the Common Room

July 4, 2006

Happy Independence Day, everyone! In the last week or so, I’ve been alerted to a few blogs that are doing some excellent work on Harry Potter that will now be appearing on the links page. Here are a few of note:
The Chamber of Mom – mother of an “all Harry, all the time” [...]

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I’m going to poke my eye out with a pen…

July 3, 2006

Multiple frustrating things have occurred as a result of J.K. Rowling’s (boring) statements from the interview that has everyone in a tizzy about Harry’s death. Check out this article, for example. The opening line:
Author J.K. Rowling recently announced that Harry Potter will die as an act of self-sacrifice in one last terrible battle [...]

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The Prophecy Problem

July 1, 2006

Perhaps the most interesting issue raised by the afore-mentioned Red Hen article, Loyaulte Me Lie, is the apparently conflicting accounts we have of the night the fateful prophecy was delivered in a room above the Hog’s Head by Sybill Trelawney. I’ll state the problem, answer part of it, and leave the rest to you [...]

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Understanding Ginny

June 30, 2006

I’ll admit from the start, I’m not one for the “shipping” debates (which student should date which). Nevertheless, there is some importance to the whole dating scene, not least the fact that Rowling’s a big fan of Austen’s novels, so romance will undoubtedly play a part.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the shipping debates, there [...]

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Oho! Reconsidering Dumbledore’s Death

June 28, 2006

Despite my previous adamant assertion that Dumbledore is dead, I’ve been forced, reluctantly, to reconsider the issue. After reading two lengthy essays, I am forced to at least conclude that the option is very much available: Dumbledore may not be dead.

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JKR: Two Characters Will Die

June 27, 2006

There’s a buzz in fandom this morning (HT to Glenn Lucke, who tried to make me and La Shawn “twitch” with this story): J.K. Rowling said in an interview that two characters will die in Book 7, and she’s included some intriguing comments about Harry’s fate:

“I have never been tempted to kill him off before [...]

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My Project: Learning Literature in Light of Harry

June 23, 2006

One of the sad things about the continual habit of fundamentalist Christianity to entirely misunderstand the Harry Potter series and engage in book banning is the incredible window it opens for teaching children and teens to love literature.

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A Delay

June 23, 2006

I promised some posts on alchemy. I’m getting there.  I’ve been working with a Jungian view, but this weekend I’ll be picking up Titus Burckhardt’s book on alchemy, and I want to work a bit with both views before post significantly on that topic.
Until then, brush up a bit on literary alchemy as [...]

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Coming Soon…

June 21, 2006

Most of my Harry Potter work of late has been spent on a paper on Voldemort, something that I plan to submit to a few HP conferences (which is why it’s not appearing here presently).  I’ve said all I want to on Dumbledore at the moment, and I plan to move on to a series [...]

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Some Early, Random, Crazy Predictions

June 15, 2006

Just prior to the release of Book 7, I plan to post at great length my predictions (read: wild guesses) for the book, many of which are not formed yet.  This is entirely for fun, of course, and my disclaimer about Narrative Misdirection should always be understood as a caveat to all my predictions.
That said, another [...]

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Out. Of. Her. Mind.

June 14, 2006

And you thought Laura Mallory’s attempt to getting Harry Potter banned in Gwinnet County, Georgia was over.  She’s actually taking her case to the state.

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Snape: An Interesting Perspective

June 13, 2006

An interesting perspective on Snape has been posted by Jeremy at his new Eating Words blog.
It occurred to me last night that it might not be possible for Snape to use Avada Kedavra without malicious intent. I’m working from memory so correct me if I am wrong. When pseudo-Mad-Eye was teaching the class about the [...]

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Book Review: The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter

June 13, 2006

David Colbert’s The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter is a far better accomplishment than his similar book on Narnia. While still lacking in some respects, it is nevertheless a helpful guide to many of the background myths and legends of the Harry Potter series. The topics are arranged alphabetically, and what you learn [...]

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Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix, and the Fabian Society

June 8, 2006

My decision to begin some in-depth work on Albus Dumbledore was inspired by an article on the Headmaster at Red-Hen Publications which has, in my opinion, a combination of excellent insights and a few mistakes. Here is where I take issue:

Albus Dumbledore is one of the very biggest (non-chocolate!) frogs in the very small puddle [...]

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Update on Progress

June 7, 2006

Just a quick update on the technical progress and whether or not I’ll write anything interesting anytime soon.
I’m about half-way through a lengthy post on Dumbledore which will probably appear later today, tomorrow at the latest. 
I finished Colbert’s The Magical Worlds of Narnia last night and will write a review in the next couple of [...]

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ATTN: Blog Aggregator People

June 5, 2006

If you use Bloglines or some other blog aggregator client, just be aware that you’re about to get a large influx of posts from SoG – I’m uploading ALL pictures to wordpress, since I previously hosted them at Typepad and will be eliminating my Typepad account in the next month. 

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J.K. Rowling’s Top Ten

June 5, 2006

The Royal Society of Literature asked J.K. Rowling and other authors to name their top 10 books that schoolchildren should read (read article).  Basically, this is what JKR thinks you should have read by the time you graduated high school:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
David [...]

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Book Review: The Magical Worlds of Narnia

June 3, 2006

On a bus ride to Albany and back, I was able to read David Colbert’s The Magical Worlds of Narnia: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts. He has written a similar book on Harry Potter, which I will tackle soon. For now, a few brief thoughts on how Colbert handles Narnia.
Taking [...]

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Big Project

May 31, 2006

*sigh*  I’ve got a lot I want to blog about, but I’ve got a huge project ahead of me.  I’m moving my personal blog to a new, free home.  This makes things really difficult because I made a pretty dumb choice – almost all the pictures you see here are hosted by Typepad.  When I [...]

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Dumbledore and Professor X

May 28, 2006

Merlin at Muggle Matters has posted some interesting thoughts on Harry Potter and X-men based on the third film, released this weekend. It’s interesting stuff in light of our exploration here of the “Wise Old Man” archetype. Merlin looks at Dumbledore and Professor X (who is obviously the Wise Old Man of the [...]

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Jungian Archetypes

May 27, 2006

As promised, I’m going to proceed with some thoughts on Dumbledore, but we must begin with a quick overview of Jung’s “archetypes” as it relates to mythology. Whether you buy Jung’s “collective unconscious” stuff or not, considering his archetypal patterns enhances our understanding of many classic and contemporary works of fiction.
In short, “An archetype [...]

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