Is Sirius Really Dead?

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 72274

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "harriet_lupin" <mlacats at a...> 
wrote:
> 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

As much as I hate it, I'm sure he's dead. And I base that on JKR's 
statements in interveiws where she says flat out that the character 
she killed off is dead.  Now, maybe she simply doesn't want to give 
away an important plot line before its time, but I think she'd have 
to do an awful lot of explaining if Sirius pops up alive further 
along in the series. 

Which doesn't close the door on a non-corporeal Sirius showing up in 
some other form. Plenty of the dead in Potterverse show up, if only 
briefly, as spirits or shades or what have you.  So, I would not be 
surprised if Sirius is seen again in some manner.

Marianne