Chamber of Secrets-Troubled Blood Links, Part 4: Who are the TB equivalents to Lockhart, Aragog and Riddle?

I'm finishing up the look at Chamber of Secrets-Troubled Blood connections, looking at the last three chapters of CoS (covering Harry and Ron's discovery of where the Chamber is, Ginny's abduction, Lockhart's confrontation and eventual obliviation, Ginny's rescue, the debrief with Dumbledore, the encounter with Malfoy, Dobby being set free, the celebratory feast and the journey home) and Chapters 49-73 of Troubled Blood. 

TB, being much, much longer, naturally, has a lot more happening: 

• Strike's second interview with Janice
• Robin's meeting with Brian Tucker
• the joint interview with the Bayliss sisters
• Strike's Easter journey to Cornwall for the scattering of Joan's ashes
• Charlotte's suicide attempt
• Robin's divorce settlement
• the interview with Betty Fuller
• the disaster with Oakden at the American Bar
• the wonderful Chapters 58-59 with both Strike and Robin's declaration of friendship and Morris's sacking
• Robin's visit to Mucky Ricci and the subsequent row with Strike
• Robin's meeting with Jemma and the resolution of the Shifty case
• the trip to Skegness and meeting with Douthwaite
• the Facetime with Gloria Conti and subsequent resolution of the conflicting clues
• Strike's masterful showdown with Creed, which leads to Louise Tucker's remains
• the discovery of Margot's body at the Athorns and 
• the final confrontation and arrest of Janice. 

The novel then gives us a two-part conclusion, first the detectives' meeting with the Phipps, Kim and Oonaugh Kennedy, then Robin's birthday, with Strike finally putting some sentiment into gifts and taking her to buy her own perfume. 

The major point that struck me as the resolutions of all the mysteries unfold is that, once the truth about characters is revealed, some of the major villains start making pretty strong matches for each other. Take Lockhart, for instance,  When comparing CoS to The Silkworm, it is clear from the beginning that Lockhart is an analog to Michael Fancourt, the "vainglorious" bestselling author. We can even connect their names: Fancourt is described as having a shard of ice in his heart, while Lockhart spends a lot of energy courting his fans. But, once unmasked as a fraud, I thought dear old Gilderoy made a convincing match with a superficially unlikely TB baddie.  Find out who after the jump. 

Gilderoy Lockhart, once unmasked a fraud, is probably the best character match for Dennis Creed.  Although they are at the opposite ends of the attractiveness spectrum-- I doubt Creed's ever won a Best Smile contest--both are addicted to fame and publicity and both are highly egotistical, basically devoting their lives to proclaiming their own brilliance to others. Creed, as a "pure example of a psychopath" certainly has a "locked heart" in that he is devoid of empathy. Lockhart, similarly, does not care whose lives he destroys in his quest for fame and glory. 

Most importantly, both are ultimately defeated by "rebounding spells"--- not unlike Voldemort was at the end of Deathly Hallows   (See also here). Lockhart's memories are destroyed when Ron's damaged wand backfires his own Obliviate spell on him; as Dumbledore says, "Dear me! Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!" Similarly, Strike, in the Broadmoor interview (one of my favorite Strike scenes of the series!) turns one of Creed's own tricks against him. Recall how Creed bragged about the ways he lured women into his clutches. 

"So I say, 'Well, I got to go now, sweetheart, you be careful.' Be careful! It always worked." Creed affected squeaky tones to imitate Gail,  "'Aw, don’t go, have a drink!' 'No, darling, I need my beauty sleep.’ That’s when you prove you’re not a threat. You make as if you want to leave, or actually walk away. Then, when they call you back, or run into you ten minutes later, when they’re starting to feel like shit, they’re relieved, because you’re the nice man who’s safe... "

Then, the end of the interview, Strike employs this same strategy, securing the clue about where Louise Tucker's body is by pretending to walk away and forcing Creed to call him back. 

"You go and tell the newspapers I’ve decided to confess to killing Louise, and that I’m sane, and I should be in Belmarsh, and if I’m transferred, I’ll tell old Brian Tucker where I put his little girl. You go tell the authorities, that’s my offer... You never know, I might even feel up to talking about Margot Bamborough when I’m out of here. Let’s get these drugs out of my system, and maybe I’ll remember better.”

“You’re full of shit,” said Strike, getting to his feet, looking angry. “I’m not passing this on.”

“Don’t be like that, because it’s not the one you came for,” said Creed, with a slow smile. “You’re coming across like a proper narcissist, Cormoran.”

“I’m ready to go,” Strike told Dr. Bijral. 

“Don’t be like that,” said Creed. “Oi!” 

Strike turned back.

“All right... I’ll give you a little clue about where I put Louise’s body, and we’ll see whether you’re as clever as you think you are, all right?"

The strategy works flawlessly. 

“Sorry not to be able to help with Dr. Bamborough!” called Creed, and Strike could hear his pleasure at the idea that he’d thwarted the detective.

Strike turned back one last time, and now he stopped pretending to be angry, and grinned, too.

“I was here for Louise, you silly fucker. I know you never met Margot Bamborough. She was murdered by a far more skillful killer than you ever were. And just so you know,” Strike added, as the nurse’s keys jangled, and Creed’s slack, fat face registered dismay, “I think you’re a fucking lunatic, and if anyone asks me, I’ll say you should be in Broadmoor till you rot.” 

