Happiness/Future Divination Classes

[blpurdom at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 26542

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote: > 
> I don't know what I meant by asking whether RL is happy, because I 
> don't know what JKR meant by saying that the happiest people do not 
> become ghosts.  It's instructive to remember that (IIRC) she said 
> it in the context of being asked whether James and Lily became 
> ghosts.  She said they didn't--and I think it's true that just 
> because your adult years are dominated by a reign of terror, you're 
> murdered before your 23rd birthday, and you die believing your 
> entire family will be destroyed, that doesn't mean you'd describe 
> yourself as an unhappy person.  I'm being quite serious.  Clearly 
> JKR does not mean to say that whether one becomes a ghost depends 
> upon one's state of mind at the moment of one's death, else James 
> and Lily would surely be ghosts.
 
Lily and James would be able to have a peaceful hereafter, IMO, 
because they knew that at the end of their lives they had done 
everything in their power to protect their son.  If one believes that 
they also "saw" somehow what happened when Voldemort tried to kill 
Harry, that, if anything, would be likely to increase whatever 
general contentment their spirits might have and speed them on their 
way with the knowledge that Harry was all right and that their 
sacrifice (specifically Lily's) was for the greater good, as 
Voldemort was rendered powerless.

On a slightly related note, one wonders whether JKR will persist in 
having Harry and Ron study Divination.  If they do continue with 
Trelawney, perhaps she will try having them do seances.  One imagines 
Harry would be very anxious to communicate with his parents...or 
would he?  Any thoughts?

--Barb