Through the Trapdoor -- JK Rowling's Blueprint for the Harry Potter Series

A couple of weeks back, I did a post, Mirror Mirror on the Series, showing how JK Rowling had plotted books five, six, and seven to reflect three, two, and one, with four as the hinge.  In putting that post together, I discovered another game she'd played, that's really more foreshadowing than it is a reflection. Jo foreshadowed key elements for the entire 7-book series at the end of the first.

Don't believe me?  Then take a look at this.

Chapter 16 of Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, Through the Trap Door, takes the reader with Harry on a quest to stop Voldemort from capturing the Philosopher's Stone and obtaining eternal life.

There are several key gates/challenges along the way that Harry, Ron, and Hermione must pass in order for Harry to triumphantly face Voldemort at the end.  And each of these challenges relates, in order, to an upcoming book.

1) Neville, a Toad, and a Chamber of Secrets:

The first challenge Harry, Ron, and Hermione face, before they even leave Gryffindor Tower, is Neville.  But Neville is not alone.  He's carrying his pet toad, Trevor.  In fact, it's so important for the reader to know that Neville has Trevor that Jo mentions it twice.  Neville has gathered up his courage to face his friends and stop them from losing any more house points.  But Hermione casts a Petrificus Totalus spell on Neville, making him go all rigid and fall "flat on his face, stiff as a board."

A book later, we saw some other people struck with magic go all rigid, stiff as a board -- they too had been petrified.  This happened in Chamber of Secrets as students were attacked by Riddle and Slytherin's pet basilisk, who was born of a hen's egg hatched beneath a toad.  Maybe Hermione should have petrified Trevor as well when she had the chance**.

Then, on the way to the third-floor corridor, Harry, Ron, and Hermione run into Peeves, who though he can't see them, knows they're there and threatens to notify Filch.  He is only dissuaded when Harry imitates the Bloody Baron and threatens Peeves.

Ghosts figured prominently into the plot of Chamber of Secrets as well with Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party and Moaning Myrtle's "guarding" of the entrance to the Chamber.

2) Prisoners of Devil's Snare and Dementors:

The second challenge the Trio faces also comes in a pair.  Hagrid's pet, Fluffy, a three-headed dog, guards a trapdoor that drops them onto Devil's Snare.  To get past Fluffy, Harry must play a bit of music from the flute Hagrid gave him for Christmas.  And when they drop onto Professor Sprout's Devil's Snare, it immediately snakes its tendrils around Ron and Harry's legs and arms, imprisoning them.  Only Hermione, the last to drop and the first to see the danger, can set them free with the light of a fire.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare...what did Professor Sprout say?--it likes the dark and the damp--"
[Hermione] whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant.  In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth.

Sounds almost like casting a Patronus at a Dementor, doesn't it?  A Dementor who also lives and breeds in the dark and damp.

We first meet the Dementors in Prisoner of Azkaban, where Hagrid again has a fearsome pet, Buckbeak, who Harry is able to tame and ride.  And it is through Buckbeak, and the light of truth, that Sirius, a prisoner of lies, is finally set free.

3) Flying Keys and Disguised Villains:

Flitwick's challenge involves hundred of winged, flying keys, disguised as birds, where only one fits the door through which they must pass.  The Trio must fly high among the keys to seek out and catch the one key which will allow them to continue.  In a game of magical cooperation, Harry directs the other two and puts his Seeker skills to the test to identify and capture the true key.

In Goblet of Fire, Harry once again uses his flying skills to capture the golden dragon's egg, which is the key to the next challenge in the Triwizard Tournament.  Furthermore, in this book, we are introduced to some very special keys, portkeys, which carry Harry and his friends to the Quidditch World Cup, and then Harry and Cedric to face a rejuvenated Voldemort in the graveyard.  And finally, Pseudo Mad-Eye's disguise is removed to reveal the true face of Voldemort's most loyal servant, and the true Mad-Eye hidden in a trunk guarded by seven locks.

4) The White Queen of Death and the Noble Knight:

Fanart by glockgal

After Harry, Ron, and Hermione pass through the door guarded by keys, they are confronted with McGonagall's life-size, transfigured chess games.  Harry becomes a bishop, Hermione a castle, and Ron a knight as he directs his friends about the board.  Finally, Ron sacrifices himself to the white queen so that Harry can checkmate the white king and proceed.

In Order of the Phoenix, as the Order faces the Death Eaters in battle, a noble knight is indeed lost to a queen as Sirius is killed by Bellatrix, Voldemort's top female warrior, giving his life to protect Harry.  Harry then confronts Voldemort and, in the end, forces him out of his body.

5) Potions and Memories from a Half-Blood Prince:

The Trio then passes a foul-smelling troll, who has already been knocked out by Quirrell, who'd placed him there anyway.  They enter a room with a table holding seven bottles of potions--Snape's logic challenge.  Hermione figures out the riddle, which allows her to determine which bottle is safe for her to drink to go back, get Ron, and summon the absent Dumbledore, and which one is safe for Harry to drink in order to proceed through the flames and face Voldemort alone.

In Half-Blood Prince, Snape is once again the object of a logic puzzle.  Harry is in possession of Snape's old potions book, but doesn't know who the Half-Blood Prince is to whom it belonged.  Not only must Harry figure out who is the potions master in this HBP challenge, but he is confronted with seven vials.  Instead of potions, however, these vials contain memories providing insight in Voldemort's past to prepare Harry for the ultimate confrontation.

6) Facing the Conflict of Desire and Sacrifice:

Finally, Harry stands face to face to face with The Man with Two Faces.   He looks deep into Dumbledore's Mirror of Erised and sees himself in possession of the Philosopher's Stone.  And when Quirrell/Voldy finally attacks, he cannot touch Harry because of his mother's sacrifice to save her son's life.

Likewise, in Deathly Hallows, Harry must finally face Voldemort alone, but capable this time, after having passed through the prior challenges, of finally defeating him.  After an internal struggle of facing what he truly desires, Hallows or Horcruxes, an intense challenge forced upon him by Dumbledore, Harry sacrifices himself to save others. As a result, he gives those he loves the same protection from Voldemort which his mother gave him.

I don't know about you, but I find it amazing that JKR had plotted her series so in depth from the beginning, that she was able to include all these clues in the first book.  Foreshadowing like this comes from hard work and preparation.  It is because Jo took the time to plot out her whole series before publishing Philosopher's Stone, and knew intimately what was to come, that she was able to drop these clues in from the very start.

What's more, JKR didn't stop with setting the stage for key elements in each of the books to come, but she also foreshadows the final battle.  Each of the professors who provided a protection at the end of Philosopher's Stone, also provides a weapon against Voldemort during the Final Battle.

Professor	PS/SS Protection	DH Weapon
Neville	himself	himself as resistance leader and beheading Nagini
Peeves	himself	dropped giant worms
Hagrid	Fluffy	Grawp
Sprout	Devil's Snare	Devil's Snare
Flitwick	Winged Keys	Incantations; (a shield charm Protego Horribilis)
McGonagall	Human Chess Game	Mobilized Suits of Armor
Snape	Potion Logic Riddle	Taught Harry to control emotions and provided final memory
Dumbledore	Mirror of Erised	At King's Cross, informed Harry he had choice between joining his family or going back to fight, also forced Harry to examine his innermost desires and deliberately choose to not go after the Elder Wand for himself.

**Although it could be argued here that these points of comparison are more of a wrap-up, where she made the parallel links work at the end rather than having foreshadowed at the beginning.


