Alas, I didn’t start keeping notes till Book 3, so I might have to re-read AGAIN.
Anyway, Rowling plots really well. It’s impressive. She sets up the character journey and all sorts of motifs in the opening of Book 1, and develops them over the next seven books. I’ll just note when I see something interesting that could teach us poorer writers something. :)
One thing to understand is that Rowling was consciously writing for children, and so her plotting is more DIRECTIVE than most. She’s actually teaching children how to read stories— what to watch out for, what to notice, what to anticipate, what to dread….
This is good for us. She’s not subtle in her plotting (though her prose style is more subtle, and her themes are quite deep). That means we can see as we read what she’s doing to set up events and developments and emotions that will come later.
For example, the moniker “The Boy Who Lived” sets up the oppositional aspect, that in every book, Harry faces death. (He does, of course, live, but it’s always a chance-run thing.) Opposition and juxtaposition are wonderful ways to underscore and emphasize deeper ideas— because they allow more complicated and nuanced themes.
So watch for interesting pairings— both “twins” and “opposites”— throughout the story. I noticed, for example, that Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom are twinned in the story. They meet first year/first day on the Hogwarts Express, and as awkward and naive as Harry—well, even more awkward than Harry. He becomes an “adjunct” to Harry— a roommate, a friend but not a best friend, the clumsy forgetful boy who needs to be protected— that is, the unHarry.
More coming!