TBAY: BIC LIGHTER Illuminates the Ending of OOP

[snazzzybird]

No: HPFGUIDX 73383

Snazzzybird perched in the branches of a tree on the shore and 
watched the sun go down over Theory Bay.  She sat in the indigo 
twilight and then in the dark, running scenarios in her head and 
muttering to herself.  She was so deep in thought, the sound of 
approaching footsteps didn't even register: she kept right on 
talking, quietly and with a hint of pain, as though her 
contemplations were giving her a headache.

"They're right, all of them.  It's a most unsatisfying situation – 
and yet, he's satisfied.  He's very satisfied.  How can he be 
satisfied with that?"

"Who's up there?"

The man's voice startled snazzzybird so much, she almost lost her 
grip on the branch.  Looking down, she could only see the top of his 
head: he stood directly underneath her.  

She extended her wings slightly and fluffed up her feathers to look 
bigger.  "Me," she said.

The man craned his neck and squinted up through the leaves.  "What 
are you, some kind of bird?"  He reached into his pocket and 
extracted a small object, intending to get a better view.

"Snazzzy," she replied.  "That's what kind of bird.  And you are --?"

At that moment there came a faint scritching noise, and a flame 
illuminated the leaves, the bird, and the man's face.  He was holding 
up a cigarette lighter.  "Darkthirty," he said.

Snazzzybird's beak dropped open, and her eyes looked dazzled.  "Yes, 
you are!  That's exactly who you are!" she said excitedly.  "And I 
know what that is, too – it's a BIC LIGHTER!"

"Well yes, but how did—"

"And now I see, now I see perfectly, and it makes perfect sense!"  
she babbled on.  "Of course he's satisfied!  It's the best that could 
happen!"

Darkthirty looked around under the tree, trying to see what she was 
looking at.  "What did you find?" he asked her.

"A way of making sense of it.  Of the ending of 'Order of the 
Phoenix'.  Lately people have been talking about the members of the 
Order at King's Cross.  How after everything Harry had been through, 
all they did was warn the Dursleys they'd better be good to him or 
else.  You remember the ending?"  Closing her eyes, she quoted from 
memory:

***

"Bye, then, Potter", said Moody, grasping Harry's shoulder for a 
moment with a gnarled hand.

"Take care, Harry," said Lupin quietly.  "Keep in touch."

"Harry, we'll have you away from there as son as we can," Mrs. 
Weasley whispered, hugging him again.

"We'll see you soon, mate," said Ron anxiously, shaking Harry's hand.

"Really soon, Harry," said Hermione earnestly.  "We promise."

Harry nodded.  He somehow could not find words to tell them what it 
meant to him, to see them all ranged there, on his side.  Instead, he 
smiled, raised a hand in farewell, turned around and led the way out 
of the station towards the sunlit street, with Uncle Vernon, Aunt 
Petunia and Dudley hurrying along in his wake.

***

The lighter was burning Darkthirty's thumb.  He let it go out, and 
stood in sudden darkness.  "There's been some talk about that 
ending," he agreed.  "People saying the Order didn't do nearly enough 
for Harry."

"And yet, he was satisfied.  He couldn't even find words to tell them 
what it meant to him!  It didn't make sense to me.  I couldn't see 
why that would be enough.  Until I saw that BIC LIGHTER."  
Snazzzybird could still see it gleaming faintly in his hand.  "For a 
boy in a closet, the idea that these people are on his side – not 
with him, but thinking about him, and ready to swoop in if he should 
need them – that would be the greatest possible comfort."

"It would, wouldn't it?"  Darkthirty smiled to himself in the 
darkness.

"It's exactly the kind of thing a boy in a closet would want to 
think.  He's alone, there's nobody on his side where he is.  Ah, but 
his friends in the other world, his world, are strong and powerful, 
and they stand ready to come and get him if he needs them.  Just 
believing that, it's enough – he doesn't actually have to call them.  
You know?  Like Mama's Bank Account."

"You lost me.  Whose mama?  What bank account?"

"John Van Druten.  He wrote "Mama's Bank Account," about a family 
that was really poor.  The children always knew they would be okay, 
because Mama talked about her bank account, that she could go to if 
they really needed money.  But they didn't want to take that out, so 
whenever they needed money they'd find a way to get it by making 
something to sell, or doing odd jobs, that kind of thing.'

This is a strange bird, thought Darkthirty.  "Okay.  They wanted to 
leave the money in the bank."

"The thing is," went on snazzzybird, "there wasn't any money in the 
bank.  There wasn't any bank account.  Mama just said that, to give 
the children security.  So they wouldn't feel like they had nothing 
to fall back on.  And it was enough, you see?  There wasn't any 
money, but the belief was enough to give them security."

"The belief was enough," Darkthirty repeated.  "And you saw all that 
by the light of my BIC LIGHTER?"

"Yes, it's very illuminating.  With it, I see the ending of 'Order of 
the Phoenix' making sense."  She cocked her head to one side.  "I'd 
like to see how a few other situations look by its light.  Would you 
consider letting me borrow it for awhile?"

"Take it.  I've got another."  He reached up into the branches again, 
the lighter extended at his fingertips.  "I'm glad I could enlighten 
you."

"Thanks, Darkthirty.  Guess I'll see you around the Bay."  
Snazzzybird took the lighter in her beak, spread her wings, and flew 
off toward her nest.

Darkthirty watched her flying across the Bay, her wings silhouetted 
against the starlit waters.  She was bigger than she'd looked in the 
tree.  He wondered idly where her nest was, and what theories she 
kept there... and how she thought she was going to work the BIC 
LIGHTER with those bird feet.