One challenge in working through
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (or
Sorcerer's) Stone and
Lethal White for start-of-ring connections is trying to figure out where to divide the book sections.
For the first post, it was logical to do the opening chapters, but that 1-to-1 obviously cannot continue, given how much longer
LW is than
PS. Just taking a guess, I'm going to next look through the part of the story that occurs after the time-jump, but before the major adventure (Hogwarts/Robin's undercover mission) begins. For Harry, this is Chapters 2-5: the zoo trip with the vanishing glass, the letters from no one, the Dursley's flight to the Hut-on-the Rock, Hagrid's rescue of Harry on his 11th birthday and the subsequent trip to Diagon Alley to prepare him for Hogwarts. For Strike and Robin, this is Chapters 1-11: beginning with Strike's hiring of Barclay and going through Billy's arrival at the office, Robin's ending of her therapy and move to the new house, Strike's visit to the CORE meeting, Robin's housewarming party, Robin's return to the office and the unexpected calls from Billy and Chiswell, Strike's lunch with Chiswell in Pratt's, followed by his meeting with Robin, overnight with Lorelei and his delivery of listening devices to Chiswell's London House.
One notable similarity between those two sections are that, while both begin the story proper after a time jump, both also include flashbacks to tell us about important details that happened in the interim. We learn that Harry has grown up abused and neglected in the Dursley home, forced to sleep in a cupboard while Dudley is indulged, that he knows little to nothing about his parents, that he is regularly babysat by the mad cat lady, Mrs. Figg, and that strange things that enrage the Dursleys have been known to happen when he is upset or frightened.
There is even more backstory filled in for Strike and Robin. For Strike, we learn that his success in the Shacklewell Ripper case has led to a year of lucrative detective work, allowing him to pay off his debts, buy a car and hire subcontractors, only one of whom, Andy Hutchins, has proved competent enough to stay on full-time. We also learn that distance has developed between him and Robin and that, disappointed that Robin had gone on the honeymoon and stayed married to the Flobberworm, Strike had first had a one-night stand with Coco, then started a relationship with Coco's friend Lorelei, which has now lasted 10 months.
For Robin, we learn about the post-wedding knock-down drag-out between the Ellacott and the Cunliffe families, the not-honeymoon trip to the Maldives, Robin's accidental call to Coco, and that she planned to leave the marriage before Matthew's illness but subsequently chose to stay. We also learn that, post-wedding, Robin has entered therapy for panic attacks, and that, after failing to find a satisfactory flat to buy, she and Matthew have rented a handsome ship's captain's house, for which she has just taken a week off to move.
Looking at both book segments side-by-side, a few common elements emerge:
Disrupted celebrations: Robin is supposed to be celebrating her wedding; Dudley is supposed to be celebrating his birthday at the zoo. There is a sense of things looking picture-perfect on the surface (the wedding couple and venue are beautiful; Harry gets an ice lolly and leftover knickerbocker glory out of the deal) but, because of one individual's bad behavior (the over-controlling and unsupportive Matthew deleting Strike's apology message; the bully Dudley knocking Harry down in the Reptile House) things erupt in chaos and conflict. In both cases, a seemingly innocent comment ("I left a message 2-3 days ago" "Harry was talking to the snake, weren't you?") triggers the blow-up that results in downfall for the protagonist (Robin throwing up in bathroom; Harry locked in cupboard).
An owl's arrival: Hagrid buys Hedwig for Harry as a birthday present; Hedwig becomes a useful and helpful friend who supports Harry by carrying messages and just being there when he needs someone, especially during his summer exiles with the Dursleys. When we first meet Sam Barclay, he is described as "having the beaky look of an affable owl;" he is also prematurely grey, matching Hedwig's snowy feathers. Sam Barclay is arguably the best subcontractor the team has and is particularly supportive of Robin in the office; he is the one that tells Strike when Morris is disrespecting her and tells off Kim when she is belittling Robin's training and experience. Hagrid describes owls as "dead useful" for carrying the post. I hope Barclay's usefulness to the team so far does not bode ill for him in Book 10.
Unflattering grey clothes: Robin has bought a new grey dress for the housewarming party, but she really doesn't want to wear it, thinking it would make her look pale, especially when she has the much more flattering Green Dress as an alternative. But, when Matthew says he prefers the grey* ("I like you pale"), she regretfully agrees, though she unfavorably compares herself to the bright colors worn by Vanessa and Lorelei throughout the party. Aunt Petunia tries to create a school uniform for Harry by dyeing Dudley's old clothes grey, insisting it would "look just like everyone else's." Harry dreads wearing the clothes, fearing they would look like old elephant skin, and, thankfully, with his escape to Hogwarts, he never has to. But, in both books, someone tries to force grey clothing onto our hero in a deliberate attempt to make them look less attractive and reduce their self-esteem.
Entering the magical shopping district: Ever since my first look at CC through the Parallel Series lens, I have argued that the world of the ultra-rich and privileged (e.g. where Charlotte and Rokeby dwell) is the Strike equivalent to the magical world of Harry Potter, existing alongside the mundane Muggle world of ordinary people but inaccessible and unfamiliar to most of them. By rights, as Rokeby's son, Strike should have been born and raised in this world, but was cut off from it at an early age. Harry gets his first real look into the secret magical world when Hagrid takes him to Diagon Alley; he is, of course, amazed and eager to drink it all in. Though Strike is not as enthralled with the hidden world as Harry, he has a similar experience walking through the very affluent West End neighborhoods to the exclusive Pratt's club to meet Chiswell. He enters a part of London that he seldom visits, and there are lots of old and expensive shops along the street displaying luxuries he neither can nor wants to buy. The district is described in rich detail; moreover, the specific items and places mentioned correspond fairly specifically to what Harry encounters at Diagon:
- "Cool, upright arches of the Ritz" = the magical archway that leads into Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron
- "Gold-wrapped chocolate medals" = the gold in Harry's Gringott's vault
- "Gentlemen's outfitters" and "Union Jack robes" = Madame Malkin's, where Harry is outfitted for Hogwarts
- "Centuries-old wine dealers" = Apothecary for potions ingredients
- "Long-established gun shops" = Ollivander's, established in 382 BC--- guns are, after all "a kind of metal wand Muggles use to kill each other"
- "Antique sporting posters" = Quidditch supplies
Pratt's itself is "the very antithesis of smart restaurants" with its basement setting, dark wood, threadbare carpet and an antique iron stove, and therefore gives off a Leaky Cauldron vibe of "cozy informality" despite its exclusiveness. Strike is amused by the betting ledger, which includes a 1970's wager of a lobster dinner "the size of a man's erect cock" on Margaret Thatcher's political victory. This bit of world-building reminded me of the witch fretting over dragon liver prices in Diagon Alley, because it gives such a clear picture of what the inhabitants of this strange, hidden world concern themselves with.
Stressed-out men marked for death: Harry meets Quirrell in the Leaky Cauldron and much is made of how nervous and frightened he looks. Strike meets Chiswell at Pratt's and immediately concludes from his appearance that he is a "man under intense strain." Of course, both Quirrell and Chiswell will be dead before book's end, so I guess their anxiety was well-founded.
White-blond hair = the enemy: Harry meets a "pale blond boy" (Draco Malfoy, as we will eventually learn) in Madame Malkin's and takes an instant dislike to him. It is apparent from the conversation that Draco is self-centered, snobbish and materialistic. Chronically jealous of Harry's fame, will eventually become Harry's major rival at Hogwarts and will actively try to get Harry expelled. Sarah Shadlock, with her white-blonde hair, has been seen three times so far, at the wedding, the house-warming and at the Red Lion (good Gryffindor name!) pub where Robin and Strike meet, post-Pratt's. Sarah is easily as materialistic and snobbish as Draco, and Robin considers her as money-obsessed as Matthew, as she brags about her job dealing million-dollar paintings at Christie's. She considers herself too good to attend a Olympic ping-pong match. And, of course, she is jealous of Robin's marriage to the Flobberworm and is no doubt, even in this early stage of the book, plotting to steal Matthew from her. Remember Tom Turvey's comment at the housewarming that Robin needs to pay more attention at home.
During the Three Broomsticks podcast, Irvin made a good case for the Philosopher's Stone being the counterpart to Lula's will in
CC, so I naturally went searching for a counterpart in
LW. So far, I haven't found an object that fits. But, both
PS and
LW seem to have two mysteries/storylines that eventually converge into one, and both are hinted at in the early chapters. In
PS, we have 1) the story of Hagrid hatching the dragon in his hut and the trio's efforts to hide the dragon and get him shipped off to Romania and 2) the mystery of what Fluffy is guarding and the eventual efforts of the Trio to protect the Philosopher's Stone from theft. The two converge when Harry realizes that the stranger who provided the dragon egg was the one who got the information on how to get past Fluffy from Hagrid.
In
LW, we have 1) the mystery of the child Billy thinks he saw strangled and 2) the mystery of who murdered Jasper Chiswell; I'm dismissing the detective's original mission of digging up dirt on Jimmy and Winn, since that job was rendered moot by Chiswell's death. In the end, the most important hidden thing that Strike and Robin uncover is not an object but the collection of Chiswell family secrets: everything from Raff and Kinvara's affair to the gallows-selling operation to the reason for Winn's animosity towards Chiswell: the horrid son Freddie had sexually assaulted and humiliated Rhiannon Winn, leading to her suicide a short time later.
Freddie Chiswell is the connection between the two, given that he both throttled Raff in the eye of the White Horse and shot and buried Spotty the pony in the dell, leading young Billy to believe he had seen a murder.
As is typical of mystery stories, all of these elements are hinted at in these opening chapters. Hagrid tells Harry he's always wanted a dragon on the way to Diagon Alley, and picks up the Philosopher's Stone from Vault 713, while telling Harry that Gringott's is the safest place to hide anything, except, perhaps, Hogwarts. Billy's story is told first in chapter 2 of LW. And, Chiswell, having earlier assured Strike that Winn's grudge against him was completely irrelevant to the matter at hand, leaves Pratt's to go visit Raff at Drummond's gallery, where he will catch Raff in the bathroom and discover the Lachesis tablet clue; this incident will lead directly to Chiswell's murder.
I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised to find as many PS-LW connections as I did in this early section. I don't necessarily expect this trend to continue as we move out of "scene setting" and into more the actual story, but I am excited by what I've seen so far.
Lethal White divides nicely into two parts (even though no Part 1 is labeled) with Part One ending with the discovery of Chiswell's body and Part Two the shift of the storyline to the mystery of his death. I am trying to decide where a similar breaking point is in Philosopher's Stone, and I have tentatively decided on the Halloween chapter where Hermione joins the Trio. We'll see how that works in the next section.
*Notice that this grey dress never reappears: the dresses we hear about when Robin wants to look good are in colors of green, blue and pink.
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