A Return to Blogging with a New Test of the Double Wedding Band Model: Looking for connections between Philosopher's Stone and Lethal White.

 Greetings to my readers and other Strike/Potter fans.  I am back from the longest blogging break I've taken in a while. I am happy to announce that I return with the new title of Granny to CJ, the, in my unashamedly biased opinion, the most perfect and beautiful granddaughter ever born. Since I have chosen to keep her full name private, and respect her parents' wishes not to display her face on social media, you'll simply have to take my word for it that she is absolutely and completely adorable. 

During my break, I've been mulling over what to blog about as we continue to wait for Sleep Tight, Evangeline. I finally drew inspiration from:

• first, the new series of Three Broomsticks podcasts I've been doing: looking at connections between the Strike books and the corresponding Potter books, so starting with Philosopher's Stone and Cuckoo's Calling and
• second, the Double Wedding Band model for the Strike series, which hypothesizes that tha last seven books of the series will form a ring structure, much as the first seven did, and as the seven Harry Potter books did. See here, here and here for more information. 

As I have noted before, one of the strongest arguments in favor of DWB is the fact that it predicted connections between THM and Order of the Phoenix, of which there were many. This gives me hope that the final three books of the Strike series will connect to the final three Potter books both alchemically and thematically.

But, what of the earlier books of the putative second ring. That's what I have decided to explore for the next few months.

Per this model, the second ring consists of seven Strike books, starting with Lethal White (which happens to be my favorite of the series) and running to Book 10. Of course, in the first ring, Strike books 4-7 have already been shown to correspond to Potter books 4-7:

• Lethal White has a huge number of connections to Goblet of Fire, and is generally credited for convincing the skeptics that the "Parallel Series Idea" was worthy of being called an actual theory
• --and here I mean "theory" not in its everyday use* (a guess that may or may not be supported by evidence) but in its scientific sense: a comprehensive and well-supported principle with both explanatory and predictive power.
• Troubled Blood connects to Order of the Phoenix.
• The Ink Black Heart connects to The Half-Blood Prince (see here and here; be sure to download the archived edition of The Rowling Library for Bea Groves's excellent "Ink Black Prince" article).
• The Running Grave connects to The Deathly Hallows.

I will instead be looking at the second ring: connections 1) between The Philosopher's Stone and Lethal White, 2) between Chamber of Secrets and Troubled Blood, 3) between Prisoner of Azkaban and The Ink Black Heart and 4) between Goblet of Fire and The Running Grave. I don't necessarily expect to find the same number that were identified in the first ring, but I am optimistic about finding some. I am also excited about this series because 1) I have recently listened to the full-cast versions of the Harry Potter series and 2) it is a great excuse to re-read my four favorite Strike books while conveniently skipping my two least favorite: Career of Evil and The Hallmarked Man.

Unlike my previous blog series, I am not setting a timeline on this. How often I post depends on what I find as I go back through LW and PS.

I'm going to start with a comparison of the opening parts of both books: "The Boy Who Lived" -- the first chapter of PS, and the Prologue of LW: aka Robin's disastrous wedding to the Flobberworm. This was inspired, in part, by my most recent Three Broomsticks podcast (linked above), where we talked similarities I has never previously noted between the opening segments of PS and CC.

