Upon further reflection...
One of the most haunting and vivid images left with me at the end of Order of the Phoenix is the arch with the veil; ancient magic, carefully guarded and studied. Also, I keep coming back to that locked door in the Department of Mysteries. In Half-Blood Prince, I get another image of ancient magic predating any interference of Tom Riddle, what Red Hen calls the birdbath of doom, standing alone on an island in the middle of the lake, deep in a cave and now filled with what looks to us like toxic waste. It has left me wondering if there is something equally ancient and eerie behind the locked door. I have not read a lot of speculation as to what’s behind that door. If anyone has read essays on the subject, please point me there. When asked what’s behind the door, most people take Dumbledore’s word for it and answer “love”. But how would that manifest? What form would it take? And how will Harry be able to find out?
How Harry Opened the Door to the Love Room and What He Found There (Redux)
My original foray into this topic, which can be found here, focused more on how Harry opened the door, and while I will incorporate some of that thinking into this essay, I want to spend more time behind the door. After posting that essay, I spent some quality time on Red Hen’s site and came across what I call Red Hen’s Golden Rule of Rowling (Red Hen’s Golden Egg?), which shows up in several of her essays, to wit: “once an element gets used in the course of this series, it is exponentially more likely than not to be used again. Typically more than once.” (Exeunt Albus Dumbledore: Setting the Stage).
I’ll come back to this. First, I’d like to stand before the door with Harry. He has known about this door for almost two years; he has been told that what’s behind the door has to do with love, and that it’s the power he has in spades that Voldemort knows not. I’m almost certain that Harry will find himself once again at this door. In fact, as I stated before, when directly asked if we were going back to that locked room, JKRowling refused to answer. What do we know about this door? That it’s kept locked at all times, that standard unlocking spells like “Alohomora” don’t work, and that it can’t be opened by force; it melted the blade of the penknife that Sirius gave Harry for Christmas in his fourth year, "with attachments to unlock every lock and undo every knot” (GoF, Chapter 23).
I’m convinced that the way to open the door is simple, counter-intuitive and involves love in some way. That is why I came up with Harry’s solution in my first essay. To recap: Harry runs into Snape, remembers that the Sphinx was blocking his way to the goal in the Maze in his fourth year, and that the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx was to kiss the spider. How would that apply to Snape? Originally, I had Harry make the connection when remembering a Muggle rhyme, but later remembered that while Harry had always seen Snape purely in terms of bats, in the pensieve memory he had seen a spidery aspect to teenaged Snape. Harry decides that this might work, and kisses him on the cheek. And the door unlocks. My point there was to demonstrate that an act of compassion might open the door. Even if it’s a strategic move, the simple act of kissing someone he loathes may create a feeling of compassion strong enough to satisfy the door’s conditions.
In order to succeed, though, Harry has to have been working on his Occlumency, otherwise the thought process would be written across his face, giving Snape time to thwart him. For those of you who object, saying that Harry would never kiss Snape, I can only offer that Harry is a reckless Gryffindor who would equate this unpleasant task with force-feeding Dumbledore 12 cups of toxic waste to find a Horcrux.
Also, by the time he meets Snape again, he may have heard some illuminating things from Dumbledore’s portrait, or seen a pensieve memory, or have received a mysterious patronus message that turns out to be from Snape, and may be less likely to hex on sight.
What I think is extraordinary about Harry’s ability to love is the fact that he has demonstrated compassion towards his enemies, whether it was sympathy for Snape in the pensieve, for baby Tom Riddle, abandoned by his mother, or for Draco crying in the bathroom, or shaking on the tower. Anyone can love their friends and family (in Harry’s case, surrogate family); few people can love their enemies. That is the extraordinary power of love that Harry possesses. Now, he has to learn to focus that power to vanquish Voldemort. Will he find that power in the locked room?
On a more prosaic note, what is more likely is that Harry meets Snape in front of the locked room and they get into an argument. How, then, could they open the door? One possibility was suggested in a comment thread in response to swythyv’s essay on the cover art for book 7 (British, adult version): kayleelupin’s wild guess that the Slytherin locket could contain the key to the locked room. So, here we have Harry, wearing the locket Horcrux (possibly neutralized by then), who meets up with Snape. Snape notices the locket and asks Harry if he’s been able to open it. Harry admits he hasn’t. Snape directs Harry’s attention to fact that it’s Slytherin’s locket; perhaps the imbecile should ask it to open up in Parseltongue. Dubiously, Harry complies (thinking that the “S” looks snake-like), the locket opens, and lo and behold, it contains a key. One of them puts the key in the lock and it opens the door.
They enter.
Remember Red Hen’s golden egg: See it once, see it again?