A couple of other foreshadowed tidbits from the first book:

• Petunia saw Dedalus Diggle in a shop in PS/SS when he bowed to Harry; he is part of Dursley's escort in DH
• The original quidditch team are all at Hogwarts for the Final Battle
• Snape is bitten by Fluffy in PS/SS and bitten by Nagini in DH.

I love how JKR plays with her reader by inserting these clues and making these connections.  She used tricks like this to help set the tone and establish the rules.  Jo wanted her reader to play along with her.  While she wanted the reader deeply invested in the emotional arc of the story and characters, she also wanted their minds fully engaged in analyzing the mysteries and finding the Easter eggs hidden about.

I'm really curious, have any of you ever tried playing a game with your readers like this?  Also, what other links between the ending of PS/SS and the upcoming books did I miss?


** The note about Hermione petrifying Trevor is meant as a joke as the basilisk is several hundred years old. But what JKR is doing here is providing a slight link from one toad to another.  This is an example of her running bit clues.

(Check Out JK Rowling's Newest Release -- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child here!)  
 

A Harry Potter Christmas

As I'm running around getting ready for Christmas in North Carolina, I can't help but think about the wonderful, snow-covered Christmases Harry spent at Hogwarts or with Sirius and the Weasley family.  With each book, J.K. Rowling seemed to delight in crafting something special for two specific holidays.  With Halloween usually came something appropriately spooky -- like trolls in the dungeon, or a Death-Day Party.  But with Christmas came a Great Hall full of decorated trees, presents from Harry's new and expanding "family," and often new clues for the developing mystery.

Here's some of my favorite tidbits from each of the Harry Potter Christmases.

Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone:
Seeing the Great Hall decorated for the first time with 12 magical Christmas trees ranks right up there with Harry having his best Christmas (away from the Dursleys!) ever.

For his first real Christmas, Harry gets:

• a roughly cut wooden flute from Hagrid that sounds a bit like an owl
• fifty pence from the Dursleys
• an emerald sweater and box of fudge from Mrs. Weasley
• a box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione
• and the invisibility cloak from Dumbledore

With the gift of the first sweater (jumper in the UK), Harry becomes an adopted member into the Weasley clan.  And as George says when telling Percy he has to sit with them at the feast rather than the Prefects, "Christmas is a time for family."

Three of these gifts are necessary tools to help Harry figure out the mystery surrounding Nicholas Flamel and the Philosopher's Stone.  The invisibility cloak helps Harry sneak around Hogwarts.  Flamel is revealed to the Trio through his Chocolate Frog card, and Hagrid's flute helps them get past Fluffy.

Never Trust a Character! (If You Want to Find a Clue)

This post is part of the Mystery Plotting series, in which we are examining, one by one, techniques JK Rowling used to hide clues and plot her mysteries.

As a writer, how do you feed misinformation to your reader?  Not everyone or everything in life is straightforward and honest, nor should it be in our stories.  We need those red-herrings and those twists and turns of a surprising plot to keep our audience on edge and reading at a fast pace.  But readers also feel cheated if an author deliberately misleads them without properly motivating the "lie" or providing clues that they have done so.

Enter the voice of your characters.  Characters can lie any time for various reasons -- but they MUST be well motivated.  Whether through an outright lie, sly misdirection, or inherent misunderstanding -- adversaries, friends, and even the main characters themselves can misrepresent the truth through what they say or what they think.  As writers, it is our job to ensure that their reason for lying or misleading the reader is a good one.  As always, JK Rowling provides wonderful examples of all these.

Perhaps the easiest, and therefore most obvious method of character lies is through the mouth of the villain.  However, if the villain is clearly marked as such and his antagonistic position against the hero clearly defined, any words he utters will always be suspect.

No, it's much more subtle to have well-intentioned characters feed misinformation due to their own lack of knowledge or false perceptions. How often did Ron and especially Hermione poo-pooh Harry's growing belief that Draco had become a Death Eater in Half-Blood Prince.  Draco was too young, they said.  Harry was just letting his own hatred of his nemesis persuade him to see something that was not there.  And, yet, Harry was right.  But if the reader had listened to the logical but wrong perceptions of Hermione and Ron, they were in for a surprise.

We also saw in an earlier example how Percy fed the reader the clue that Ginny was very upset about Harry being accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets.  At the same time, Percy distracted us as to why his sister was truly upset through his own wrong understanding of the situation.  Of course, how in the world would sixth-year Prefect Percy understand first-year shy Ginny's inner turmoil?  Who would have suspected that she was upset about setting the Basilisk loose herself?

Mad-Eye Moody, as impersonated by Barty Crouch, is the chief antagonist throughout Goblet of Fire.  However, this semi-mythical retired Auror is brought onto the scene through other characters' POVs, which while they may not be false, are definitely leading the reader away from the truth in this situation.

First, Cedric Diggory's dad, who works at the ministry, informs Mr. Weasley, and the reader, that the day before Mad-Eye is to take up his new position (at Hogwarts), that an intruder tried to get into his house and was attacked by his charmed dust-bins.  But, notice Mr. Diggory's influential POV regarding Mad-Eye:

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head, rolling its eyes again.  "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of the night?  More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings...I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window."

Mr. Diggory definitely doesn't believe that Mad-Eye might have truly been attacked, does he? So, neither does the reader.

A few minutes later, around the breakfast table, the rest of the Weasley clan's POVs add to our perception of Mad-Eye:

From George -- "Isn't he that nutter--"

An while Charlie asserts that "Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him," he also states that "I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age.  Doesn't trust anyone anymore.  Sees Dark wizards everywhere."

Moody becomes the coolest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor ever.  Students line up outside his door to ensure they get a good seat in his class.  Thus, because we've been told he's paranoid for good reason, and in the students' POV he's the coolest thing to hit Hogwarts this year, when in the Three Broomsticks Harry notices Moody drinking from his flask yet again, the reader is properly prepared to believe along with Harry the falsely planted reason:

Moody had told them all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup.

Who would such a man of the ultimate deception?  Through all this build up and then the final revelation, JKR has masterfully manipulated her characters' POV in the direction she wants to influence our own perception of her prime, hidden antagonist.  And notice, the characters' all believe what they say because these perceptions are true for the real Mad-Eye!  Because they are convinced, we are as well.

Throughout Goblet of Fire, JKR continues to utilize false perceptions from the characters to both reveal and conceal clues.  In an example pointed out to me by a participant in one of my workshops (thanks Suzanne!), we're going to look at a more subtle example from Chapter 27, after the second challenge of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.  Snape confronts Harry during Potions class about stealing ingredients from his cupboard, which Harry angrily denies.

    "Don't lie to me," Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Harry's.  "Boomslang skin.  Gillyweed.  Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them."
    Harry stared back at Snape, determined not to blink or to look guilty.  In truth, he hadn't stolen either of these things from Snape.  Hermione had taken the boomslang skin back in their second year -- they had needed it for the Polyjuice Potion -- and while Snape had suspected Harry at the time, he had never been able to prove it.  Dobby, of course, had stolen the gillyweed.
    "I don't know what you're talking about," Harry lied coldly.
    "You were out of bed on the night my office was broken into!" Snape hissed.  "I know it, Potter!  Now, Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your fan club, but I will not tolerate your behavior!..."

Then Snape threatens Harry with the truth potion, Veritaserum, to which Harry "wondered whether he ought to take a leaf out of Moody's book and start drinking only from a private hip flask."

