Who will die?

[lhunneb]

No: HPFGUIDX 60798

I believe that if you read the Moria section carefully you will see 
that Gandalf didn't actually die, but the fellowship thought he did.  
He fell into the abyss with the Balrog, they fought a mighty battle 
and Gandalf was burned. Then they plunged into deep water and, as 
Gandalf described it, "almost it froze my heart."

The Gandalf and the Balrog had an epic chase, through the depths 
under Moria, up and out onto the pinacle of the mountain Silvertine.  
They fought on the pinacle until Gandalf threw down his enemy to its 
destruction.  Then he wandered in a daze and ended up alone and naked 
on the top of the mountain, until Gwaihir the Windlord found him.

Of course, this is probably nitpicking.  I see your point about the 
mythic concept of the hero going through a perilous trial of some 
sort and being, in a sense, reborn into a new, infinitely wiser 
incarnation.  Gandalf is fundamentally changed by this battle.  In 
Star Wars too, we have the downfall of Obi Wan, only to have him 
transition into something not human, but perhaps more powerful.  I 
wouldn't be surprised to have Dumbledore or Harry have such a 
transformation.  

I expect, however, that Dumbledore will survive until the last book.  
I think it is Harry who will have an epic trial, and he will survive 
it not in small part due to the guidance and inspiration of 
Dumbledore.  At the end of the seventh book, I think that Harry will 
have grown into a wiser and more powerful and peaceful person.  And I 
think that Dumbledore will either die, or transition to a higher 
plain, being satisfied now that Harry no longer needs him.

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "j9akerstrom" 
<j9_Akerstrom at w...> wrote:
> A friend suggested that "Phoenix" in the title of the book suggests
> dying and coming back to life. I thought about that and I also 
thought
> about some parallels I noticed between JKR's writings and Tolkien,
> which I seem to remember her admit to being inspired by Tolkien here
> and there (no problem with that!). In Tolkien's books (and the 
movies)
> Gandalf dies and returns as Gandalf the White, maybe Dumbledore will
> do something similar. I can imagine the extreme shock of reading 
that
> Dumbledore is dead, just as I was shocked and saddened when Gandalf
> tumbled to his death.
> 
> One will just have to wait and find out...
> 
> J9