weasley is our king

[pauraque_bk]

lizardlaugh and ixchelmala have posted the mother of all HP theories. It's either the biggest crock I've ever read, or complete and utter genius.

It starts off with a discussion of the chess game in SS/PS as a metaphor for the second war, which is something others have explored, notably lycoris (here). Then it then takes a huge (but well-supported) leap in explaining how Ron can be both a knight and the player: Ron is Dumbledore.

It's stunningly plausible, but I can't say I want it to be true -- if it is, it won't come as a surprise when it's revealed!

It also occurs to me that JKR has mentioned that one of the kids will become a Hogwarts professor, but "not the one you think" -- ie, not Hermione. This has led some to speculate that it's going to be Ron, which of course would match up with the Ron=AD theory. Scary shit, dude.

Comments

[woolf.livejournal.com]

I've heard the theory before, but never really given it much creedence. However. That is an absolutely stunning bit of reasoning, thought, and interpretation.

Argh. When is book 6 coming out again???

[sedesdraconis.livejournal.com]

Truly. That is a stunningly impressive argument. Wow. If it's true, I think I have to knock my respect for JKR up several more notches. It is a foreshadowing that can be guessed, and once guessed, you can see stretching all the way back in perfect consistency; and yet it is still stunning. That's mastery of Foreshadowing. Wow. Oh, I hope it's true, it's too cool not to be.

[faelori.livejournal.com]

*incoherent sounds of utter glee*

[caesia390.livejournal.com]

shit shit shit!!!!!

this is like the answer to all my 'wtf is up with dumbledore' issues. it works TOO WELL to be true!!! it even explains how friggin wacked out and implausable GoF is!!!!!!!!

and the scary thing is, it's just like something JKR would do! O_O not like those other conspiracy theories that work logically, but not in context........

*is shaken*

[ixchelmala.livejournal.com]

lizardlaugh and ixchelmala have posted the mother of all HP theories

*STARES* d0od, such kind words! thank you:) We aorked really hard and though I should be in bed, I'm finding out that these links are spreading around. faelori pointed me here and I'm on about 16 hours sleep.

Please do go over to unplottables and join the discussion! (http://www.livejournal.com/community/unplottables/10607.html?mode=reply)

We noted teh teacher thing too, btw, that sneaky JKR!

Also, we don't know what really happens in the next books, it will still be a surprise, you know? Because we truly don't know:)

Anyways, thanks for the kudos!

[sedesdraconis.livejournal.com]

I mean, you know, my god. If this is right, JKR explained the whole future story arc in the first book in extraordinary detail and symbolism, and it took a committed fandom of millions five YEARS to notice. Incredible guts, precision and subtlety.

[threeoranges.livejournal.com]

I can think of only a few minor elements which would make this implausible, and those are

1) Dumbledore's mention of his brother Aberforth (though Aberforth himself may just have been a stranger recruited to give Dumbledore some family "backstory")

2) Harry sees Dumbledore as a man with red hair and a beard in CoS, and nothing about this middle-aged man reminds him of his best friend. Not his voice, not his mannerisms, not even his eyes. So Ron has to act the wise old duffer for the rest of his existence to ensure that the future Harry Potter, should he ever eavesdrop, won't recognize him? What a fate!

3) Ron knowingly consigned his best friend to eleven years of hell at the Dursleys', without subjecting the Dursleys to mind-altering charms or scaring them into being nice to him? What a git! Especially as he comes from a large family and knows the support a loving home environment can give.

These minor quibbles aside, that is a mind-blowingly good theory attractively presented.

[pauraque]

A great deal can be explained by the fact that if Ron is in this situation, he must know that he has to do exactly as "Dumbledore" did in order for things to come out the way he wants.

The article does mention the Aberforth thing -- maybe meeting Aberforth Dumbledore, a man without a brother, in the past, is what *gives him the idea* of becoming Albus.

My primary problem with it is an aspect of 2) -- Ron and Dumbledore really aren't much alike in terms of characterization.

