Progression of Endings

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 69963

Darn it!  I was going to tag this onto my last post but decided it 
didn't fit -- but I forgot to take it off the subject line!  Sorry.

Some of the recent messages about story arcs (which I found very 
interesting and a very good explanation for why OoP left so many 
things hanging) sparked a train of thought for me.

We have often considered patterns of plot and theme among the books, 
and I have noticed one concerning the way each volume ends.  
Consider this progression:

PS/SS:  A Happy Ending:  There is only a hint of what may come -- 
that Harry will someday know why Voldemort wanted to kill him; that 
if V's return is delayed again and again, he may never return, which 
obviously tell us that he *will*.  Still, no hint at all about how 
very dark things will get.

CoS:  A Happy Ending, Mostly:  Another success for Harry, but he has 
found out about Lucius Malfoy and has begun to see some self-doubt 
and a connection to Voldemort.

PoA:  Bittersweet:  Harry finds his godfather and immediately all 
but loses him.  He understands a bit more the harm that Evil has 
done.  Summed up nicely by the train ride back to London: deep 
sadness, mitigated by a letter from Sirius.

GoF:  Explosive?  Cliffhanger? (feel free to help me out here!):  It 
is not for nothing that the final chapter is entitled "The 
Beginning."  We are given to understand that everything has changed 
and are left hanging.  "What will come, will come." [A really 
sadistic place for a 3-year hiatus, BTW]

OoP:  Tragedy:  This is pure and simple.  Harry and Sirius were left 
without support.  Dumbledore made a huge mistake and left Harry 
without help or guidance with consequences throughout the entire 
book culminating in the death of Sirius. [On a personal note, I was 
*furious* with Dumbledore and elated to see his office being trashed 
by Harry, but I do forgive him.  This time.]

So what can we see in the future?  OoP's last chapter is 
called, "The Second War Begins."  Will we be  back to Cliffhanger 
for book six?  Another Tragedy?  Dumbledore will have learned a 
lesson with Harry, so I imagine Harry will be more aware of what's 
going on.  Book six, then, will have to be another painful one 
though we have the possibility of victory in battle.  The end of 
book seven, of course, will reach back and color the entire series 
for us -- and a tragedy will make it impossible for many of us to 
reread!

>From PS/SS through OoP, the arc seems to have progressed from Happy 
Ending to Tragedy.  Will we come full circle by the end of the last 
book, or are we on a one-way trip down?  I find the latter hard to 
believe; the worst I'm expecting (wishful thinking?) is Bittersweet, 
with a possible large helping of "bitter."

Annemehr

"I am /not/ going to be murdered," Harry said out loud.
"That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily.

But, you're no murderer, Harry...