Look at all the clues JK Rowling works into this short passage.  Snape is missing ingredients in his private stores for Polyjuice Potion.  We know, because the Trio brewed it up two years ago, that Polyjuice Potion allows one wizard to impersonate another.  Snape's office was broken into on the night some of these ingredients were stolen.  And who else was up that night, as JKR so slyly has Snape remind us? Mad-Eye Moody, who also just happens to drink solely from that private hip flask already mentioned and seen repeatedly.

An overwhelming amount of clues, is it not? And yet, how many of us slipped blithely by this because of the false perceptions from both Snape and Harry that fed us these clues?  Snape believes the culprit to be Harry, which Harry confirms by remembering that Hermione did steal the boomslang skin two years ago.  But notice that a time-frame is not specified by Snape.  Why would he be talking about boonslang from two years ago right next to the gillyweed that Harry acknowledges is recent?

Or, in the words of Suzanne who pointed this out to me, the reader "naturally skipped  right over all the Polyjuice ingredients -- BECAUSE HERMIONE DID STEAL THEM TWO YEARS AGO!!! -- and it never dawned on me that Snape undoubtedly meant THIS YEAR, when of course fake-Moody was having to replenish his supplies. It wasn't until just today that I realized this was a huge clue I had always overlooked because I always focused on the Gillyweed being stolen by Dobby for the second task. Brilliant!"

Indeed. That's quality sleight-of-hand!

Also, Snape's assumption that Mad-Eye was up and about to help cover Potter's tracks and Harry's earlier revealed perception about why Moody drinks from his hip flask persuade the reader to believe the same.  Still, Mad-Eye is juxtaposed into this scene twice, and we know how JKR uses juxtaposition to place clues.  So, in this example, JKR uses juxtaposition to hint at the person who is stealing ingredients and brewing Polyjuice, but uses false perception to distract from these same clues.

In the words of Mad-Eye -- Constant Vigilance!

As writers, we need to always remember that our characters do not always need to tell the truth, whether from telling an outright lie to believing untruths.  But there's a very fine line between an unfair lie and a well-played twist.  The "lie" or false information must be both well-motivated and a clue, subtle thought it may be, must be left toward the truth. These are tools we can use to not only create character conflict and deepen character development, but also to help reveal and conceal any mysteries we have within our text.



Have you used a character's false POV to hide a clue for your reader?  How did you motivate your reader to either lie or misunderstand the truth?


Mad-Eye Kitty photo credit.

A Juxtaposition of Clues

This post is part of the Mystery Plotting series, in which we are examining, one by one, techniques JK Rowling used to hide clues and plot her mysteries.

One nifty trick for sneaking a clue past your reader is to juxtapose your villain with the scene of the crime.  Or, even more simply, you can place two apparently separate thoughts or actions next to each other that by their mere proximity hint at a relationship.  I gave you an example of how this simple form of juxtaposition can be used in Drifting Off to ClueLand.  There, Harry's dream of doors is juxtaposed with his next thought of his scar, as if unrelated, but the reader is supposed to catch the connection between his dreams and Voldy.

For another simple example of how to juxtapose two supposedly unrelated ideas to hint at a relationship, let's look at Goblet of Fire.  Early on, JKR tells the reader, straight-up, what to look-out for in this book.  In Chapter 9, The Dark Mark, after the Quidditch World Cup, when some unseen person near the Trio has cast the Dark Mark into the air, and wizards pop in all around shooting stunning spells at Harry, Hermione, and Ron:

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch.  His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping -- he  looked slightly mad.  "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

Discovered at the scene of the crime!  Get that?  We're supposed to watch out for it.

Then Bagman pops onto the scene:

"Where have you been, Barty?" said Bagman.  "Why weren't you at the match?  Your elf was saving you a seat too --"

Take note!  Although "Barty" was at the World Cup, he had his elf saving him an empty seat that he never used.

Bagman's comment reminds us of what Winky had told Harry, and the readers, back in the stands.  She was a good house-elf, not a shameful one like Dobby.  Winky always obeyed her master...even to the point of saving a seat for him in the highest box when she was deathly afraid of heights.

So when Mr. Diggory asks her impatiently, "Elf? Did you see anyone?"

Winky began to tremble worse than ever.  Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggorty, to Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch.  Then she gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir...no one..."

Ludo Bagman is placed in that sentence for a purpose.  He is a reminder, though his comment above, that Winky's belief above all is to obey her master, who her eyes flicker to next before she gulps and fudges the truth.  The juxtaposition of Bagman to Crouch in this sentence is supposed to remind the reader as to where Winky's loyalties lie...and how committed she is to carrying his orders out.


JK Rowling uses the second, more complex juxtaposition technique quite wonderfully throughout Goblet of Fire with Pseudo Mad-Eye Moody.  He's always Johnny-on-the-Spot when something goes wrong with Harry.  But do most readers suspect him because of that? No, because JKR offers as diversion the fact that Moody is the coolest teacher of the year and Harry's secret ally in winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament.  Of course, we all know now WHY pseudo-Moody wanted Harry to get that cup, but at the time -- who would have suspected the most celebrated dark-wizard catcher of all times to be in league with the most feared dark wizard in recent memory?

Here's a couple of scenes where JKR hinted, through juxtaposition, of Mad-Eye's involvement in the crime.

First, from Chapter 25, The Egg and the Eye, Harry has just finished his dip in the Prefect's bath, and is returning, after hours, to his dorm with his golden egg when he checks his map:

Peeves was not the only thing that was moving.  A single dot was flitting around a room in the bottom left-hand corner--Snape's office.  But the dot wasn't labeled "Severus Snape"...it was Bartemius Crouch.

Earlier, Harry had heard through Percy that Mr. Crouch (who of course he assumes this is) has been ill and not able to even go to work.  So why was Crouch at Hogwarts sneaking around Snape's office?

Deciding to find out for himself, Harry sets off down the stair and his leg plunges through the trick step.  The egg wails, Filch bounds into the scene determined to catch Peeves, who he is sure is to blame, and then Snape shows up.  Harry is all a quiver under his invisibility cloak while Filch and Snape argue as to what's going on:

   "--Peeves threw it, Professor--"
   "--and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it!"
   "But Peeves couldn't--"
   "I know he couldn't, Filch!" Snape snapped again.  "I seal my office with a spell none but a wizard could break!"

As Filch and Snape continue to argue about Peeves and the intruder, with Harry sending silent and inept Legilimency demands for them to leave, a "Clunk. Clunk. Clunk" approaches.  Mad-Eye!

Filch explains to Mad-Eye about Peeves and that someone has broken into Snape's office.  Snape hisses at him to "Shut up!"

Moody sizes up the scene, including Harry trapped in the stairs beneath his invisibility cloak, and then rounds on Snape and confronts:

   "Did I hear that correctly, Snape? he asked slowly.  "Someone broke into your office?"
   "It is unimportant," said Snape coldly.
   "On the contrary," growled Moody, "it is very important. Who'd want to break into your office?"

Can't  hear that emphasis on the word "your?"

Snape suggests students, because, "It has happened before.  Potion ingredients have gone missing from my private store cupboard...students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt...."

As the reader should very well be aware!  Just two books ago we watched the Trio do this exact same thing as they stole ingredients to make the Polyjuice Potion....Wait....Are we supposed to be thinking of how Polyjuice allows one wizard to become another right now?? :-)

But no, we wouldn't suspect Polyjuice, at least not of Moody, because JKR, I mean, Snape, expertly distracts any suspicion of covert actions from Moody when he says, "You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said in a soft and dangerous voice, "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."

