Finishing Voldemort

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 38119

Barb wrote:
>>>The sword was already used to 
vanquish a foe at the end of book two, so it is unlikely to be used 
for that purpose again. <<<

Ah, I see what you mean. IMO, the death of the Basilisk is a 
*false* climax. The real climax of book 2 is three pages later, 
when Harry destroys Riddle by means of *the diary* (emphasis 
JKR's). Harry uses the sword, it's true, but not very competently. It 
gets stuck in the basilisk's mouth (it takes a "huge tug" to get it 
out again), and so Harry rather stupidly hangs on and gets bitten 
for his trouble, thus setting the stage for the true climax and 
incidentally making sure the sword isn't used against Riddle this 
time.

This is an established pattern in fantasy. The  hero receives a 
special sword at the beginning of his adventures, but is not yet 
ready to use it, and is either prevented from doing so by his 
mentors (Aragorn), or attempts to use it with disastrous results ( 
King Arthur, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, Taran of Prydain, 
Harry Potter). The sword is then either destroyed and replaced, 
or else entrusted to a more suitable guardian and  returned to 
the hero only when he is fully mature. The symbolism is fairly 
obvious, and apt to resonate with a modern audience for whom 
the gap between the age of puberty and the age of responsible 
adulthood is even wider than it was when Mallory wrote.

 Since the sword of Gryffindor is safely put to rest in its glass 
case, not unlike Snow White, I think Harry will get it back, 
although perhaps it will be Ron that ends up using it, since 
wands don't seem to be his thing. 

Barb wrote further:
>>I doubt it will be a Muggle-style duel with swords. <<<

Swords aren't Muggle in the Potterverse. Gryffindor was a 
wizard...if swords aren't wizarding weapons, why did he have one 
at all?


>>For another, unless he DOES turn into a dragon or other beast 
(which is a bit too much like 
the Buffy graduation--wrong fandom!--and not very JKR) I can't 
see Harry killing anyone who's nominally human in such a grisly 
manner.  <<

Not being much of a Buffy fan,  I thought it was  like the end of 
Disney's Sleeping Beauty, or else Lewis's The Silver Chair. 
These kinds of endings do get re-used, don't they <g>. I like the 
idea of Voldemort becoming more human, though if he does 
become a Muggle as Piper (welcome!) suggested, then it would 
be kind of unchivalrous to use magic to do him in, wouldn't it?  
As for grisliness, didn't JKR warn us the books were going to get 
darker and the deaths worse, and that she wanted her readers 
to understand what death was like? I don't think the rest of 
Voldemort's victims are going to go as bloodlessly as Cedric did. 
I think if Voldemort comes to a gory end he will have had a 
chance to earn it.

Pippin