TBAY: OOP: Too much butterbeer--Terry gets the D!Ts (long)

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 66599

Marina staggered out of the Royal George, clutching a half-empty 
bottle of firewhiskey by the neck, and staggered across the debris-
strewn pier toward the waterline.  She had spent the night drinking 
herself into a stupor at Sirius' wake.  George had been tolerant at 
first, but when Marina climbed onto the bar and attempted to 
actually *sing* her latest filk, he unceremoniously kicked her out.  
Now she waded into the waves, kicking waterlogged thongs and shards 
of PINE out of her way, determined to reach the deck of U.S.S. SAD 
DENIAL or drown trying.

Fortunately, she only got in waist-deep before Dobby showed up in a
small rowboat to conduct her to her destination.  The ever-helpful 
house elf helped Marina clamber onto the deck, supplied her with a 
large, fluffy towel, and led her into the lounge.  By then, Marina 
was beginning to feel almost sober, but that feeling fled as she 
ducked through the low door into the lounge and found herself 
staring at *two* Terrys.

"Whoa!"  Marina blinked, looked down at the bottle in her hand, and
quickly handed it over to Dobby.  "I've *got* to lay off this stuff.
It's making me see double."

One Terry, looking rather the worse for wear, was curled up on the
cough, clutching an adorable black teddy bear to her chest.  The 
other was looming over her in a rather belligerent manner.  Her 
attention seemed to be divided between her bear-hugging twin and the 
portrait of Phineas on the wall.

"Where do you think she's going with the thestrals?", Terry #2 
demanded.

"Well, the thestrals can find their way anywhere, we know that from
canon," Terry #1 said enthusiastically.   "Wasn't it a little 
mundane to waste that on the Ministry of Magic?  And they are 
intimately connected with death.  What if they can take Harry to the 
place behind the veil?"

"You know," said Marina, "I think you've got something there.

Terry #2 turned to glare at her.  "Oh, no, not another alcohol-soaked
Sirius fan looking for denial!  Are you really buying this thestral
nonsense?"

"I don't think it's nonsense at all," said Marina.  "I think it's
brilliant.  I haven't really thought much about the thestrals, but 
JKR did emphasize both their connection with death and their ability 
to find any location you ask them to go to.  And you know what that 
means, don't you?  Not only can they find their way beyond the veil, 
but..."  She paused dramatically.  "They can also find the way 
*back*!"

"Well, maybe," Terry #2 conceded reluctantly.  "But just because the
thestrals can find their way back doesn't mean they can bring anyone
back with them.  If so, why couldn't they bring *anyone* back -- 
James or Lily, for example -- rather than just Sirius.  Death would 
have no meaning in the HP universe if you could fetch any dead 
person back to life just by riding in on a thestral."

"Ah," said Marina, "but Sirius is a special case, isn't he?  Most 
people pass behind the veil as spirits, leaving their bodies on this 
side.  You can't bring back a disembodied spirit.  But Sirius went 
through physically.  He should be able to come back physically.  All 
he needs is transport."

"The veil is the division between life and death!" Terry #2 insisted
angrily.  "Sirius went through to the other side.  He's beyond the
veil.  He's dead!"

"I don't think it's all that clear-cut a division," said Marina.  "I
mean, look at Headless Nick."

"What about Headless Nick?  He flat-out said that Sirius wasn't 
coming back!"

"Yes, but he also flat-out admitted that he doesn't know what he's
talking about," Marina pointed out.  "He said he doesn't know what's 
on the other side, because he was too cowardly to cross himself.  So 
he has no idea what really happens there, or what condition Sirius 
might be in.  And consider this--"  Marina stopped for another 
dramatic pause, grabbed her bottle back from Dobby and took a 
generous swig.  She was on a roll now.  "Nick is definitely dead.  
So are all the other ghosts we've seen.  Yet they haven't gone 
through the veil.  They're still hanging about here.  If we can have 
dead people on the living side of the veil, then symmetry suggests 
that we can also have living people on the dead side.  It's just a 
matter of being in the wrong place.  And Nick, in his last 
conversation with Harry, seemed to be regretting his failure to go 
across.  Perhaps in the future, we'll see not one, but two 
characters restored to their proper place in the universe: Nick will
stop being a ghost and go through the veil, and Sirius will come 
back!"

Inspired by her own speech, Marina drained the last of the 
Firewhiskey and dropped on the couch next to Terry #1.

"Got another one of those bears?" she asked.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com