[threeoranges.livejournal.com]

A great deal can be explained by the fact that if Ron is in this situation, he must know that he has to do exactly as "Dumbledore" did in order for things to come out the way he wants.

But now we have the chicken and egg conundrum: which came first, the bizarre actions or the man behind the bizarre actions? Ron may be Dumbledore, but he's still a thinking human being; why does it not occur to him *at* *the* *start* to ensure that Harry's upbringing is not pure hell? And in fact, why can he not say "I'm Dumbledore, therefore, armed with my foreknowledge, I will act in a reasoned and sensible manner and nip this Tom Riddle menace in the bud?" (I'm not saying kill him, I'm saying dissuade him. Like the old conundrum of would you kill the infant Hitler? I wouldn't necessarily, but I'd take him out of the vile environment and see how he turned out with a non-abusive father. And then if that didn't work I might kill him ;-) )

I still say that if Ron is Dumbledore, either something is forcing him to act in a wildly inappropriate manner (the Author?), or Ron has through some TimeTurner jiggery-pokery taken over from the original Dumbledore who deposited Harry in the Dursleys' care and then died when Harry was ten, or he hates Harry's guts and wants him to grow up as a friendless orphan trapped in a broom cupboard.

The article does mention the Aberforth thing -- maybe meeting Aberforth Dumbledore, a man without a brother, in the past, is what *gives him the idea* of becoming Albus.

I see! Thanks for pointing me in that direction, I agree it could ha

Me again

[threeoranges.livejournal.com]

The article does mention the Aberforth thing -- maybe meeting Aberforth Dumbledore, a man without a brother, in the past, is what *gives him the idea* of becoming Albus.

I see! Thanks for pointing me in that direction, I agree it could happen that way.

My primary problem with it is an aspect of 2) -- Ron and Dumbledore really aren't much alike in terms of characterization.

I can see "Albus" as a form of acting, a persona Ron's adopted. The eccentricity is laid on with a trowel, after all. But yes, he'd have to be a pretty fine actor not to appear familiar to Harry in CoS.

[no-remorse.livejournal.com]

It also occurs to me that JKR has mentioned that one of the kids will become a Hogwarts professor, but "not the one you think"

Yes she did, but wasn't that the same interview (http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/quickquotes/articles/1999/1099-connectiontransc.html) where she was asked if it was Ron and she said "No, it’s not Ron. I can’t see Ron as a teacher. No way."?

[pauraque]

Look at that, you're quite right. That's a bit of a blow to the theory! Thanks for pointing it out.

[theseventhsun.livejournal.com]

This is some of the most brilliant logic I've ever seen. It's a lovely and wonderful theory. As even further proof to it's probability, Ron as played in the movies has blue eyes- this might just be a coincidence, as blue eyes are fairly common amongst red-head, or maybe J.K. mentioned this to CC pre-casting.


But despite all this, I'm disinclined to believe the theory because of Dumbledore's speech given at the end of OotP. Dumbledore proffesses to being fully honest during this speech. While I think Dumbledore is capable of lying and deception, I don't think he'd ever practice it after just saying he was being completely honest. From this speech, it's very clear that while Dumbledore had very good connections and intuitions, he was far from being able to perfectly predict the future. So in order for Ron to be Dumbledore gone into the past, you'd have to somehow work into the story an event that causes him to lose his memory. That's far from impossible, but very improbable, more so than I think can really be justified. Plus, that then takes away the one edge of fore-knowledge that makes the Ron-Dumbledore switch so compelling. I do, however, think that Ron and Dumbledore have many resemblences (Ron may not have Dumbledore's knowledge, but I feel that he, more than any of the other Hogwarts students, demonstrates his wisdom in regards to human emotions. I think it's much more likely that Dumbledore will fall during the 6th or 7th book (he is, after all, Harry's crutch, and the protagonist's crutches have a way of dying in these epic stories), and Ron will be his successor.