Moody's face twisted into a smile.  "Auror's privelege, Snape, Dumbledore told me to keep an eye--"

And then we get into the whole bit of Dumbledore being a trusting man and spots that don't come off and Snape grabbing his "left forearm" where his Dark Mark is burned into his flesh.  Snape is quite neatly thrown into the red herring soup!

Yet...clues abound in this scene!  And one of the prime techniques is juxtaposition.  JK Rowling juxtaposed Mad-Eye to the scene of the crime by bringing him onstage after the precise moment that someone had been searching Snape's cabinets.  She even gave us the further clue to remind us of the Polyjuice pretenders of years' past.

BUT, Jo almost never gives a clue without providing more compelling sleight-of-hand distraction.  Here, she provides several.  First, Moody is on the offensive -- forcing Snape to talk about the break-in against his will rather than having Snape accuse Moody and confront him of snooping -- which would have been too easy and way beneath JKR.  Second, Snape acknowledges that Moody already searched his office, which, when Moody parries as an Auror's privilege reminds us not only what a totally cool guy he is, but on which side his loyalties lie.  A distinction which is totally brought home by Moody's distrust of Snape, his intimating that Dumbledore told him to watch out for Snape, and the hint of Snape's dark and murky past.

Finally, we're getting all this from Harry's POV, and we know which of these two men Harry trusts and respects the most. Moody, to seal his image as good-guy-protector-of-Harry, even helps Harry escape Snape's notice as the oily Potions Master seeks his least favorite student out on the stairs.

Still...Moody was there...next to the scene of the crime.  And Harry had just seen in his Marauder's Map, which never lies (remember Pettigrew) -- that Bartemius Crouch was searching Snape's office.

Lastly, I want to point out what JKR has Filch call the golden egg in this scene -- not a  golden egg, not a dragon's egg, but a Triwizard CLUE! Filch is seeing clues in this scene, and we're supposed to as well!

Three chapters later, in chapter 28, The Madness of Mr. Crouch, just to make sure we take notice of who is nearby when something goes wrong, JK Rowling repeats her juxtaposition technique.  The senior Bartemius Crouch stumbles onto the Hogwarts grounds, semi-crazed and insisting upon talking to Dumbledore.  Harry leaves Krum with Crouch as he goes to collect Dumbledore, and when they return, they find Krum stunned and Mr. Crouch vanished.

Just as Dumbledore is sending Hagrid (brought by a Patronus) to go fetch Mad-Eye Moody...who should stumble up, "limping toward them, leaning on his staff, his wand lit" but Mad-Eye Moody himself.

"Damn leg," he said furiously.  "Would've been here quicker...what's happened? Snape said something about Crouch--"

Instantly, he provides an alibi for his presence.  But, once again, he's Barty-on-the-Spot when that Spot has involved a crime.

Sill, JK Rowling provides distraction.  Harry mentions to Dumbledore how he had just been talking to Mr. Bagman right before Crouch appeared.  We know that Bagman is a slimy character.  Plus, Kakaroff is also hinted at, and Krum himself believes that Crouch attacked him from behind.  Well....Crouch did.  Just not Senior.

For readers, unanswered questions and hidden secrets keep them glued to the page.  As long as they are actively involved in their quest to know more, wondering and worried about what's to come, we have their page-turning interest.  Therefore, as writers, we should be careful to employ a  variety of techniques to hide clues to our ongoing mysteries.  Juxtaposition is one such technique which JK Rowling showed us delightfully how to employ.

Have you ever used juxtaposition in either its more simple or complex form to hide clues or tease with red herrings?  Do you think this technique could be used outside a mystery to hide secrets your characters keep from each other?

(Check Out JK Rowling's Newest Release -- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child here!) 

Drifting Off to ClueLand

This post is part of the Mystery Plotting series, in which we are examining, one by one, techniques JK Rowling used to hide clues and plot her mysteries.

Dreams play a prominent role in the Harry Potter series, illuminating both Harry’s fears and dropping clues for things to come. Many dream scenarios revealed vital information. Because dreams can take on an abstract, disjointed quality, they’re an excellent tool for hiding images and hints of what is yet to come.

It was obvious to most readers from the start that the dream of Wormtail and Voldemort in “The Riddle House” in GoF was a vision of a scene actually taking place, and thus it was riddled with clues. Others were not quite as obvious. Harry dreamt about doors upon doors before he and the reader understood that there was a particular door in the bowels of the Department of Ministries that Voldemort desperately wanted access to--and why.

Indeed, it is within the pages of Order of the Phoenix where dreams take on a starring role. By way of dreams, Harry experiences scenes happening through Voldemort's eyes, as well as Nagini's, and even one false scene planted deliberately for Harry as a lure to trap him deep within the Hall of Prophecy.

In his dreams, Harry repeatedly experiences a door at the end of a deep long corridor, one he is compelled to open. Of course, readers of the series know how all these dream scenarios ended -- with Harry and friends speeding off to the Department of Mysteries within the Ministry of Magic to save the life of Sirius Black who was never threatened to begin with…but ended up dying as he fought to save his godson's life.

To learn how JK Rowling set up her dreams to both hide and reveal clues, I'd like to look at a few specific examples and how they were framed within the story.

Because JKR uses limited 3rd person POV throughout most of the series, she utilized dreams to help enlarge the reader's view of Harry's world. But it's not just a simple matter of having Harry dream something he cannot see. He experiences these dreams because of a central plot device for the story -- Harry has part of Voldemort's soul lodged inside him, which provides the powerful connection between his mind and the Dark Lord's.

Note: Not all of Harry's trips into Voldemort's mind are presented as dreams. Some happen quite violently when he's wide awake. But they all have a similar dream-like quality.

In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped the nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake. Often the old scar on his forehead prickled uncomfortably, but he did not fool himself that Ron or Hermione or Sirius would find that very interesting any more. (p. 14, Bloomsbury)

From the very start, JKR alerts her reader, rather subtly though it may be, that dreams are going to play a part of this story.  Even though the next thought concerning the prickling of his scar is presented as unconnected to his dream, the juxtaposition of it directly after the dream tells the reader that Voldemort may be involved.

Harry's dreams are spaced far apart early in the story, but continue steadily, especially after emotional scenes, such as when Harry witnessed Mrs. Weasley unable to expel the Boggart which had taken the shape of her dead children, husband, and Harry.

Harry had a troubled night's sleep. His parents wove in and out of his dreams, never speaking; Mrs Weasley sobbed over Kreacher's dead body, watched by Ron and Hermione who were wearing crowns, and yet again Harry found himself walking down a corridor ending in a locked door. He awoke abruptly with his scar prickling to find Ron already dressed and talking to him. (p. 163)

This dream reference above I find interesting because not only does it once again juxtapose Voldemort to the dream through the prickling of Harry's scar, but with Ron and Hermione wearing their "Prefect" crowns, Jo also hints toward the Red King and White Queen of Alchemy (Alchemy being a strong theme running through the series).  It is in Order of the Phoenix, after all, when the feelings between Ron and Hermione become quite strong, and Ron as keeper is finally declared, "Weasley is our king!"

One last note: I don't think it coincidental that Kreacher replaces the Weasley children as the dead body in Harry's dream. JKR provides a subtle link at this point to Kreacher and a death.

Back at Hogwarts, the dreams, and clues, continue.

'You know what?' Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because Angelina seems to be channelling his spirit.' (p. 238)

Yes, this quote above is a bit out of place as it is not a dream.  However, the notion that one person can channel someone else's spirit with them not being present is quite important to this story.  Reader -- constant vigilance!

