Chamber of Secrets-Troubled Blood Connections, Part 2: The cauldron runs dry.

One question I am regularly asked when I am documenting book-to-book connections is, "Can't you find connections between any two books if you look hard enough, especially when they are by the same author?" My answer, so far, has been a truthful, "I don't know," because I have never gone done this type of detailed, side-by-side analysis between two books for which I had not expected connections. 

However, I do now have at least preliminary evidence that I am capable of going through at least two sizable chunks of JKR/RG books without *automatically* seeing connecting elements.  It helps that TB, alone among the Strike books, starts in August and runs a full year, so the timeline roughly approximates that of a Hogwarts school year. It also, like many of the Harry Potter books, marks major holidays (Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter). Thus, I was able to do the first comparison starting in the summer and finishing with Halloween, and I found quite a few parallels. 

This brought me to the second section: from Halloween through Christmas: four chapters in CoS: from "The Writing on the Wall" to "The Polyjuice Potion" and sixteen from TB, Chapters 15-30, conveniently ending with Part Three. I must say, the number of connections I see here is almost none, and the ones I do are not especially specific. 

In Harry Potter, we see

• The aftermath of the trio's Halloween discovery of the petrified Mrs. Norris.
• Professor Binns' explanation of the "legendary" Chamber of Secrets.
• The first visit to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and Hermione's Polyjuice Potion plan. 
• Harry's first Quidditch game and his arm's deboning thanks to the rogue bludger and the idiot Lockhart. 
• Dobby's visit to the hospital wing and the attack on Colin Creevey.  
• The dueling club and the discovery of Harry's Parseltongue skills, then the attack on Justin Finch- Fletchley. 
• Harry's visit to Dumbledore's office and his meeting with Fawkes. 
• The enjoyable Christmas break that Harry and friends celebrate. 
• Harry and Ron's Polyjuiced interview with Malfoy, and Hermione's transformation into a cat. 

Do any of the following events seem to match what is going on in CoS? 

• Robin's difficult team meeting while Strike is in Cornwall and her annoying follow-up call with Morris. 
• Her discovery of the extra paragraphs in her copy of The Demon of Paradise Park, which leads them to Carl Oakden's pulped book. 
• Strike's first meeting with Greg Talbot, when he acquires the True Book. 
• Robin's meeting with her divorce attorney.
• The highly entertaining interview with Janice and Irene.
• The arrival of Annabel Marie.
• The Fortnam and Mason interview with Oonaugh Kennedy.
• The review of Oakden's book, and Strike recognizing the gangster in the photo. 
• Strike's miserable shopping trip and his meet-up with Shanker that confirms the identity of Mucky Ricci. 
• The depressing Christmases of both Robin and Strike, complete with flu, annoying families, poison chocolates, snuff films and dick pics. 

I don't really see a lot. One element that makes the tone different is the relative experience of the protagonists. Harry is still fairly young and still acquainting himself with the wizarding world; hence his not knowing what squibs and phoenixes are. Robin, however, is establishing herself as a seasoned detective, capable of managing the agency in Strike's absence. Although the True Book has been introduced and the initial analysis complete, the diary is still largely unknown, except for the forgotten item Ginny had to go back for as they were traveling to Kings Cross. It will turn up in the next chapter, though. 

There are a few connections that I might be able to convince myself I see if I squint and dim the lights:

Rain: Both books get pretty soggy, with all the rainy Quidditch practices and notable rainy days in Strike, specifically on their walk to the Three Kings, on Strike's birthday and Strike's shopping trip. But, the blizzard that strikes Hogwarts in "The Dueling Club" is not matched by snow in London or Yorkshire. 

Talismans:  Hogwarts students buy objects to ward off the Slytherin monster; Greg Talbot describes his father sprinkling salt outside his bedroom to ward off Baphomet. 

Christmas illness:  Strike winds up bedridden with flu at Christmas and for a week or so afterwards; Hermione's Polyjuice accident on Christmas lands her in the hospital wing for several weeks. 

In any case, I think this segment is most helpful at illustrating that thematic connections between random JKR/RG are not inevitable. 

I'm not 100% what the next post in this series will cover, given that there are 40 chapters remaining of TB and only six for CoS. My initial thought about going from New Year's to Valentines Day would mean 11 chapters of TB and only 1/2 chapter of CoS, so I don't think that will work.  But, we'll see....

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