Harry and the Phoenix

[Richelle Votaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 43471

Okay, a while back a discussion of Harry's emotions brought up tears, which brought up the healing power of the Phoenix tears, which brought up the beliefs that Fawkes probably belonged to Godric Gryffindor.  Which brought up a possible parallel between Harry and the Phoenix.  And also brought up a discussion of bloodlines versus decisions.  I shall now attempt to tie all of these together in some sort of orderly fashion. Wish me luck. :)

First, we know Salazar Slytherin was a bit fond of snakes, sans the Chamber of Secrets and Slytherin emblem.  Second, we have adequate evidence that points out that Fawkes may have belonged to Godric Gryffindor.  One thing being the fact that he doesn't die, he just keeps rising from his ashes as a chick all over again.  Now, FB&WTFT mentions that the Phoenix is found in Egypt, India and China.  Quite a far piece from England.  Anyway, I'm assuming phoenixes aren't too common around those parts.  Now, Fawkes would probably have been handed down through the generations of descendents of Godric Gryffindor.  Which could mean that Dumbledore is a descendent of Gryffindor.  Which leads to the bloodlines versus decisions discussion.

Now, theoretically, suppose Godric Gryffindor (approximately 1,000 years ago, right?) had two children.  Child A and child B.  A and B both marry, have children, etc.  Their children have children.  And so on, over a thousand years.  Quite possibly both descendents of children A and B could be heirs of Gryffindor and scarcely be related at all.  Now, suppose that Dumbledore is a descendent of child A.  Suppose Harry is a descendent of child B.  They are both then descended from Godric Gryffindor.  As would many others be.  But what makes one person THE Heir of Gryffindor?  Blood?  Or choices?  By blood, many, many witches or wizards could be heirs of Gryffindor, after a thousand years.  (Unless, of course, Godric Gryffindor had only one child and each child after that had only one child, which is doubtful after a thousand years).  Now, here is where I think the choices one makes comes into play.  Rather than their being only one heir, after a thousand years, I believe the Heir is chosen.  They must have the bloodline of Godric Gryffindor, but also make the right choices in life.  Harry, for example, started making choices as soon as he got on the train at King's Cross.  One example being "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."   Another, Harry's desperate plea with the sorting hat "Not Slytherin."  So that's where I think the separation occurs.  The choices one makes in life thus determines whether the *descendent* of Godric Gryffindor will be chosen as the *heir* of Godric Gryffindor.  I think (I know, not many agree here) that Dumbledore is the heir of Gryffindor and when he is gone, Harry will be "the chosen one."  I think Fawkes is the symbolism for who is chosen.  Right now, he is with Dumbledore.  However, he's quite friendly with Harry.  Sitting on his knee and all that.  Healing him, singing, etc.  Now, I admit in the chamber of secrets if Fawkes *hadn't* healed Harry he'd be dead, but in Dumbledore's office in GoF it wasn't totally necessary.  Fawkes was being nice, he likes Harry.

Now, this brings up the shared characteristics of the heirs of Slytherin/Gryffindor with the "pets."  Not sure if that's the right word to use here, but anyway, Slytherin has the snake.  Tom Riddle was a parseltounge.  Talks to snakes.  Harry has that too, believed to be from the bouncing AK of Voldemort.  So, what about the phoenix?  What qualities do the heirs of Gryffindor have?

There are a few possibilities here:

1) Some sort of magic in the eyes.  This comes from the healing powers of the Phoenix's tears, though I don't think Harry's tears will heal anyone.  Except maybe his own emotional shakiness perhaps.  Anyway, tears do come *from* the eyes, though, thus it could be symbolic.  (Green eyes, etc.)

2) Got this from something in Smellee17's post:

> Thinking about his desire for immortality, I thought about the 
> title  of the fifth book. Phoenixes don't die, or at least they 
> rise  from  their ashes. What if the Order of the Phoenix is a group 
> or association, kind of like the Death Eaters, who are dedicated to 
> gaining phoenix-like powers.

So, what if this is a quality given to the heirs of Gryffindor?  But suppose only THE heir of Gryffindor could possess it. Thus, only one at a time.  Thus, one has to give up their reign, so to speak, to pass it on to another.  Hmm.

Now, this has gone on much longer than I anticipated, I get a bit longwinded when I get started.  However, if you have reached the end of this, congratulations.  Now, do you have any idea what I just said and what it all means? :)

Richelle

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Richelle R. Votaw
1st grade teacher
Kentwood Elementary
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