   He was walking once more along a windowless corridor, his footsteps echoing in the silence. As the door at the end of the passage loomed larger, his heart beat fast with excitement ... if he could only open it ... enter beyond ...
   He strettched out his hand ... his fingertips were inches from it ...
   'Harry Potter, sir!' (p. 341)

Until Dobby's interruption, Dream Harry is drawing closer to the door, his excitement increasing, and it is becoming clear to the reader that the need to enter this door is imperative, which sets up the later vision Harry has of Nagini attacking Mr. Weasley.  Harry-Nagini is enraged to find Mr. Weasley guarding the door he most wants to enter and attacks to kill.

Now that Dumbledore has been alerted to Harry's dreams, he assigns him to Occlumency lessons with Snape.  During one lesson Snape brings forth a memory of Harry's trial at the beginning of the story, and Harry realizes that the long corridor and hall he has been repeatedly dreaming about are within the lower levels of the Ministry of Magic.

From this point on Harry, as well as the reader, becomes actively engaged in examining these dreams for clues.  Dream after dream, what Harry sees at the end of that corridor progresses, from standing in front of the plain black door, to entering it and finding "himself in a circular room lit by blue-flamed candles and having multiple doors," until he finally enters a "dimly lit room full of shelves, each shelf laden with dusty, spun-glass spheres."  At last, he even approaches and identifies row 97.

Harry, and the reader have all the information they need now as JK Rowling prepares to drop her biggest dream yet. While taking his OWLS, Harry drifts into a daydream. This time he is walking with "a firm and purposeful tread...determined to reach his destination at last."

He enters the DoM, passes through the Time Room, and enters the cathedral like Hall of Prophecy. Except this time, he finds someone else there:

   But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving on the floor like a wounded animal...Harry's stomach contracted with fear...with excitement...
   A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness...
   'Take it for me...life it down, now...I cannot touch it...but you can...'
   The black shape on the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long-fingered white hand clutching a wand rise at the end of his own arm...heard the high, cold voice say 'Crucio!'
   The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted and the figure groaned and became motionless.
   'Lord Voldemort is waiting...'
   Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was blood-stained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance...
   'You'll have to kill me," whispered Sirius. (p. 641)

It it real? Or is it just a dream?

This is a question Hermione asks along with the reader. JK Rowling has so expertly played with the reader all along until we ourselves are unsure.  But Harry, who has experienced all these dreams himself, is not willing to risk his beloved godfather's life to wait for long to find out. They do try, but Umbridge interferes until a desperate escape from Hogwarts is the only means by which to ensure that Sirius is not at that moment being attacked as Mr. Weasley had been earlier.

What is Harry to believe? The plot has put Umbridge in charge at Hogwarts and taken Dumbledore away. Snape is the only person available to help, and Harry doesn't trust him one bit.

He is left on his own to find out the truth, and that is what brings him neatly into Voldemort's trap deep inside the Ministry.

Notice how JKR skillfully plotted the increase in her dreams.   They went from simple mentions that the reader was easily distracted from, to increasing in intensity and importance where we, along with Harry, were sure we needed to examine each one in detail, to culminating in a dream that forced the devastating climax.

By having Harry experience a dream in which he saw Mr. Weasley attacked and nearly killed, she set it up that he must take the false attack on Sirius siriusly! :-) But, with numerous mentions and reminders made by Hermione, Dumbledore, and Snape that Voldemort would attempt to use this mental connection to his own advantage, JKR also cast serious doubt into the reader's mind. Finally, by using a technique which emphasized the connection between Harry and Voldemort's minds, she prepared the reader for one of the greatest revelations to come in Deathly Hallows -- Harry as Horcrux.

As writers, we can challenge ourselves when working with dreams, especially when used to hide and reveal clues, to make sure the dreams we create are woven deeply into the structure and fabric of our story, and not merely a quick and easy technique to hide and reveal clues.  Too many writers misuse dreams in this manner -- as a quick and easy method for revealing hard to plot information.

When evaluating for yourself as to whether a dream is your best method, ask yourselves these questions:

• Is there a reason innate to the story as to why your character would be experiencing this type of dream?
• Did you plot the dreams and their consequences from the beginning to the end with ever increasing complexity and meaning?
• Can you throw red herrings as well as clues into and outside your dream world?
• And when your dream clues are brought to real-life fulfillment, will it all make sense to the reader in the end, or leave them with a disjointed sense of a tool tacked on which did not really fit the story?

Dreams, like names, have long been a popular tool of writers for weaving secrets and deeper meaning into stories. Done in a subtle manner, they can foretell action to come without sacrificing your surprise ending. Keep in mind that dreams highlight emotions and patterns, but don’t always need to make sense superficially. They are best kept short and mysterious and not used to drop heaps of angst and introspection.

Have you used dreams in your story? Have you used them to hide or reveal clues? Why were dreams your best choice of technique for that particular

Tease Your Reader With Joking Clues

Today we'll continue with our Mystery Plotting series. As we discussed in JK Rowling's Sleight of Hand, while laying her most important clues, JKR diverts the readers’ attention elsewhere. There are various methods she employs for this diversion. The one we'll examine now is to distract the reader's attention with humor.

Jokes Hiding Clues:
One of JKR's simplest techniques is to place the clue in a line of dialogue that seems to be nonsensical or a joke, which focuses the reader on the humor rather than the clue, and to make whatever that character says seem unimportant. Ron is especially good for the joking bit.

[Harry]  “I wouldn’t mind knowing how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts either.”

   “Could’ve been anything,” said Ron. “Maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would’ve done everyone a favor...” (p. 232, CoS)

Ron is joking, but hits the truth dead-on. However, there are two sly Rowling tricks sidetracking the reader from taking note of the clue--not only is it an obvious joke, but it’s also third in a list of increasingly absurd jokes, and therefore the most ridiculous, in Ron’s point of view.

George and Fred are always good for a joke...and thus are prime candidates for hiding a few crucial clues.  Through the twins' clowning, JK Rowling hit the reader over the head early on with a direct clue as to what lay within the Chamber of Secrets:

"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry's in a hurry."

"Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant," said George, chortling.

Ginny didn't find it amusing either.

"Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Harry loudly who he was planning to attack next, or when George pretended to ward Harry off with a large clove of garlic when they met.

Fred and George jokingly hit the reader with not one, but two clues.  Not only does JKR hint at the basilisk through them, she also shows Ginny with a stronger than normal emotional reaction -- clearly because of her guilty conscience!

Jokes Hiding Crucial Upcoming Information:
Jo is even good at using the twins' comic antics to hint at important clues a whole book (or four) in advance:

   "Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break," said George.
   "What do you mean, 'tried'?" said Ron quickly.
   "He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him head-first into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor."
   Hermione looked very shocked.
   "But you'll get into terrible trouble!"
   "Not until Montague reappears, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him," said Fred coolly.

LOL! Those crazy twins!

But...wait...You mean there's a Vanishing Cabinet inside Hogwarts?! And the twins don't know where it leads?  And...didn't Harry hide in a mysterious large, black cabinet in Borgin and Burkes way back in Chamber of Secrets? (In case you didn't catch it -- those Vanishing Cabinets are the means by which Draco lets the Death Eaters into Hogwarts in Half-Blood Prince).

Yes, here, through jokes, JKR teases her reader to pay attention to these cabinets. They just might be important in a story to come!

