[HPforGrownups] OOP: Re: Why Harry will die

[Carol Bainbridge]

No: HPFGUIDX 65578


>--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ceathena" <Ceathena at a...> wrote:
> > In a previous message, someone mentioned the fear that Harry and
> > Voldemort's link is so strong that if Harry kills him, he will die as
> > well. I've been predicting Harry's death since around the time of the
> > 2nd book. I cannot see any other way to effectivly end the series.

I can.  I can see Harry destroying Voldemort.  The prophecy said that 
either Voldemort must kill Harry or Harry must kill Voldemort.  I can't 
imagine that Voldemort would kill Harry and I can't believe that Harry 
would die as a result of killing Voldemort, although I think the latter is 
more likely than the former.  I think it's quite possible that Harry, upon 
graduating from Hogwarts and having destroyed Voldemort, will become 
Hogwart's most permanent Defense Against Dark Arts teacher.  JKR has set 
him up in OOP as a natural teacher, able to teach even the most unteachable 
students (i.e. Neville).

> > <snip> Harry's future has never been clear. His desire to be an Auror 
> seems
> > farfetched due to the O.W.L. requirements. He has never had ambition,
> > never seriously considered life outside of Hogwarts. The only goal he
> > must complete is killing Voldemort. But after his arch nemisis is
> > defeated, what will Harry do? His entire life revolves around
> > Voldemort; he cannot exist without him.

I agree that Harry's desire to be an Auror is farfetched.  However, that 
desire is representative of his desire to fight evil.  I don't think he 
wants to do anything but that.  I also agree that Harry has never had any 
ambition.  But ambition to do what?  He was certainly never encouraged to 
have any while living with the Dursleys.  And he spent quite a bit of time 
just figuring what the wizarding world is all about.  It has to be hard for 
him to have any ambitions in the wizard world.  Then again, when it comes 
to doing the right thing and fighting evil, he doesn't seem to have a 
problem with motivation, which is what he needs to be ambitious.  I don't 
think it has ever occurred to him that he could teach at Hogwarts.  It 
caught him quite off guard when Hermione suggested that he teach his fellow 
students.  As for Harry's life revolving around Voldemort, it's true; it 
has.  However, we know that dark wizards must appear every so often, as 
Dumbledore vanquished one around 1945 (I think I have that date 
right).  Evil never dies.  It can always come back, and just because 
Voldemort dies, it doesn't mean that Harry wouldn't continue in some way to 
help in the fight against Evil -- like being the DADA teacher at 
Hogwarts.  I think that is a fitting and worthy end to the series.

> > Self sacrifice will not be difficult for Harry. He was ready to die
> > at the end of Order of the Pheonix. I think, when the time comes, he
> > will gladly end his life to save those he loves. It is in his nature.
> > If he recognizes that it needs to be done, he will do it. Harry is
> > not one to hesitate.

Boy, I sure agree with you here.  Fortunately, Harry hasn't had to die, and 
I really don't think it's necessary for him to die for the series to have a 
suitable ending.  One of the things that Harry represents to me is the idea 
that some things are more important than life.  That is something, I think, 
that we have forgotten in our modern age.  Yes, it would make sense, then, 
for Harry to sacrifice his life to send home this message, but I still 
don't think it is necessary.  It isn't the dying that is important; it is 
the willingness to die for some greater good.

> > And then there's the practical side. There is no better way to
> > effectivly end a series than to kill off the main character.

I disagree wholeheartedly.  I don't see what makes that ending any more 
effective than another one, if it's done well.

>JK
> > Rowling has made it clear there will be no more books. Why would she
> > decide to stop writing about the characters that she loves with all
> > her heart? Why would she suffer such an abrupt change in lifestyle?

I'm not so sure this would be an abrupt change in her life style.  While 
we've all been thinking about Harry and waiting for the next book and 
guessing what's going to happen next, JKR has been thinking about Harry a 
whole lot longer.  She knows the ending.  She has known it for a good long 
time.  I'm sure she will never stop thinking about Harry completely, but 
for her the story is over and has been over from the beginning.  She said 
she's been thinking about writing other books and even tried her hand at 
writing a book for adults (while working on OOP).  So no, I wouldn't see an 
abrupt change for her.

> > Two reasons are possible: she has planned it this way from the
> > beginning, the threads will all be tied up, and it would be tacky to
> > continue.

That's exactly what she has said from the start.  She knew the entire story 
from the beginning, knew what would happen each year (in general) and knew 
how the story would end.  She has said she won't change any of the story 
line to accommodate her readers.

>Or, she physically cannot continue to write about Harry.
> > While the former is logical and probably a factor, the latter insures
> > that she will not weaken. It does, however, leave the possibility for
> > books about a new set of characters in the same world.

I don't have the interview handy, but I seem to recall JKR saying adamently 
that she will not write any more about Hogwarts.  When she finishes book 7, 
that will be it.  She did say that she might consider doing a book 8, but 
it wouldn't have a story and it wouldn't be a epilogue.  She said she's 
thought that she might want to get rid of a lot of "loose" ideas about 
Hogwarts and the wizarding world that she didn't get "rid of" in any of the 
books.  She was careful not to suggest that any book after book seven would 
be more about our favorite characters.  I'm not sure, but she may have also 
said she didn't think she would actually do a book 8.  Just if she did, 
that's all it would be.  Then she wants to go on to other things.

> > JK has already written the ending of the 7th book. She must have
> > something more than 'Harry kill Voldemort' in the last chapter.

I'm sure it will be more, just as there's more to the end of book 1, 2, and 
3 than Harry triumphs over Voldemort.

> > If we were upset with Snape's death, how will we feel
> > about Harry's?

I would be very upset and feel cheated.  I'm bracing myself for it just in 
case, but I'll consider it a cheap shot.

Then Sharie wrote, agreeing with ceathena:
>JKR keeps hinting about not
>letting Harry live.  She keeps saying stuff like that.

I still believe she said that to throw us off balance.  People were far too 
sure that Harry would live and she clearly likes to keep us in suspense.

>Also, we have now seen this veil.  Dumbledore has already told Harry
>that death is just 'the next great adventure'.  It would make perfect
>sense for Harry - after he has slain Voldemort - to simply step onto
>the dias and through the veil.  The final chapter could possibly be
>entitled "The Next Great Adventure".  And everyone can simply wave
>goodbye as he steps through to be with Sirius and his Mum and Dad,
>and whoever JKR will kill off that Harry loves.  You know she will...

While I admit this is certainly a possibility, it's too "Hollywood" for 
me.  It makes me think of the movie "Cocoon."  And I would hate to see that 
kind of ending to the series.  I keep thinking, "What's the point?"  And 
unlike the ending in Cocoon, the ending suggested here is way too much like 
suicide for my taste.  It also, to me, would show a weakness, an inability 
at last of Harry to come to terms with life and its difficulties and 
struggles.  Even if it comes at the end of a struggle against Voldemort, 
where is the honor in this kind of death?  I would really hate that message.

Hopefully, we won't have to wait three more years before we have more meat 
to chew on.

Carol Bainbridge
(kaityf at jorsm.com)

http://www.lcag.org