Misc. Conspiracy Theories

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

The Halloween/troll business made me think harder about canon parallels, especially regarding Quirrell and the Stone. These really aren’t fully-developed theories but just hypotheses to think about, and maybe areas to watch for further clues.

1. Assuming the Stone is hidden in the castle (which seems like a safe assumption), is the conspiracy to “steal” the Stone a bad conspiracy in this world? How might it be useful in supporting the Order or defeating Voldemort? What is Quirrell's role? McGonagall admitted to Arthur that the LP would be watching out for any insider who tried to steal the Stone. Maybe the Order -- or the Machiavellian Dumbledore -- needs someone independent to get it out. We know Quirrell was fired for pro-Muggle sympathies -- in this universe, could he be aligned with the good guys? Perhaps through Dumbledore, and without even the full knowledge of the Order?

2. I think it was lapin_agile who suggested the “borrowing” of Harry’s broom might be related to an attempt to penetrate the Stone’s defenses. Could any of the other temporary borrowings and thefts – Ron’s quill/notebook, Michael’s necklace, Pansy’s doll’s-head, Draco’s tea – be connected to the same plan? Honestly I can’t see how, but there’s a really odd pattern of objects disappearing and reappearing, in ways that sometimes fly just beneath suspcion but that may point to an intruder with an odd interest in particular students and their possessions. Would there be any point in returning these objects with some kind of enchantment on them?

3. Muggle music heard (maybe just in a dream) at 3 am – is someone trying to get past Fluffy?

4. Speaking of intruders -- is there an Invisibility Cloak in play in this Universe? If so, then presumably Dumbledore (and his allies) still have it. Is it being used to penetrate the castle?

5. I love Pansy’s creepy doll’s-head, and it’s kind of interesting to take its influence on Pansy at face value. There could be a loose parallel to Tom's Diary, as something that talks back to you when you least expect it, and messes with your head. The Players are steering us away from Imperio, at least from any specific suspicion about Pansy releasing the Troll, but I wonder if there are other ways that a student under Imperius (or something like Imperius) would be useful in penetrating the Stone’s defenses? Is it significant that someone tried to smash Pansy’s doll’s head – perhaps there a difference in tactics among the conspirators, maybe between a manipulative Quirrel and, say, a more sympathetic Lupin?

ETA: We have confirmation from Pansy that the doll's head was enchanted, but was Professor Acton telling the whole truth?

I really can’t work any of this out yet, but I figured I’d share my paranoia to see if it strikes any sparks. Thoughts?

Comments

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links. Did you read the description of the illustrations (http://www.levity.com/alchemy/s_donum.html) ... a naked and then naked-and-coupling King and Queen. Interesting choice on McG's part to ask a child to reproduce this material! (Maybe she really has grown somewhat hardened to the sensibilities of Mudbloods.) D'you think Harry was just sorta shocked by what he saw and dropped his bottle of indelible ink in reaction? No wondered Sally-Anne was interested in having some of the leftovers of the first version! (Maybe this the magical equivalent of National Geographic as a source of sorta naughty pictures for curious pre-teens!)

[wintercreek]

I just skimmed it before, but I'm reading it all now! Not only the King and Queen but also "a naked man stands with various serpents" in Figure 6! I think you may be right about this being the magical equivalent of National Geographic.

Searching "Caput corvi," the text from the image of the man with serpents (somehow I'm guessing that this one might have special appeal for the LP) brings up a GoogleBooks hit for Nietzsche's Zarathustra, by Carl Gustav Jung and James Louis Jarrett in which it says "the alchemistic matter of materia in the state of darkness, a parallel to the human soul in the state of darkness, is called Caput corvi, the head of the raven..." Curiouser and curiouser!

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

This is so cool. First, fun subtext about the illustrations. Second, a hidden clue about the Order's plans re: the stone. Sounds like the Book would seem, to Voldemort, to be a help in learning how to use the stone. In which case, big points for McG! But consistent with her role as a spy/agent for the Order, maybe she's playing him, maybe the book is being mis-copied to mis-direct him. Or -- and I suppose I should have just looked this up before speculating -- maybe the book is notorious for not being "orthodox"? Do you know anything about how it fits into the tradition of alchemical literature? It seems likely that McG would not be doing anything that feeds so directly into V's quest to understand the Stone, without having some sort of twist or misdirection up her sleeve . . .

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

In addition to a description, there is also an actual facsimile, with English text, here. (http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Archive/Spiegel.html)

[wintercreek]

a son whose like there is no other in the wide world.

Maybe the goal here is not an alchemical means to eternal life/restoration but instead a way to solidify the LP's connection to Harry?

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Do we have any sense of what the LP wants from Harry in this world? Is he a sort of trophy? Wasn't there some comment a while back about how the LP was interpreting the prophecy to mean that Harry needed to be protected?

[wintercreek]

If Harry's a trophy, he's a rather subtle one, given the concealment of the Potters' lives and deaths. He seems like the LP's way of thumbing his nose at the Order in this interpretation.

I'd love to know if there's been any speculation among the Wizarding world about how the LP came to have a son without (apparently) any consort or female companionship that we have heard about. Do people know Harry is adopted? Was this an altruistic act for the LP, to have taken in an orphan? Or has some story been spun about Harry's origins (perhaps a female partner killed by Muggles or similar, leaving the LP as a single parent)?

the LP was interpreting the prophecy to mean that Harry needed to be protected

Can't remember if there's been a comment to this effect, but it seems likely. I would assume the LP is interpreting the prophecy (he does know about the prophecy in this world, yes? Even without Snape spying?) to mean that he and Harry must both live to both survive.

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

Also an actual facsimile, with English text, here. (http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Archive/Spiegel.html)