Truthful Statements Uttered as if Ridiculous:
Another type of teasing clue comes from Dumbledore, who showed a different version of how to spin this technique at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban.  JKR uses this wisest of mentors to state the truth in a matter-of-fact manner that makes it seem ridiculous.

In the face of Snape’s rage over the escape of Sirius Black, Dumbledore calmly, and without lying states, “Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I’m afraid I don’t see any point in troubling them further” (p. 420).

Dumbledore makes the reality of Harry and Hermione truly having been in two places at the same time seem impossible, and even though the reader is “in” on this clue, it’s a blatant sign-post to pay attention to other such well-laid lines where the reader may not be as “in the know.”

While these jokes and ridiculous statements are not the slyest of JK Rowling's clues, they are effective.  Many readers skimmed right by the jokes of Ron and the twins.  While they had an idea that some of the things they clowned around about might be clues, because there were so many ridiculous things they said, it was hard to know WHICH.

What Can You Do?:
As a writer, use every possible technique and character quirk available to you to tease your reader with information you've withheld.  Got a funny character? (And I hope you do!) Why not put them to good use to once or twice casually drop an important clue?  Got a wise mentor who other characters will believe implicitly? Why not have them state the truth as if it were ridiculous?

But be careful! The reader will quickly catch on to this relatively easy technique, and then it will become less effective.

Have you used jokes or ridiculous statements in your writing to hide crucial information?

For those of you curious about what's going on inside Pottermore, don't forget to check out my Pottermore Forums!

JK Rowling's Sleight of Hand

With this post, I'm backtracking a bit from last week.  Seems to me I should have started the Mystery Plotting series off with more of an introduction, rather than just diving right into running bits with Tossing Snowballs at Your Clues and Dogging JK Rowling's Deathly Clues.

However, unlike the First and Final Chapter series, I've been covering mystery plotting on this blog for quite a while and already had an introduction and posts up.  I'd just not followed it from beginning to end in complete (or semi-complete) detail, which is what my aim is through the next few weeks.

Therefore, I'm re-starting at the beginning by re-posting the introduction to mystery plotting with links to a couple of posts that are already on the blog, so you can catch up.  Then, we'll proceed onto new posts for the rest of this mysterious journey!

Intro to JK Rowling's Mystery Plotting:

Over the course of seven books, JK Rowling plotted a complex mystery embedded in the frame of a fantasy adventure. Ms. Rowling expected a lot from her readers, and she got it. She expected an active participant to pick up on her clues and to follow their trail. What she got was a world full of Harry Potter readers who not only jumped in enthusiastically to sleuth out the clues, but also delighted in stringing them together to plaster the Internet with theories of what was yet to come.

There are three central questions to the Harry Potter mania which drove the search for clues:

1) What exactly happened in Godric’s Hollow?
2) Where did Snape’s loyalty lay? and
3) How would Harry defeat Voldemort?

Although the three questions are simple, the answers are quite complex. JKR built an elaborate world, richly detailed, that is full and complete. What is amazing about her construction is that every aspect of the world, each character, has something to contribute to these three simple mysteries. The clues could be, and indeed are, hidden everywhere.

While JKR used multiple techniques for hiding her clues, overall they can be categorized under that old reliable magician’s trick: sleight of hand.

Misdirection is perhaps the most important component of the art of sleight of hand. Using misdirection, the skillful magician choreographs every movement in a routine so even the most critical and observant spectators are compelled to look where the magician wants them to. (source)

JK Rowling is the indeed the master magician!  While planting her most important clues, she diverts the readers’ attention away from it and to her carefully plotted distraction. Aside from a few obvious hints meant to knock the reader on the head to hunt for more, Jo almost never plants a clue without also providing the words to distract the reader from it.

I'll give you one quick example here, but the rest of this series will give many more:

In Chamber of Secrets, in Chapter 9, The Writing on the Wall, the Trio enter Myrtle's bathroom for the first time to hunt for clues as to what petrified Mrs. Norris.  Once they leave, Percy confronts them, chiding them for returning to the scene of the crime.

"Why shouldn't we be here?" said Ron hotly, stopping short and glaring at Percy. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"

"That's what I told Ginny," said Percy fiercely, "but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled; I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out. You might think of her, all the first years are thoroughly over-excited by this business--"

"You don't care about Ginny," said Ron, whose ears were reddening now. "You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy."

"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percey said tersely, fingering his prefect badge. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work, or I'll write to Mum!"

I imagine Jo chortling to herself as she wrote that sentence about "no more detective work." The italics there are hers, not mine. Of course she's wanting her reader to do exactly what she's having Percy forbid the Trio from!

As for the sleight-of-hand in this example, I see two types.  First, the clue is, of course, Ginny's extreme reaction to what happened to Mrs. Norris.  However, JKR distracts the reader from Ginny's emotional reaction with a fight between Ron and Percy.  She also uses a characters' own false perceptions to distract us from the real reason why Ginny may be upset.  According to Percy, who is a Prefect and talked with Ginny so should be trusted to know, his sister is upset because all first years are and she's afraid Ron will get expelled.


There are various methods Jo employs for creating these types of diversion. Here are some I've uncovered that we'll study to help improve our own writing. Those that are hyperlinked have already been covered on this blog, though I may revisit some of the older ones with some fresh examples.

A Dozen+ Golden Eggs for Tricking Your Reader:

1) give meaningful names
2) use of "running bits" here and here
3) divert with action or a joke
4) distract with high emotions
5) camouflage by use of myths and folklore
6) hide in a list
7) discredit the witness
8) drop in dreams
9) mark with colors and themes
10) mirror parallels
11) reverse expectations
12) juxtapose the villain with the scene of the crime
13) character lies or misperceptions

We'll break apart each of these steps in separate posts over the next few weeks. I may not do them back-to-back, but should eventually cover them all with examples. Just keep following the Mystery Plotting label.

As a writer, you must play fair with your reader. You must leave clues.  But the sly author will do it in such a way so as to make it difficult for the reader to see them clearly on a first read.

Plotting a mystery is a very fine balancing act. If the author leaves insufficient clues to give the reader a shot at solving the puzzle, the reader feels cheated. However if the author makes the clues too obvious, the reader also feels cheated out of the pleasant surprised “gotcha” at the end. The evidence is overwhelming that JKR has walked that tightrope gracefully and masterfully and has not cheated her readers, but left them with many hours of happy sleuthing, and definite pleasant surprises.  Through it all, sleight-of-hand was her technique of choice.

Have you considered your own sleight-of-hand in plotting your stories? Have you tried to provide distraction to whatever clue you've inserted in your text?

Dogging JK Rowling's Deathly Clues

Yesterday, I posted an article analyzing one technique JK Rowling used to hide clues to her mysteries in an innocent manner that would not draw the initial attention of the reader.  This technique was coined by Galadriel Waters of the Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter series as "running bits."  I suggest that if you didn't read Tossing Snowballs at Your Clues, that you skim over it before going on, because here I will pick up where I left off to provide further examples.

As many of you seemed somewhat doubtful that JK Rowling had deliberately used a trail of words to point to a trail of clues, I decided to dig a bit deeper and show you a more complex example from Order of the Phoenix. We all know what one of the greatest surprises in store for fans of this book was the death of Sirius Black (aka Padfoot) at the end. However, fans were anticipating a death ever since Voldemort AK'd Cedric (and turned him into a sparkly vampire :-) at the end of Goblet of Fire.

