Harry the martyr/Harry the killer

[Kimberly]

No: HPFGUIDX 14024

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:

> 
> Really interesting question, Kimberly!  
> 
> I also get a little queasy at the thought of Harry killing 
> Voldemort--but I'm also intrigued at the possibility of seeing 
Harry 
> deal with being a killer.  I think his refusal to kill Pettigrew 
(and 
> Sirius, for that matter) shows that he wouldn't kill anyone except 
> with extreme reluctance and if given no alternative that he could 
see. 
>  He would suffer a lot if he killed even Voldemort, I think, and in 
my 
> perverse way, I'd like to see that suffering.
> 
> I get queasy in a different way at the thought of JKR killing 
> Voldemort in a way that releases everyone from guilt.  

<snip>

> All of which is to say that if it is unpleasant to think of 
Voldemort 
> getting his just desserts, which I think it is, then I want JKR to 
> make us deal with it, and not sugar-coat it by having him die in 
some 
> more palatable way.  I would be disappointed by a scenario in which 
> he's standing on the Astronomy tower when it crumbles to dust from 
> his own curses, carrying his screaming form with it, yada yada-- a 
way 
> to give us all the thrill of seeing him die without anyone we care 
> about having to soil his/her hands.  To me this poses real moral 
> implications for the readership: as if we really have executed 
someone 
> without acknowledging the weight of that responsibility.
> 

Drat Amy!

What are you thinking, being so sensible?  No fair!

Of course, you're right.  I suppose I wouldn't want to see a scenario 
where Voldemort inadvertently splats himself - saving the day and 
releasing everyone from responsibility, or has an emotional 
breakthrough and forms a wizard chapter of Evil Overlords Anonymous, 
complete with amends letters to nearly every family in England.

I guess part of my problem is my own inner conflict with the idea of 
capital punishment, which, in the case of your average heinous 
murderer who might somehow be redeemable, sort of removes any 
possibility for repentance/redemption.  I am not a vocal opponent of 
capital punishment, as I admittedly don't fully grasp all of the 
issues involved, but I find the idea terribly upsetting, from a lot 
of angles, as even with someone like Voldemort, I don't want to be 
responsible for deciding if that person's life still has value - if 
they are redeemable or not.

Then, when you take that a step further, and instead of capital 
punishment, the responsiblity for which at least can be passed off on 
the governmental body in charge, you have an individual...
I have to admit, in all honesty, that given the choice, I'd far 
rather die to protect others than kill to do so, and I have serious 
doubts as to whether, if the situation ever presented itself, I'd be 
capable of killing even someone like Voldemort.  

So, all that said, when I think of Harry, who is still a child, and 
has already been subjected to entirely too much, who lives daily with 
the fact that his mother would be alive if she hadn't chosen to die 
in order to protect him, who has seen Cedric die too, simply for 
standing too close to him...  I just imagine that he must already 
feel like he's responsible for a few deaths.  For him to have to 
*choose* to kill someone, even the one who really *is* responsible 
for all those deaths... it's just too much to ask of one kid.

I just keep coming back to the following:

-Harry saved Peter, saying he doesn't reckon his father would want 
Remus and Sirius to become killers because of the little rat.

-Sirius (maybe?) and Dumbledore indicated that it was wrong for the 
MoM to allow the auror's to use the unforgiveable curses on dark 
wizards, and that evil for the greater good is still evil (or at 
least that's my interpretation).

In light of the above, I'm hoping that there's some secret option D, 
where nobody has to kill him, and they can somehow squibify him or 
something, so that he is no longer a threat.  

kimberly 
who just caught herself praying for the mental/emotional health of 
fictional characters, and who therefore she probably be praying for 
her own.