• Both books begin with a setting event that takes place before the action of the book proper, three months before in the case of CC; 10 years before in PS.
• Both open with people abuzz about a major nationwide news event. In CC, this is the death of Lula Landry; for the wizarding world it is the death of the Potters, the survival of baby Harry and the apparent disappearance of Voldemort.  
• The deaths of in both books seem to be of beloved figures: Lula is a well-known supermodel while the Potters seem to be at least minor celebrities among the magical community, and were clearly loved by Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid.
• There is extensive news media coverage: the Muggle news notices owls and shooting stars; while news vans and tabloid photographers gather outside Lula’s flat.
• Events unfold through the eyes of secondary characters: In CC, they are Wardle and Carver; in PS, Vernon and Petunia.
• The main characters (Strike/Robin; Harry/Ron/Hermione) are not present, apart from sleeping baby Harry.
• Carver and Vernon Dursley are particularly similar in both appearance and disposition.
• Carver is a “paunchy man with a face the color of corned beef;" Vernon is a “big beefy man”
• Carver's face is later described as "purple-red" while Vernon's is "beet-colored."
• Both are unpleasant and yelling at underlings in their first appearance.
• Neither Carver nor Vernon is hugely relevant to the overarching story, but both are obstacles to Strike/Harry
• There is a sense of not knowing exactly what happened; rumors are spreading and people don't know what to believe. 
• Was LL’s death murder or suicide? Did Evan Duffield do it? Was Tansy Bestigui lying?
• What’s with all the owls and the fireworks? Is Voldemort really gone? How did Harry survive?
• There is an explicit warning of the dangers of fame for young people.
• In CC: Papers said that Lula was "unbalanced, unstable, unsuited to the superstardom her wildness and her beauty had snared; that she had moved among an immoral moneyed class that had corrupted her; that the decadence of her new life had unhinged an already fragile personality. She became a morality tale stiff with Schadenfreude, and so many columnists made allusion to Icarus that Private Eye ran a special column."
• In PS, McGonagall tells Dumbledore, “He'll be famous--a legend--I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future--there will be books written about Harry..”  Dumbledore responds, “Exactly. It would be enough to turn any boy’s head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

So, is the opening of Lethal White similarly connected to that of Philosopher's Stone? Well, for starters, LW also opens with a setting event, then a jump ahead in time to the main story. 

• 
  Although the protagonists are present for the setting event in LW, the initial point of view is from an "outsider" character: an unnamed wedding photographer who, so far, has never appeared in the series again. 
• Even though he does not know Robin, the photographer can sense that something is amiss, correctly guesses that Robin and Matthew fought in the car between the church and the wedding picture venue and concludes that the marriage is off to a shaky start. 
• Similarly, Vernon senses from the cloaked figures and snatches of conversation he hears that something major has happened in the magical world and that the Potters could be involved. 
• Apart from the photographer's observations, there is an overall sense of disquiet reflected in the swans' behavior: one is diving and disturbing the water on the lake for the pictures; the other refuses to swim alongside its mate until Robin walks away from Matthew. 
• Similarly, in PS, bird behavior is also an omen signaling larger happenings: owls are flying by day, to the extent that the Muggle news team notices. 
• Both Harry and Robin have visible scars from recent trauma that they will carry for the rest of their lives.
• Eventually, the point-of-view shifts from the outsiders (Carver/photographer) to more important characters in the book: Dumbledore, Hagrid and McGonagall; Strike and Robin.
• I saw some similarity between McGonagall and Linda Ellacott in their stony disapproval of what is happening:  Linda hisses at Strike as his table place is being set; McGonagall lets it be known through her facial expression that "this is not a time for sherbet lemons." 
• Both Robin and McGonagall contribute to the sense of foreboding; McGonagall can tell that Harry will not have a good home with the Dursleys and questions DD's wisdom in leaving him there; Robin knows that Matthew deceived her and internally questions whether she should be marrying him.  
• Hagrid's howling outburst at the thought of leaving Harry at Privet Drive reminded me a bit of the fight Robin and Matthew had in the bridal suite. 
• Both were emotional displays that had to be concealed from others: McGonagall had to caution Hagrid not to wake the Muggles; Robin and Matthew had to hide their conflict from the wedding guests. 
• The CC chapter closes with Harry asleep "not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream...nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley...he couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter, the boy who lived!'"
• The LW chapter closes with Robin and Strike having their very memorable hug on the stairs, then quickly breaking apart. Strike leaves and Robin turns back to walk up the stairs to return to Matthew and the wedding celebration. 
• Therefore, both books end with an atmosphere of lots people toasting and celebrating, but the central figure is entirely isolated from the joy of the occasion, heading for major trouble and lots of unhappiness. 

So, the opening sequences of PS and LW have enough in common that I am thinking my search for more thematic parallels may not entirely be a fool's errand. I am looking forward to going through both LW and PS again and looking for parallels.  I hope readers with join me and make more suggestions, pro and con.  

*Want to know if someone is using the word "theory" in the everyday rather than scientific sense? Look for the words "just a" in front of it.