The room is silent, with stone walls that echo, and like the veil room, contains a single artifact: a stone basin, containing clear, reflecting water. Around the rim is writing that may say something like: evolu oyohw woshi (I show who you love). I’m sure it would be something much more clever, but would work along the lines of the Mirror of Erised, and show what’s in the heart of whoever looks into it.
They approach the basin together and look in. The face of Lily Potter is reflected in the water. Suddenly, her image rises out of the water* and speaks to them. [*Dumbledore may have been in this room, as he seems to know why it’s kept locked. Maybe this is where he learned the hologram effect that he demonstrates in his own pensieve, both with Bertha Jorkins and later Sybill Trelawney. Or maybe Lily worked here and told him a few things, including showing him that particular application.]
What message would she have to impart? Maybe Lily tells Snape and Harry how to disarm the Horcrux in Harry’s forehead without killing him. After all the ring and diary were not destroyed when the Horcrux was deactivated, just heavily damaged. * Or she may replay that night at Godric’s Hollow, to show that Voldemort did not kill Harry with the Avada Kedavra, but with the Horcrux-creation spell. Whatever else she has to tell them would have to demonstrate how love can vanquish Voldemort. And I haven’t a clue to the answer to that.
Let me back up a minute. What would cause the hologram effect? It would activate when the water reflected the same object for both questioners. Why would they see Lily? She is someone they both love. Harry, of course, is obvious, but Snape? They may have been childhood friends; she could have been the girl in Snape's memory, laughing at his inability to fly a broom. On the other hand, both Red Hen and kaskait have postulated that Snape and Lily were partnered in Slughorn’s NEWT Potions classes and forged a friendship there. In any case, Snape can love Lily like Harry loves Hermione. It doesn’t have to be romantic love; it doesn’t have to be unrequited longing. Friendship counts. And if for some reason Harry would cause Hermione (or Ron) to die, he would deeply regret it. Just as Snape deeply regrets the death of Lily.
So, they meet, they get into the locked room, they see Lily, learn something vital and leave, going their separate ways. Harry may trust Snape a little more, seeing first-hand that Lily has high regard for him. They likely won’t meet again until the end of the book, but Harry will continue to get messages from Snape who has told him, in effect, “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”
And behind them, in the locked room, the ancient magic awaits its next student. I have a hunch that the veil and the basin were always there and the Ministry was built around them. Would anyone have been able to move the arch with the veil? In all honesty, who would want to get NEAR it? And where would the source of the water in the basin come from? If someone moved that basin, would the water disappear? If they poured in fresh water, would it work? ‘Tis a mystery.
* I read this somewhere, but at the time, I hadn't decided to write an essay so didn't note the source. Would the real author please stand up? It's one of those things that you see, but don't really notice until someone brilliantly points it out and then - slap forehead! Why didn't I think of that?
How Harry Opened the Door to the Love Room and What He Found There (Redux)
My original foray into this topic, which can be found here, focused more on how Harry opened the door, and while I will incorporate some of that thinking into this essay, I want to spend more time behind the door. After posting that essay, I spent some quality time on Red Hen’s site and came across what I call Red Hen’s Golden Rule of Rowling (Red Hen’s Golden Egg?), which shows up in several of her essays, to wit: “once an element gets used in the course of this series, it is exponentially more likely than not to be used again. Typically more than once.” (Exeunt Albus Dumbledore: Setting the Stage).
I’ll come back to this. First, I’d like to stand before the door with Harry. He has known about this door for almost two years; he has been told that what’s behind the door has to do with love, and that it’s the power he has in spades that Voldemort knows not. I’m almost certain that Harry will find himself once again at this door. In fact, as I stated before, when directly asked if we were going back to that locked room, JKRowling refused to answer. What do we know about this door? That it’s kept locked at all times, that standard unlocking spells like “Alohomora” don’t work, and that it can’t be opened by force; it melted the blade of the penknife that Sirius gave Harry for Christmas in his fourth year, "with attachments to unlock every lock and undo every knot” (GoF, Chapter 23).
I’m convinced that the way to open the door is simple, counter-intuitive and involves love in some way. That is why I came up with Harry’s solution in my first essay. To recap: Harry runs into Snape, remembers that the Sphinx was blocking his way to the goal in the Maze in his fourth year, and that the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx was to kiss the spider. How would that apply to Snape? Originally, I had Harry make the connection when remembering a Muggle rhyme, but later remembered that while Harry had always seen Snape purely in terms of bats, in the pensieve memory he had seen a spidery aspect to teenaged Snape. Harry decides that this might work, and kisses him on the cheek. And the door unlocks. My point there was to demonstrate that an act of compassion might open the door. Even if it’s a strategic move, the simple act of kissing someone he loathes may create a feeling of compassion strong enough to satisfy the door’s conditions.
