The Thriving Third - deus ex machina

Got a bit delayed this week! I had to spur my mind off a myriad of activities and thoughts to concentrate and come up with this one. Marshalling my views and research on a plethora of scenarios of this commonly used term, ‘deus ex machina’, occupied a considerable part of planning. I’d be quite intrepid to take up Harry Potter canon to explain this as it has been sliced and diced since its inception by millions of fans, and now with the inexorable spread of internet a multitude of views are reaching people at an unprecedented rate leaving little room for further analysis. Throughout the canon, the highly capable author has employed seemingly deus ex machina to save the day, only to explain their significance deftly down the line that they were indeed up her sleeves and weren’t quite really a deus-ex-machina.

With a panoply of snippets of the movies and their analysis doing the rounds, it’s almost impossible to avoid a ‘spoiler alert’. But if you haven't noticed yet, you’ll realize when you read that the first few chapters of the first volume sculpt Snape as an atrocious professor who has set his heart upon humiliating Harry. However, Rowling leaves a subtle hint as early as by the end of the first week of the eponymous character’s stay at Hogwarts. ‘The Potions Master’ chapter ends with: ‘And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn’t want to tell Harry?’

Of course, they all did, didn’t they? But Rowling reveals it only near the end of the last volume, in 'The Prince's Tale', where she ties up plenty of loose ends leaving hardly any room for ‘deus-ex-machina’ – Snape protecting Harry since The Philosopher’s Stone, Snape protecting the Hogwarts students from the Carrows, Snape informing the Order about Harry’s misconception of Padfoot’s capture by Voldemort, the magical appearance of a doe-Patronus leading Harry to the sword of Gryffindor, and Ron to his estranged chum Harry, and the explanation of the iconic pleading: ‘Severus … please …’

I digress here, but I must mention how overwhelming that "planned" supplication was! I always feel grieved no matter how many times I see, read or hear this! How I hoped beyond hopes that all the wizards, pointing their wands towards heaven, Ron with a modicum of hesitation, would overcome the irrevocable power of Avada Kedavra, thereby resuscitating the wizened wizard Dumbledore! He was moribund and senile since the time he touched the cursed ring, which was a Horcrux as well as one of the Deathly Hallows, and was debilitated from his venture to the cave of dark magic where he had conjured up a conflagration with the last ounce of his power in an endeavour to ward off the Inferus and escape to a safe haven at Hogsmead. In spite of that, I desperately wanted him to survive his fall over the 'crenellated ramparts' when I first watched the scene in the movie, pinned between exasperation and hope.

Back to our word: there are so many others strewn all through the volumes. It occurred to Hermione suddenly ‘Devil’s Snare is deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun’ – a deus-ex-machina that features in the movie only. In the book, however, the golden trio’s joint effort paved their way through the second phase of protection to the magically protected Philosopher’s Stone! Hermione recollected the trap was Devil’s Snare that liked dark and damp places, Harry suggested lighting a fire, and when Hermione was st loss thinking there were no kindles around, Ron’s yell ‘ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT’ jolted her back to the act of conjuring up bluebell flames that eventually got the boys unentangled. Thanks to Hermione's knowledge, Harry’s keeping nerves, and Ron’s rejoinder - it didn’t look like deus-ex-machina at all.

The great escape from Gringotts after retrieving the Hufflepuff Cup Horcrux, uses the incarcerated dragon which I would have thought of as deus-ex-machina had Rowling not mentioned “ ‘They say there’s dragons guardin’ the high-security vaults.’ ” as early as during Harry’s first exciting venture to Diagon Alley with Hagrid that also offered us the first glimpse of the magical world: from Eyelops Owl Emporium to Ollivanders, including the entrails of Gringotts. I mention it here as I must admit I was a bit upset to find Hermione suggesting the dragon as a means of escape in the movie as opposed to Harry in the book! I appreciate the way the movies engrossed us in the dragon’s and trio’s efforts to break through the penitentiary.

Then there was the pivotal moment where Harry was ostensibly resurrected to win the Battle of Hogwarts. Had Dumbledore come up with his extraordinary explanation only at the end of the seventh volume “‘He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily’s protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!’”, readers wouldn’t have lapped it up as easily as they could with a mere mention of “For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes.”  several volumes earlier in The Goblet of Fire. Rowling wisely and delicately placed such cue that heavily hints at the unfolding of Harry’s restoration to life as a planned part of the novel and no deus-ex-machina.

Of course, I’ve to jog my memory to find the explanation behind Dumbledore’s unanticipated appearance at Ministry of Magic to accost Voldemort in The Order of the Phoenix. Even if there’s none, I’d still be hesitant to assume it as deus-ex-machina considering Dumbledore’s immense intellect and ability to stay on top of everything!

A personal touch – years back while designing a school with hexagons, I couldn’t link them up to form a closed loop. I gave up and slept. The solution apparently surfaced in my dream. I woke up the next morning, as if in a reverie, and completed the design with one lucid attempt. Strange it may sound, it was the deus-ex-machina that rescued me from a humiliating consequence!

I had plans to discuss a few more words, but now that I’ve already flouted my own rules of a concise post, I’ll conclude this post here and be back soon with the rest. I’d be happy to know of any deus-ex-machina that you’ve come across while reading a novel or facing a challenge in your practical life.