Death and Harry (WAS Re: Wands, Meanings and Where it All Could Lead...

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 35319

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "jklb66" <jklb66 at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "abigailnus" <abigailnus at y...> wrote:
> > > > Nicolas Flamel [snip] accepts his own death (unlike 
Voldemort).
> 
> >This allows Dumbledore to state, so early in the series and with 
> such importance, that "death is but 
> > the next great adventure."  Voldemort is evil not because he 
causes 
> >death but because he refuese to accept it - IN TRYING TO BECOME 
> >IMMORTAL, HE BECOMES INHUMAN.
> 
jklb66 says:
> 
> Very interesting ideas. It also scares me a bit.  Why?
> [ snip] Perhaps in 
> order to rid the world of LV once and for all, Harry will have to 
> willingly die too?  And out of the ashes this great pyric (sp.) 
> victory will be born a better and safer world for those Harry loves?

I've been assigning much better odds (note, this is not a prediction) 
than you on Harry's death for awhile, but the thoughts in this thread 
have advanced my thinking, which started long ago from this 
simplistic point: First, Harry has already lost his family.  We know 
his greatest desire (from the Mirror of Erised) is for his family, 
but nothing in life, or in Harry's final encounter with LV could 
achieve that desire.  Moreover, Harry is introverted, IMO, and relies 
on a very few close friends.  He already feels responsible for 
Cedric's death ("I told him to take the cup with me") and he hardly 
knew Cedric.  If one of the other members of the Trio were to die, or 
even if too many mentors were to die, Harry would find the loss very 
difficult to deal with, particularly if he felt responsible, and take 
this much harder than they would take Harry's death.  Besides, how 
would Harry deal with a post-LV world?  In spite of his desire to be 
a normal fun-loving teenager, Harry seems like a questor type who 
would find the mundane job world to dull, or too sad.  Ergo, Harry is 
more likely to die than his friends are.  In real life a person like 
Harry would likely be able to deal with this -- he has done an 
admirable job already -- and go on to live a long well-adjusted 
life.  But this is fiction, and therefore I consider seriously the 
Frodo Baggins model for Harry's fate, that the fulfillment of Harry's 
quest, the defeat of LV will, if not kill him outright, leave him too 
damaged for a normal life.  

But these new ideas got me thinking.  What is Harry doing with LV?  
His encounters with LV are not attempts to avenge his parents' deaths 
(look at the mercy he shows Pettigrew).   He has a broader goal -- 
someone who has done these deeds must not be allowed to rise again.  
If Harry were to defeat LV but die in the process, what purpose would 
this serve?  Certainly two of the themes in the books are personal 
choice and a willingness to sacrifice for what is right.  To put 
those themes in the context of the meaning-of-death theme, I would 
say that it is not death that is to be feared, but an empty life.  
Harry has chosen the course that is life-giving to all, even if it 
results in his death.  (LV's choice is, on the other hand, selfish in 
the extreme --  and indeed there's been some suggestion that he needs 
to feed on human flesh to survive.)  Since Harry has already made the 
difficult choices over and over, I don't believe his death would be 
necessary to make the point.  Moreover, the point has already been 
made by the example of his parents.  JKR has told us that in the 
Potterverse the happiest people do not become ghosts.  James and Lily 
are not ghosts even though they died young and tragically, because of 
what they chose to do with their lives.  Harry's death would 
reinforce the point, but it would not be necessary; the key point is 
his willingness to die for what is right.

Debbie, who finds Harry's position as Seeker on the Quidditch team 
perfect metaphor for his battle against LV. It's a team sport, but 
Harry's job is to be a solitary questor, working alone in search of 
the Snitch (or facing LV alone), whose capture should assure victory 
for his team.  He is part of the team, yet he is very much apart from 
them.