TBAY: Thestral and Dark Magic

[abigailnus]

No: HPFGUIDX 78504

Abigail takes a deep breath and tries to hold back her tears.  
"My dress!  My beautiful new dress!  First dog hair and now 
Butterbeer!"  She dabs at the stains ineffectually.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, it seems that I've just sat 
in some pizza."  Terry offers.

"We were going to eat that pizza."  Marina points out coldly.

"I guess you'll just have to go shopping,"  Terry says 
sympathetically to Abigail.  "Is there a mall around here?"

"A mall?"  Abigail asks, shocked.  "A mall in Theory Bay?"  She 
considers the question.  "Is there?"  She asks Marina.

"No, but there are plenty of quaint, over-priced little shops."  
Marina answers.  Abigail grimaces.

"Look, both of you, I'm aware that you both think Sirius is still 
living beyond the veil."  She says, eager to get her mind off the 
disaster that is her dress.  "I probably should have mentioned 
that when I first came in.  I'm afraid, however, that canon is 
against you.  Let's assume that you're both right.  If you go 
through the veil unharmed, you will still be alive on the other 
side.  Do either of you believe that Dumbledore wouldn't know 
this?"

"Aren't you the person who's always arguing against 
Dumbledore's omniscience?"  Marina asks.

"Dumbledore seems to know quite a bit about the Department of 
Mysteries - how else would he know about the locked room that 
he so ineffectually describes to Harry?"  Abigail asks.  "And 
Dumbledore is the one who uses the Thestrals for long distance 
travel - Hagrid tells us so.  Let's suppose that it is possible to 
bring Sirius back from beyond the veil - wouldn't Dumbledore have 
done exactly that the minute Sirius went through?"

Marina and Terry are silent, but finally they nod half-heartedly.

"But he *doesn't*."  Abigail emphasizes her words by banging her 
hand on the table, which is a mistake because it becomes covered 
in pizza sauce.  She unconsciously wipes it on her dress, and then 
stares in horror at the new mess she's just created.  "In fact, 
everything Dumbledore says to Harry in his office, a scant hour, at 
most, after Sirius goes through, makes Sirius sound dead and out 
of reach.  For that matter, look at Lupin's reaction immediately 
after Sirius goes through - he clearly considers Sirius lost.  If you 
two truly believe that it is possible to still be alive once going 
through the veil, then you have to explain the horrified reactions 
of every single person who sees Sirius go through - they clearly 
believe him to be dead.  And if he's dead, then bringing him back 
is a dispute of the natural order of things, and would fall under the 
category of Dark Magic."

"OK, but what about my interview canon?"  Terry insists.  "JKR 
seems to employ the same kind of deviousness in her answers to 
reporters as she does when writing the books.  Look at Gilderoy 
Lockhart!  She might not have been referring to Sirius when she 
spoke about the death that made her cry."

Abigail frowns.  "Well, I can't find the exact interview, but if I 
remember it correctly JKR painted herself into a corner when she 
spoke about this death - she specifically said that it was coming 
in book 5 and that writing it had made her cry.  Also, if I 
remember the Albert Hall interview correctly, she pretty much 
said the OOP death was final."

Abigail looks down at the disaster that is her dress.  "You know, I 
might just go to the unveiling like this.  It is a *modern* art exhibit, 
after all."

Abigail