Because JKR knew by now that her fans were on to her tricks, she plotted the clues to this mystery even more intricately. She had to give hints toward who would die in book 5, without ruining the dreadful surprise at the end. For these running bits, she clumped them together, using images related to death and associated with Sirius Black or his animagus form of Padfoot

The words we'll be following are bark, howl, dog, grim, and black. The first three are associated, of course, with a dog and point the reader to notice that there's a very important dog in this story and something black and grim is looming for him. JKR uses grim and black in association with death, and in Order of the Phoenix, they are also closely linked, used quite frequently with Sirius (aside from his last name, of course).

Let's look at some quotes in detail.  Once again, I'm only using the first half of the book because to cite from the whole thing would fill a very long parchment.  Also, I'm only picking up important instances or an example of ones that are oft-repeated.  If I showed every time a character "barked" or "said grimly" in Order of the Phoenix, we'd be here until the Thestrals came home!

Bark:
Here's some instances of JKR using bark early on to draw our attention to it:

Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter then adopted a high-pitched, whimpering voice. “ ‘Don’t kill Cedric! Don’t kill Cedric!’ Who’s Cedric — your boyfriend?”

“I want the truth about what happened tonight!” barked Uncle Vernon. “If it was demenders who hurt Dudley, how come you’ve been expelled? You did you-know-what, you’ve admitted it!”

And just to make sure we remember who the main barking character in this story is:

Dumbledore’s Secret-Keeper for the Order, you know — nobody can find headquar­ters unless he tells them personally where it is — that note Moody showed you last night, that was from Dumbledore. …” Sirius gave a short, barklike laugh. “If my parents could see the use it was being put to now … well, my mother’s portrait should give you some idea..”

JKR continues to toss in "barks" wherever she finds, or creates, the opportunity:

“Oh, most think he’s barking, the Potty wee lad,
But some are more kindly and think he’s just sad,
But Peevesy knows better and says that he’s mad —

Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned almost at once into a scream, as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixieish creatures made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand, and a funny, flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

“Well said!” barked Ernie Macmillan, whom Harry had been ex­pecting to speak long before this.

But an animal that barks may also:


Howl:
JK Rowling uses howl almost always in an ominous manner in this book, associating this dog-like word with stormy weather or Voldemort's supporters.

“Does it work?” inquired Ron hopefully, as the hammering of rain on the roof intensified and wind howled around the building.

   Harry sat quite still, staring at his feet, allowing his mind and his memory to relax in the aftermath of the pain. …
   A confused tangle of shapes, a howling rush of voices …
   “He wants something done, and it’s not happening fast enough,” he said.

October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.

Mrs. Black’s portrait was howling with rage but nobody was both­ering to close the curtains over her; all the noise in the hall was bound to rouse her again anyway.

All these howling winds and Death Eaters make me feel rather:


Grim:
In OotP, JKR uses grim A LOT. Grimmauld Place is a right grim place with its grimy windows in a row of houses, all with grimy fronts.  But people are constantly talking grimly.

“Hello, Harry,” [Sirius] said grimly, “I see you’ve met my mother.”

Again, I will not repeat the number of times someone speaks grimly in OothP, there's just too many.  However, not only do they talk grimly, they also look rather grim as well.

Sirius scratched him absentmindedly behind the ears as he turned, still grim-faced, to Harry.

Mrs. Weasley followed them upstairs looking grim.

Mr. Weasley stumbled to a halt outside a grimy dark door with an immense iron lock and slumped against the wall, clutching at a stitch in his chest.

Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face.

His eyes rested on Harry and his lip curled. Harry glared back, feel­ing a grim pleasure at the idea that he would be able to give up Potions after fifth year.

Here's a cool snippet which uses several running bits all together:

Mundungus fumbled nervously in his pockets, still staring at Harry, and pulled out a grimy black pipe. He stuck it in his mouth, ignited the end of it with his wand, and took a deep pull on it. Great billowing clouds of greenish smoke obscured him in seconds.

Notice how it has three death images/words: grim, black, and the green of Avada Kedavra!

Throughout OotP, JKR also shows people or things being obscured, hidden by smoke, or disappearing from sight.  These images foreshadow how Sirius disappears behind the Veil.


And Sirius is quite the...

Dog:
Lots of dog words, besides just Sirius, gambol about in OotP:

“Ministry of Magic?” bellowed Uncle Vernon. “People like you in government? Oh this explains everything, everything, no wonder the country’s going to the dogs. …”

The elf took absolutely no notice of Harry and the rest. Acting as though it could not see them, it shuffled hunchbacked, slowly and doggedly, toward the far end of the room, muttering under its breath all the while in a hoarse, deep voice like a bullfrog’s

Here's the actual black dog of death in action:

The figures of Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shrank rapidly but the black dog was bounding alongside the window, wag­ging its tail; blurred people on the platform were laughing to see it chasing the train, and then they turned the corner, and Sirius was gone.

Yes, "Sirius was gone" is intended foreshadowing!

“I seem to have touched a nerve,” said Malfoy, smirking. “Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I’ll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line.”

JKR even plays with her clue hunters with this next one. Are we searching too hard, seeing clues where they are not intended, IS it coincidental?:

...what if he had deduced that the Weasleys, Lupin, Tonks, and Moody knew where Sirius was hiding? Or had Malfoy’s use of the word “dogging” been a coincidence?

Some of you, I'm sure, will answer yes.  I, of course, think not! :-)

One last dog clue:

“Come back, you scurvy dog, stand fast and fight!” yelled Sir Cado­gan in a muffled voice from behind his visor

On a side note, it might be worth mentioning that two new names to this book both have a dog in them, Doge hides a dog in it as well as Cadogan. Sir Cadogan is always going on about scurvy dogs and Doge is called "Dogbreath" by Rita Skeeter, though that's not until a later book.


Of course, the main dog we know about in OotP is:

Black:

Everything about the Black family home is grimy and black, all hinting at death and decay, and Sirius is trapped inside, unable to break free of it's deathly hold.

Harry walked up the worn stone steps, staring at the newly materi­alized door. Its black paint was shabby and scratched.

He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insub­stantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered over­head and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. 

Notice in the quote below that it is black liquid used to kill the doxies:

“Cover your faces and take a spray,” Mrs. Weasley said to Harry and Ron the moment she saw them, pointing to two more bottles of black liquid standing on a spindle-legged table. “It’s Doxycide

Yet, despite their cleaning, the house is getting blacker every day as death looms for its last inhabitant.

   “Kreacher is cleaning,” the elf repeated. “Kreacher lives to serve the noble house of Black —”
   “— and it’s getting blacker every day, it’s filthy,” said Sirius.

Then black becomes associated with a very important door:

“Quick, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley as the lift doors rattled open, and they sped up a corridor that was quite different from those above. The walls were bare; there were no windows and no doors apart from a plain black one set at the very end of the corridor.

Guess which door this one is mentioned above.  The door that keeps appearing in Harry's tormented dreams.  The door into the Department of Ministries.  The black door beyond which Sirius meets his death.

In the Ministry of Magic, Harry meets a nasty piece of work who is mostly associated with the color pink, except for a curious bow that she wears.  Enter Umbridge:

He thought she looked just like a large, pale toad. She was rather squat with a broad, flabby face, as little neck as Uncle Vernon, and a very wide, slack mouth. Her eyes were large, round, and slightly bulging. Even the little black velvet bow perched on top of her short curly hair put him in mind of a large fly she was about to catch on a long sticky tongue.

That poor black fly, I mean bow, meeting its fate on top of Umbridge's head.

