I thought the hag scene served two purposes: one, remind the reader that the wizarding world is always full of dangerous and mysterious things (something that JKR also constantly does), and, two, bring out once again how constantly the death of Maximilian is on Alex' mind, and how it underlies everything she does.
I think I explained myself badly. It's not so much that it is on her mind, as that it dangerously distorts her reactions. Here one hint that the hag might have some way of reaching the dead is enough for Alexandra to risk, at least to be drawn to the idea, of placing herself in obvious danger. She is still in a mood to take crazed risks merely to feed her denial.
How did Thorn pull it off, though? How did he know there was going to be a ball, that Larry was going to be there, get close enough to cast Imperius, etc.? It was more believable that he knew what was going on at Charmbridge when Max was there. Of course, any of the teachers could be part of the Thorn circle (Dean Grimm, maybe?). I do agree that using Larry was probably not a random choice, because Max could have told their father about Larry pretending to use Crucio on Alex
( ... )
Comments 16
Reply
one, remind the reader that the wizarding world is always full of dangerous and mysterious things (something that JKR also constantly does), and,
two, bring out once again how constantly the death of Maximilian is on Alex' mind, and how it underlies everything she does.
Reply
As for point two, though, I don't think we really need another reminder that Max's death is constantly on her mind. That's obvious enough already.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment