DoM: Are We Missing Something?

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by Nemorosa Knopp

JK Rowling has told us that we are getting too clever for her own good. The truth is that we are finally catching up with her clues, hints, and red herrings. We are starting to understand her writing style, and this is resulting in us analyzing every aspect of the HP books, from arithmancy to bacon. In many cases we are definitely overanalyzing, such as in the Mark Evans incident. Yet there is one thing I don’’t think anyone has written anything about: The Department of Mysteries.

I know that I would not be the first to speculate on what is behind the locked door (love, the power of suicide, wisdom, whatever you can think of). Based on personal views on the matter, people have written several scenarios where your power of choice saves the day. This is where I think we are going off the tracks. The thing is, I don’’t think that exactly what is going to happen at the climax in Book 7 is predictable. I think, however, that based on JKR’s hints we can get a basic idea on things like ships, themes, and so fourth.

Back to the DoM. There are so many things in there to distract our attention such as Sirius dying, the battle against the DEs, and Harry’s guilt for leading his friends into a trap. Have you ever counted the rooms we know of in there? Probably not. I have, and there are seven (OK, you might count and find six, but you are not counting the first one, the circular one with all the doors). Those seven are as follows:

  1. Round room with lots of doors which tend to switch places (entrance)
  2. Room with aquariums full of greenish liquid and brains (intelligence)
  3. Amphitheater with black veil (death)
  4. Locked door (mystic power)
  5. Shining room with clocks (time)
  6. Big room with shelves and class orbs (prophesies)
  7. Room with floating planets (the universe)

My theory is that these seven rooms have some kind of connection with the seven HP books. All of the books so far (save SS/PS. I’’ll explain later) have some kind of mystery involved which is represented in these seven rooms. It’s just to rearrange them.

SS/PS: This is the entrance. Harry gets to know the wizarding community. As much as this is an excellent book, it’s really just the opening chapters to the series as a whole. There are a lot of introductions to characters who later become important.

CoS: Perhaps it’’s a stretch, but I believe this is the intelligence-book. I think it without doubt is the book where the brains are most needed (and unfortunately missing, since Hermione gets petrified.). Harry and co. have to find out who the heir of Slytherin is and what is “hiding within the chamber”.

PoA: This one is pretty obvious. The mystery has to be time, considering the time-turners major part at the climax of the book

GoF: Firstly I thought that the mystery of death belonged in OotP, but the first important death really is in GoF, so this is where I’’ll put it. It is after Cedric Diggory’’s death that Harry can see thestrals.

OotP: Prophesies is the important mystery in OotP. The lost prophesy and the entire room full of them in the DoM probably qualifies. Even though prophesies officially are introduced in PoA, this is where they really get important.

HBP: I am placing the universe here simply because this is the only place left. Hopefully I will have better arguments on July the 17th.

Book 7: The mysterious power belongs here because, building on what we have learnt so far, the mystic power is the source of vanquishing Voldemort, and you can’’t vanquish Him in HBP. In that case, what’’s the point of the last book?

So, that’’s my theory.…

I admit that the “seven rooms, seven books” argument is a bit thin, but everything fits in at least 5/7 of the books, so don’’t be surprised if astronomy or something like it will be a heavy theme in the HBP.