Thus, both Lockhart and Creed are in for a lengthy and well-deserved confinement at a secure psychiatric facility (or the St. Mungo's Closed Ward, the closest wizarding equivalent) at book's end. 

When Robin and Strike visited Betty Fuller's cluttered and shabby room, I was reminded a bit of Ron and Harry's visit to Aragog's lair. There was a similar sense of two people visiting someone old, cranky and hostile, who doesn't leave their secure hideaway. In addition:

• Both Betty and Aragog are described as having "milky" eyes. 
• Aragog is blind and Betty has impaired vision due to glaucoma. 
• Both Aragog and Betty disclose useful information about the past.
• Harry and Ron learn that Hagrid was innocent; Strike and Robin learn about both Dr. Brenner's kinks and the identity of the woman killed in the snuff film. 
• Both Aragog and Betty also withhold information from our heroes, out of fear. 
• Betty will not tell who wrote the threatening notes; Aragog would not disclose what the monster in the chamber is. 
• Ron, of course, is deathly afraid of spiders; Betty managed to intimidate Robin in a way that no other witness has, eventually driving her out of the room.  

Janice Beatty, on the other hand, is a better match for young Tom Riddle and his diary-contained soul fragment. 

• Both are adept liars who are able to charm people when they want to, and both get away with their crimes by not being the type of person who people suspect.  
• Riddle is a handsome and outstanding student who attracted extra compassion by being raised in a Muggle orphanage; Dumbledore calls him "probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen."  
• Janice came across to everyone as a cheerful, motherly and compassionate health care provider; Dr. Gupta calls her "the best nurse I ever worked with" but adds that she, like Tom, "understood the privations of poverty from personal experience." 
• 
  Janice hoped to cast suspicion on others (like the unknown note-writer) for killing Margot and, in the end convinces Gwilherm that his "magical powers" are responsible for her death. 
• Riddle framed Hagrid for initially opening the Chamber and his dark magic makes Ginny believe she is responsible for the attacks in Hogwarts. 

Some other, smaller echos:

• During their "duels" Strike tells Creed that Margot was killed by a far more skillful killer than Creed ever was; Harry tells Riddle that Albus Dumbldore, not Voldemort, is the greatest sorcerer in the world. 
• After the Aragog adventure, Ron is so stressed he becomes violently ill, vomiting in the pumpkin patch. Wilma Bayliss's children thought she was vomiting from stress in her last days at the St. Johns practice. 
• "A certain disregard for the rules:" 
• As both Dumbledore and McGonagall point out, Harry and Ron break multiple school rules in their mission to save Ginny's life. 
• Ultimately, they succeed and are rewarded, with special school awards rather than punished.
• Strike and Robin, arguably, break some rules of ethical practice in order to save SB. They had, after all, discovered the dirt that Shifty held over his boss; strictly speaking, they should have reported that to their board member clients and closed the case. 
• But, to prevent SB from jumping off Tower Bridge, they take it upon themselves to redefine their mission to discredit Shifty himself, and were fortunate that SB, after his forced retirement, was willing to pay them for that successful job. 
• Still, it wasn't exactly fair to their original clients.
• At the end, Brian Tucker is calling for Strike and Robin to receive knighthoods and damehoods.  
• End of book celebrations: At the Hogwarts feast celebrating the defeat of Riddle and his Basilisk, Harry is reunited with Hermione and Hagrid and reconciled with Justin and others that suspected him. At the gathering at Anna and Kim's home, Strike and Robin's solving Margot's disappearance have brought reunion and reconciliation for Anna, Roy, Cynthia and Oonaugh. 
• Harry enjoys the midnight feast in his pajamas; Robin enjoys sleeping in on her birthday, then opens Strike's card and balloon in her pajamas. 
• Robin tells her mother Morris has been sacked as a subcontractor; at the feast, it is announced that Lucius Malfoy has been sacked as a school governor. 
• There is a mention that the kids were taking advantage of their last opportunities to do magic to practice the disarming spell on each other on the train ride home, and that Harry "was getting quite good at it" -- an early indication that he is better than his peers at DADA and particularly at what will become his signature spell. 
• It is also mentioned at the end summary that Robin, with her ability to disguise herself, was able to keep working during the publicity burst after the Bamborough and Tucker murders are solved, whereas Strike is stuck at Nic and Ilsa's.  
• This is confirmation that there are aspects of the detective job, specifically, undercover work, that Robin will be able to do better than Strike, as she had earlier pointed out when they were arguing about her visit to Mucky Ricci. 
• Harry had earlier successfully used Expelliarmus to get his diary back from Malfoy and to disarm Lockhart; Robin had earlier successfully impersonated people to infiltrate the nursing home and get dirt on Shifty from Jemma. 
• 
  But, my favorite minor connection is....the healing power of hot chocolate. At the end of Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore sends the sobbing Ginny up to the hospital wing for bed rest and "a large steaming mug of hot chocolate." After Margot's body is found, Robin suggests that the Athorns, including the distressed Deborah,  "all have some hot chocolate."

On that cozy note, I'll close this series of posts.  Even though, as I suspected, there were not as many as I saw between Philosopher's Stone and Lethal White. But, with a start at a birthday celebration, a series of clues revealed in a leather-bond, dark-magic-filled book, the major villains matching in major ways and a hot chocolate finish, I am satisfied that we can make a good case for linkages. The next series of posts will continue testing the Double Wedding Band model by examining what connections, if any, there are between Prisoner of Azkaban and The Ink Black Heart. 

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