Of course, the twins have their own agenda going on, as always.  But in OotP, even their tricks hint at a black death:

Look what Dung’s gotten us,” said George, holding out his hand to Harry. It was full of what looked like shriveled black pods. A faint rattling noise was coming from them, even though they were com­pletely stationary.

“Venomous Tentacula seeds,” said George. “We need them for the Skiving Snackboxes but they’re a Class C Non-Tradeable Substance so we’ve been having a bit of trouble getting hold of them.”

The Venomout Tentacula is highly poisonous and in fact is used as a weapon in Deathly Hallows.

Perhaps one of the darkest and most sublime deadly images associated with black comes from Dolores Umbridge:

She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.
 “I want you to write ‘I must not tell lies,’ ” she told him softly.

This black quill draws blood and leaves a permanent scar, as the death of Sirius will do for Harry.

Perhaps one of the most haunting uses of these running bits is not only a mirror image to how Sirius disappeared at Platform 9 3/4 and to how he will vanish behind the veil, but also a foreshadow to the death of Hedwig herself.

“Safe flight, then,” said Harry and he carried her to one of the win­dows; with a moment’s pressure on his arm Hedwig took off into the blindingly bright sky. He watched her until she became a tiny black speck and vanished,

Finally, the great thestrals with their black wings are visible only by those who have seen death, as Harry has already experienced, and will experience again even more painfully by the end of this book.

A great, reptilian winged horse, just like the ones pulling the Hogwarts carriages, with leathery black wings spread wide like a pterodactyl’s, rose up out of the trees like a grotesque, giant bird.

I think that's enough examples for now.  Each of these quotes taken alone mean nothing. All these words -- bark, howl, dog, grim, black -- are common and of course would be used in many stories.  What is notable with JK Rowling is the frequency of use and the associations that go with each one.  When you put them all together, they are used to draw the reader's attention to one particular large black dog in this book who will meet his grim fate at its end!

Have I convinced more of you yet?  Or are you still doubtful? Regardless, have you got a desire to play with clues like this in your own work?

The bottom line is, if you think this works whether or not JKR intended it or not, you can incorporate clues like this yourself simply by asking yourself the kinds of questions I mentioned at the end of Tossing Snowballs at Your Clues.  Think of major clues you want to hint at, then choose words related to it that can be tossed in subtly but frequently to attract your reader's notice.

And let me know how it works for you!

P.S. - Need a professional edit on your manuscript before you submit or publish direct? Be sure to check out my services!

Tossing Snowballs at Your Clues

If you will remember, I conducted a recent poll on this blog to determine which series of posts I would do now that we've finished analyzing the final chapter of Deathly Hallows.  And even though Snape tried to jinx my pollboard to take over the lead, the lost points eventually revived and mystery plotting won followed closely by world building.  But don't worry, we'll get to the former Potions Master eventually! :-)

For this first post in Mystery Plotting, you have @Lord_Voldemort7 to thank! He posted the following Tweet the other day:

"When Fred & George charmed snowballs to hit the back of Quirrell's turban they didn't realize they were hitting Voldemort's face".. Bas***ds.

Reading this Tweet, I felt like one of those snowballs had struck me in the back of the head! A clue!! One I hadn't caught before!!!

Here's the original text from Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 12:

One morning in mid-December Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow.  The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

Now, on the surface, this is one of those amusing little details that JKR just casually tosses in at the very beginning of the chapter for scene set-up, transition, and a bit of character development.  Plus, the twins are always good for a chuckle. It's not readily apparant that JKR is actually tossing out a major clue right there!

Who is hiding on the back of Quirrell's head underneath that turban?  Of course, the reader has no way of guessing at this stage of the game that the twins are unwittingly hitting Voldemort in the face, but JKR sure is.  And she's providing a slight, and extremely devious, clue to help the reader catch on.

How is she doing this?  One way is by the use of a technique called "running bits," which was coined by Galadriel Waters who wrote the Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter series.  I worked as an editor and writer with her for the UUG to Book 5.

What Galadriel termed "running bits" were oft-repeated words or phrases that were used innocently enough, but these terms pointed to a key clue either in that particular book or the series as a whole.  So, for example, in book 1, you get lots of "turban" and "head"-like words popping up here and there because they point to a very real mystery thread -- that Quirrell's turban is concealing Voldething's face.

An even better example of this would be in Prisoner of Azkaban, where JKR uses words related to fingers or toes quite frequently.  Here's one example:

Aunt Petunia was sipping coffee with her little finger sticking out.

Why is that finger detail important to note? Because from the very start of this book, JKR is alerting the reader to be on the lookout for finger clues, because in this story, there's a very important one missing.

Here are some others:

[Aunt Marge] was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami--

Tom clicked his fingers, a fire burst into life in the grate.

Fudge's finger slipped on the silver fastenings of his cloak.

The witch's eyes moved from Scabber's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly. (59)

Harry took a bite and to his great surprise felt warmth spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and toes.

The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.

[when riding Buckbeak] the hippogriff's wings beat uncomfortably on either side of him, catching him under his legs and making him feel he was about to be thrown off; the glossy feathers slipped under his fingers and he didn't dare get a stronger grip

[As Harry notices a grindylow in Lupin's office] A sickly green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers.

And just in case we stumbled past this last one, or are skeptical that it could be a clue, JKR hits the reader with a stronger snowball:

[Lupin says] "The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers?"

Lupin's clue serves double-duty. It also foreshadows a very important skill Harry will need the following year for the Tri-Wizard tournament and prepares the reader in advance for one of JK Rowling's magical creations.

Here's some more:

"Right into Hogsmeade," said Fred, tracing one of them with his finger.

And just in case we missed this clue, it's reinforced by being repeated:

Harry traced the secret passage to Honeydukes with his finger.

Until, finally, we come to the largest finger clue of all:

[Ron says] "Listen...you know what Pettigrew's mother got back after Black had finished with him? Dad told me--the Order of Merlin, First Class, and Pettigrew's finger in a box." (p. 215)

Okay, I'm going to stop there, and I'm only half through the book. Sure, you say, most of these finger references are perfectly innocent. Of course JKR used the word finger. It's a common word, we all do.

Yes, but as writers, we normally try to avoid the overuse of any particular word. And the brilliance of a "running bit" like this is that the clue CAN be woven in so innocently. It plays fair with the reader by providing a clue without drawing attention to that clue so that the author can still pull off a surprise ending.

One thing I'm most looking forward to with the release of the Harry Potter e-books is the ability to search the text electronically.  Clues like this will be so much easier to find that way.

So what does all this mean for you as a writer?  To be honest, I don't know how common this technique is among mystery writers, but it's definitely both subtle and fun.  Once the reader catches on to the game that you are playing, they'll scour your text (if you've told the story well!) hunting out these minute details.

To use this technique in your own writing, ask yourself--which threads of your mystery are the most important?  What aspects will you keep hidden to surprise your reader with at the end?  Then, how can this detail be turned into a word-clue without spoiling the surprise?  What words or images can you use to hint at this clue?  How can you dribble these words into your text slyly, without drawing attention and saying, "Look! Here I am! A clue!!!"

If you want to study further how JK Rowling did it and see for yourself, look at how she used these words/images in these books:

Chamber of Secrets: anything snake related
Goblet of Fire: words about eyes and hints at potions or polyjuice, also lots of "trunks"
Order of the Phoenix: doors and hallways
Half-Blood Prince: secrets, pacts

Have you ever plotted a mystery, even if your story was not a mystery genre? Have you used a technique like this to lay your clues, or seen another author do so?

Check out a follow-up to this post at Dogging JK Rowling's Deathly Clues.

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