OoP: What was the Point of this Death? And Phineas ??s

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 61470

Here's your obligatory spoiler space:
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I confess up front that I'm a Sirius fan, so I'm probably approaching 
this with a jaundiced eye.  Frankly, this death leaves a lot of holes 
for me.  The relationship between Harry and Sirius seemed to be 
getting stronger and I think that's something that could have been 
explored further.  Sirius could have been used as an even greater 
source of information for Harry.  Is that why JKR had to get rid of 
him?  Can't tell Harry too much too soon?  Ooops.  No, Dumbledore 
himself just shot that theory all to hell.

Is this a comping-of-age thing where Harry has to deal directly with 
the death of someone important to him, just to show life isn't fair?  
I think the kid already has that lesson figured out.  After all, do 
we all have to have a parental figure die when we're 15 to help us 
grow up?

Is this an object lesson for Harry?  Listen to your elders because if 
you leave the house when we tell you not to and go out and play in 
traffic you might die?  

Is this a different kind of object lesson?  Was this a convoluted way 
to make the point that Harry chose what was easy rather than what was 
right re: his Occlumency lessons?  Snape told him to get out, but 
that made it easy for Harry in a sense.  He could simply stop taking 
the lessons because he didn't like taking them.  Now he had a reason 
to stop.  He could have gone to Dumbledore, he could have attempted a 
profuse apology to Snape for the invasion of Snape's memories.  But 
Harry chose not to do either of those things.  So, is the lesson, 
Harry had you done what you were told, you would have overcome 
Vmort's connection in your head and he couldn't have tricked you to 
going to the Dept of Mysteries and then Sirius wouldn't have been 
tempted to leave the house...and, well, you get the picture.

And the death itself leaves me with questions.

What curse killed Sirius?

Was he dead before he fell behind the veil?

Is there significance to the veil being in the Dept of Mysteries?

Who do we hear whispering behind it?

Did Phineas Nigellus' reaction to the news strike anyone else as 
strange?  When Harry  arrives in Dumbledore's office, Phineas wakes 
up and asks if there's another message for his "worthless great-great-
grandson?"  Five pages later he says, "Am I to understand that my 
great-great-grandson - the last of the Blacks - is dead?"

He doesn't seem happy to hear the news, even though he doesn't think 
highly of Sirius. Why bother repeating the lineage, the last of the 
family business?  Why were his words no longer snotty?  And why, 
several pages after that, does Harry notice that Phineas has not 
returned?  I mean, who cares? Is this so Harry can ponder whether 
Phineas and horrible Mrs. Black are chortling over Siirus' death? Or 
is there some other meaning behind Phineas' continued absence?

And, finally, the last thing that bothered me about the death was the 
total lack of acknowledgement.  Does wizard society not have funerals?
Or some sort of ceremony (even in this case if it had to be secret 
given Sirius' legal woes) to bring together the people who cared 
about the deceased?  I know Harry wanted to keep to himself 
afterwards, but I felt horrible when he got up and left after sitting 
by the lake for a long time, "wiping his face on his sleeve as he 
went."  No one should have to bear grief alone.


Marianne