Is Sirius Really Dead?

[harriet_lupin]

No: HPFGUIDX 72176

Hello everyone!

My best friend has an interesting theory that I would like to share 
with all of you about whether Sirius really died in OotP.  I'm not 
saying that I hold to this theory....I'm inclined to believe Sirius 
really died and when he went through the veil, he went into the next 
world..or is it maybe a Limbo?  Anyway, I just want to know what you 
think.  Here goes....
______________________________________


"There you go Sirius," Harry thought dully.  "Nothing rash. Kept my 
nose clean.  Exactly the opposite of what you'd have done."


My friend writes.....
"....And then
I reached page 805, a seemingly inconsequential
page
 
and he was laughing.  "Come on, you can do better than that!"
Sirius' 
words echoed, as he was egging his cousin Bellatrix on
 but it
was 
his last.  And then he disappeared through the veil.  Just like that. 
It was a death so undeserving of his life and his strength and his 
energy
 and his goals, still so unfulfilled, so bereft of reward
and 
soothing closure.   

When Mr. Weasley survived, I started having a terrible feeling that 
it was going to be either Sirius or Lupin (not so much Lupin,
even
 
and definitely not Dumbledore), and I was already grieving long 
before I reached that chapter.  The situation all demanded that he 
was going to feel "claustrophobic" and not stay in that
horrid house 
for long.  

Early in the book (Chapter 6), he confides to Harry, "I
wouldn't mind 
if I could just get out and do something useful.  I've asked 
Dumbledore whether I can escort you to your hearing – as
Snuffles, 
obviously – so I can give you a bit of a moral support
" 

Much earlier in Chapter 5, he pointed out to Harry that "about
the 
only useful thing I've been able to do" is offer his house as 
headquarters for the Order, and Harry "noted how hard and bitter 
Sirius's voice sounded."

His character, being a man of such high energy and reckless
courage
 
a man, becoming restless and highly driven (to protect Harry or give 
vent to his feelings) was being developed so strongly
 but also 
subtly (like a "calm before the storm"), that it gave some
portent to 
his very probable demise.  What's worst was at the time I was 
experiencing the anguish, I could not even discuss it with anybody 
because nobody I know had finished the book.  

 

I was furious at JKR (of course!), but that anger morphed into 
admiration.  How brilliant!  Oh, how brilliant to choose a Key 
Character for an "early" death.  Not only was he a key
character, but 
he was also Harry's godfather, an almost-father/brother to Harry, 
James's best friend and Secret-keeper and a Marauder Four.  It
seemed 
reckless 
but JKR never makes her choices recklessly.  In
choosing an 
intensely-beloved character, it was a brilliant choice!  The manner 
of "death", also brilliant.  Except for Remus, Sirius is the
only 
other major character who can compel the most grief, the most pain.  
If Dumbledore died, I would grieve, but there will be no terrible 
pain.  

With Sirius gone, the hope that Harry may eventually live with his 
godfather is also gone.  The hope that Sirius will live a happy life 
and share in Harry's final triumph has dissolved.  The hope that 
Sirius will eventually be free of any "criminal" taint by the
magical 
community, gone – and that taint will now remain with his name 
forever.   

After grieving for a week, I thought it all over and JKR had a lot of 
explaining to do.  And so for now, I would like to stay with the idea 
that "Sirius is not dead".  

Key Points to the Is-Sirius-Really-Dead Skepticism: 

(1)What is really behind the veil?  Is it some sort of doorway to the 
afterlife?  Or is it another world, a temporary place where one can 
stay and heal and decide whether he wants to "go back " or
"go 
ahead"?  

(2) And what did Bellatrix mean when she was informing Voldy 
that "Master – he is here – he is below –"?

(3) To devote a whole chapter to Sirius "Noble and Most Ancient 
House" and just kill off the LAST of the Blacks does not make any 
sense to me.  And where is Phineas?  Upon learning that the last of 
his lineage is gone (!??), he left his Hogwart's portrait to 
investigate.  How come he has not came back?

(4) JKR also devoted a whole chapter to "Beyond the Veil",
but did 
not explain what's behind/beyond it.  She tantalizes us by 
the "whisperings" that Luna and Harry can hear, and teases us
with 
Luna's comment "there are people in there".  Why did she
entitle that 
chapter "Beyond the Veil" and not "Behind the Veil"? 
There is 
definitely a big difference between "behind" and
"beyond".  Beyond 
sounds more final... and then, again "Beyond" holds deeper 
obscurities and hence, a lot of room for JKR to cast her magic on 
this Bright Star (Sirius is another name for "brightest star in
the 
sky" as well as the name of the dog star in the constellation of
the 
Great Dog).

(5) JKR not only devoted chapters to Sirius; she devoted an entire 
book: The Prisoner of Azkaban.  To do all these, and not give him a 
proper ending (at least) seems utterly idiotic to me.

(6) If the not-so-smart Wormtail can fake his own death, the much-
smarter Sirius surely can, too!!!  Could it be he faked his death, to 
allow himself some degree of "freedom", and get away from the
house 
he hated?  How long can anyone stay in a house full of doxies, with a 
screaming mother, and nasty and disrespectful creature called 
Kreacher?  After being practically shackled from helping the Order of 
the Phoenix and protecting Harry
 after Snape deriding him for
being 
of no help, his winning this much-hungered-for "freedom" will
finally 
allow the now-restless Sirius to do something significant!

JKR can really be sneaky (dodgy), and she is a master at spinning the 
web and the warp of a tale.  It's obvious that she is now
starting to 
plunge her readers into the deepest low, so that she can hoist them 
to a massive emotional high at the very end." 

A thought...
My friend made a reference to what Bellatrix said to Voldy concerning 
someone being 'below' -- well, I thought she meant Dumbledore.  My 
friend is not so sure.  O.K., I'll wait until I hear from you all 
before I comment further.

Thanks for reading this slightly lenghy tale.  I'll be much 
interested in what everyone has to say.

Harriet