Professor Dumbledore's Great Game (plot basics)
The game is based on three main components.
1. Skeleton, which serves as a plot diagram. Since it is repeated five times, with some changes, but almost in full, one should think that the sixth and seventh books will be the same. And in general, it seems that this is one of the foundations of the game that Rowling has started with us.
2. Spiral. The promotion of the plot is carried out incrementally - in every sense, right down to the volume of printed publications. From a traditional, emphatically naive fairy tale about another Cinderella (this time in her role of Harry Potter, who diligently overcomes the obstacles piled up on the way and achieves common love, peace, friendship and chewing gum), the plot gradually becomes more complicated, deepens, dramatized and modified into something completely unchildish, non-naive - even tragic. The latest book published so far is almost a full-fledged thriller with the inclusion of elements of high-level political games.
3. Psychology. The delicately nuanced relationships between the book's adult characters are shown through the eyes of a teenager who sees a lot, but doesn't understand everything. As he grows up, he sees more and more, but still does not understand everything, giving the reader the opportunity to use his brain. A game well known from “The Name of the Rose,” where, with the help of the “photographic memory of a teenager,” Umberto Eco initially set a wide range of possible interpretations of what was happening. You can associate yourself with Adson - or, like Rowling, with Harry. You can try to go deeper. For both Eco and Rowling, this “deeper” approach turns out to be practically inexhaustible and opens up dizzying prospects.
However, we still need to get to psychology - its time really comes in book three (hereinafter UA). But we should immediately talk in more detail about the scheme and its promotion.
So, the components of the skeleton are as follows.
1) Period at the Dursleys. Harry hangs out with them, everyone does nasty things to each other, and then with some damage to the Dursleys, each time more serious, he theatrically flies out of Privet Drive.
2) Harry must have contact with the magical world outside the walls of Hogwarts (Diagon Alley, Weasley's house, Quidditch match, trial at the Ministry). This period is characterized by the author designating the form that the encounter with evil will take in this book (stone, prisoner, cup, order). The worst form is manifested in part two. However, even there, Malfoy throws a book at Ginny's preschool stage.
3) The road to Hogwarts with some adventure. In three cases out of five, new friends appear on the train (Ron with Hermione and Neville; Lupin; Luna Lovegood), who will definitely play an important role in further events.
4) Beginning of the school year. Includes a clash with the Slytherins, meeting a new DADA teacher, Snape's attacks, features of Quidditch et cetera. Compared to what comes next, this is a fairly peaceful, almost idyllic period.
5) Tension begins to rise. Crises related to the main form of the fight against evil follow one after another. This form is necessarily declared in the title of the corresponding book (approaching the mystery of the philosopher's stone, the next victims of the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets, the Star-from-Azkaban's raids on Hogwarts, the stages of the struggle for the Goblet of Fire, the secret and overt struggle against Voldemort of members of the Order of the Phoenix). The number of crises invariably increases with each subsequent book. Everything is heading towards the fact that in the seventh part they will flow smoothly and non-stop into one another, quite in the spirit of wartime.
6) Disaster. Harry turns from a common favorite into a scapegoat from whom everyone shies away. It should be noted that with each new book, obstruction occurs earlier and lasts longer. If it ever ends. It is possible that in the seventh book, upon arrival at Hogwarts, Harry will be greeted by a volley of flamethrower classmates - so to speak, for prevention.
7) Final fight.
8) Mandatory emotional and/or office-destroying, but always educational conversation with Dumbledore. In all cases, without exception, it leaves a clear feeling of understatement and understatement.
9) Some calm, summing up, end of the school year, departure home. What is important at this stage: everyone seems to favor Harry, but the public does not fully know or understand his actions, and the degree of misunderstanding and ignorance is increasing. So by the end, Harry feels more and more separated from the rest of the class. Even from friends.
The progression of the pattern from book to book resembles a spiral with expanding circles. Every time the process goes in breadth - and always in depth. The problems are becoming more serious. The emotional swings intensify - the humor is funnier, the tragedies are more tragic. As for the cross-cutting characters, they are characterized by one common property, which can be indicated by a phrase from Twin Peaks: “Owls are not at all what they seem.”