Sirius' Mirror
helenhorsley at hotmail.com
helenhorsley at hotmail.com
Wed Dec 17 13:37:30 UTC 2003
No: HPFGUIDX 87256
cubs9911 wrote:
> I was wondering today what the purpose
> will be of the mirror that Sirius gave to Harry.
> I wonder if anyone thinks that Harry will need
> this sometime in the future. He never got a
> chance to use it and I dont think that JKR would
> put it there for no other reason than for Harry to
> regret never using it. Any ideas.
Now dorapye:
I assumed the mirror was actually just a plot device, to present
an 'if only...' to the reader. *If only* Harry had opened the
present earlier, had used it to contact Sirius after the vision of
LV torturing him in the DoM...then he would have been able to see
Sirius was at home, perfectly safe, tending the injured Buckbeak; he
would have evaded the treacherous Kreacher, not have had to use
Umbridge's fireplace, not have been caught by the evil old hag, not
have nearly killed his best friends in his mercy mission to rescue
his godfather and not have lost Sirius for good...if only he had not
forgotten Sirius's present, it all might have been avoided and
Sirius might still be alive...
It could be true, as Carol states, that the mirror has the effect of
proving to Harry (and/or to the reader) that Sirius is really dead,
but does it do this?
OotP p756 (UK edition):
"He wiped the mirror clear again and said, so that every syllable
rang clearly through the room;
'Sirius Black!'
Nothing happened. The frustrated face looking back out of the mirror
was still, definitely his own...
Sirius didn't have his mirror on him when he went through the
archway, said a small voice in Harry's head. *That's* why it's not
working...."
Does Harry accept that Sirius is dead, but not understand the nature
of 'wizard' death, imagining the mirror will let him talk to his
godfather 'beyond the veil'. He certainly doesn't seem to gain any
further confirmation of Sirius's death from the mirror,
rationalising that it doesn't work, not because Sirius is dead, but
because Sirius did not have his mirror on him when he fell through
the archway. And if Sirius did have his mirror on him when he died,
would Harry have been able to see him in the mirror? I guess we
shall never know....
As to whether the mirrors could be used in future books, well they
could certainly be useful...I am sure Harry would eventually want to
put Sirius's last gift to some good use. I expect they may come
into the next books, but as I said at the beginning of my post, I
believe their function in OotP was to reinforce the tragedy of
Sirius's death with an 'if only..' (and exacerbate Harry's grief and
guilt, poor lad!)
dorapye
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