In order to succeed, though, Harry has to have been working on his Occlumency, otherwise the thought process would be written across his face, giving Snape time to thwart him. For those of you who object, saying that Harry would never kiss Snape, I can only offer that Harry is a reckless Gryffindor who would equate this unpleasant task with force-feeding Dumbledore 12 cups of toxic waste to find a Horcrux.
Also, by the time he meets Snape again, he may have heard some illuminating things from Dumbledore’s portrait, or seen a pensieve memory, or have received a mysterious patronus message that turns out to be from Snape, and may be less likely to hex on sight.
What I think is extraordinary about Harry’s ability to love is the fact that he has demonstrated compassion towards his enemies, whether it was sympathy for Snape in the pensieve, for baby Tom Riddle, abandoned by his mother, or for Draco crying in the bathroom, or shaking on the tower. Anyone can love their friends and family (in Harry’s case, surrogate family); few people can love their enemies. That is the extraordinary power of love that Harry possesses. Now, he has to learn to focus that power to vanquish Voldemort. Will he find that power in the locked room?
On a more prosaic note, what is more likely is that Harry meets Snape in front of the locked room and they get into an argument. How, then, could they open the door? One possibility was suggested in a comment thread in response to swythyv’s essay on the cover art for book 7 (British, adult version): kayleelupin’s wild guess that the Slytherin locket could contain the key to the locked room. So, here we have Harry, wearing the locket Horcrux (possibly neutralized by then), who meets up with Snape. Snape notices the locket and asks Harry if he’s been able to open it. Harry admits he hasn’t. Snape directs Harry’s attention to fact that it’s Slytherin’s locket; perhaps the imbecile should ask it to open up in Parseltongue. Dubiously, Harry complies (thinking that the “S” looks snake-like), the locket opens, and lo and behold, it contains a key. One of them puts the key in the lock and it opens the door.
They enter.
Remember Red Hen’s golden egg: See it once, see it again?
The room is silent, with stone walls that echo, and like the veil room, contains a single artifact: a stone basin, containing clear, reflecting water. Around the rim is writing that may say something like: evolu oyohw woshi (I show who you love). I’m sure it would be something much more clever, but would work along the lines of the Mirror of Erised, and show what’s in the heart of whoever looks into it.
They approach the basin together and look in. The face of Lily Potter is reflected in the water. Suddenly, her image rises out of the water* and speaks to them. [*Dumbledore may have been in this room, as he seems to know why it’s kept locked. Maybe this is where he learned the hologram effect that he demonstrates in his own pensieve, both with Bertha Jorkins and later Sybill Trelawney. Or maybe Lily worked here and told him a few things, including showing him that particular application.]
What message would she have to impart? Maybe Lily tells Snape and Harry how to disarm the Horcrux in Harry’s forehead without killing him. After all the ring and diary were not destroyed when the Horcrux was deactivated, just heavily damaged. * Or she may replay that night at Godric’s Hollow, to show that Voldemort did not kill Harry with the Avada Kedavra, but with the Horcrux-creation spell. Whatever else she has to tell them would have to demonstrate how love can vanquish Voldemort. And I haven’t a clue to the answer to that.
Let me back up a minute. What would cause the hologram effect? It would activate when the water reflected the same object for both questioners. Why would they see Lily? She is someone they both love. Harry, of course, is obvious, but Snape? They may have been childhood friends; she could have been the girl in Snape's memory, laughing at his inability to fly a broom. On the other hand, both Red Hen and kaskait have postulated that Snape and Lily were partnered in Slughorn’s NEWT Potions classes and forged a friendship there. In any case, Snape can love Lily like Harry loves Hermione. It doesn’t have to be romantic love; it doesn’t have to be unrequited longing. Friendship counts. And if for some reason Harry would cause Hermione (or Ron) to die, he would deeply regret it. Just as Snape deeply regrets the death of Lily.
So, they meet, they get into the locked room, they see Lily, learn something vital and leave, going their separate ways. Harry may trust Snape a little more, seeing first-hand that Lily has high regard for him. They likely won’t meet again until the end of the book, but Harry will continue to get messages from Snape who has told him, in effect, “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”
And behind them, in the locked room, the ancient magic awaits its next student. I have a hunch that the veil and the basin were always there and the Ministry was built around them. Would anyone have been able to move the arch with the veil? In all honesty, who would want to get NEAR it? And where would the source of the water in the basin come from? If someone moved that basin, would the water disappear? If they poured in fresh water, would it work? ‘Tis a mystery.
* I read this somewhere, but at the time, I hadn't decided to write an essay so didn't note the source. Would the real author please stand up? It's one of those things that you see, but don't really notice until someone brilliantly points it out and then - slap forehead! Why didn't I think of that?