[HPforGrownups] Pity for characters
Laura Huntley
huntleyl at mssm.org
Mon Feb 25 04:15:09 UTC 2002
No: HPFGUIDX 35701
Meep! It is I, one of the hoards of newbies, back from the Vacation-That-Wasn't. How long does it take to be non-newbie in this place anyway?? A year?? Two?? I've never been part of a big online group that I wasn't a co-founder - or a least an early member - of...it makes me all...antsy *twitches shoulders*. Let me prostrate myself before you O' Ye Olde Members, I am not worthy.
Heh ^_^ I had 738 messages when I got back...*shrieks and rips out clumps of hair* Anyway, you guys have had some really interesting conversations while I was gone...and umm...I wanted to say...stuff...most of it is incredibly late...but..but..well, nevermind.
First off, I would like announce my hearty support of those who feel that Frank Bryce definitely got the shortest end of the stick. That poor, poor man. Whenever I reread GoF I start to cringe when I know his death is coming up. Aiyee, he's such a nice old man. And when his shadow-self came out of Voldie's wand, he was so..cool. All like "Huh, I guess he was a wizard after all." IMHO, Frank is another character with Edge (Erm, in a totally un-sexual kind of way.) At the beginning of GoF, he was fully prepared to take on two unknown murderer/spies (to the best of his knowledge)..with what? His cane? God, I love that old man. When I'm old, I want to be old like that.
However, the personality of his shadow-self and the shadow-selves of Cedric and Co. kind of got me thinking. Don't the shadow-selves seem a little too..well, sentient, to be merely representations of spells the wand has cast? It makes me wonder if the Avada Kedavra curse actually does more than just kill you. Perhaps it steals vital parts of the victim's being? Parts say, like the soul? Or not, because canon states that people can survive without their souls. However, maybe it sort of...absorbs a person's *being*. In a sense, maybe it sucks not only their life/magic/soul essence out, but, in effect, transfers that essence/power to the wand/wizard. I'm sure this theory has been discussed before, but well..it's new to me. ^_~ Anyway, a list of reasons why this theory would fit into the plot or answer some questions canon has yet to address...
1) Perhaps this is why the Avada Kedavra curse is Unforgivable. We know that there are other ways to kill using magic. (I.e. Peter's blow-up-the-street-specialty-of-the-house.) Yet these ways are not Unforgivable. Maybe Avada Kedavra steals a person's essence as well as killing them, robbing them of existence even in the afterlife. Also, it makes those who use it more powerful, giving it a triple-whammy against it. It kills, it steals the victims' sacred soul/spirit/whatever, and (as a special extra bonus) it makes the murderer more powerful. Why *not* make it Unforgivable? GOOD wizards obviously do not *do* these things. ^_^
2) This theory would give dark wizards an incentive to use Avada Kedavra as opposed to otherwise better alternatives. Why not just use the curse Peter did to blow up the street (or a less damaging alternative, there are lots of ways to kill people, trust me)? It kills more people with (I assume) less power. More bang for the buck, as my father used to say. UNLESS there are hidden benefits to using AK that canon has not yet enlightened us to.
3) This may be why Harry seems to "absorbed" parts of Voldie as a result of the failed AK (parseltounge, etc. Dumbledore said something to this effect in CoS). If the AK *backfired* totally, Harry would have ended up getting V's essence instead of the other way around. Of course, V certainly did retain part of his personality after the failed curse. Perhaps his experimental immortality spells had the effect of changing parts of his essence into a form AK couldn't steal? I know this all sounds pretty convoluted, but it makes sense in my head, I swear. ^_~
*sigh* there was more I wanted to talk about, but I forgot it. :(
laura (Suddenly realizes that the word for "to throw oneself upon the ground in deference and humility" is strangely close to the name of an internal male sex gland. Makes mental note not to mix the two up while attempting intelligent conversation.)
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