I *love* tragic endings ! (Was : Re: What if Harry dies?)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 85572

Iris wrote:
> On the other hand, I would be glad if I could shut the book 
> saying "He did it, he survived".
> However, I'm not sure this ending would be as satisfying to him as 
> we could imagine. 
> First, as Joseph Campbell wrote, it's difficult to a hero to find 
> his own place in the world he saved. Actually, he is not in the 
> same world anymore, because the initiation he went through put him 
> in another dimension. When Harry defeats Voldemort, he will be 
> definitely different from his friends and from the other wizards. 
> How will he live among people who will treat him like a phenomenon? 
> Who will always demand perfection from him? His closest friends (if 
> they survive
) will certainly treat him "normally", but the others 
> won't. He will have very few rights ( right to weakness, to 
> mistake
) and a lot of duties.

Now me:
What about the possibility that sometime before the final battle [we 
all seem to be assuming it will be some big monstrous final battle, 
anyway], MANY MORE wizards & witches will join the ranks of those 
willing to fight--The Order, Dumbledore's Army, perhaps a new 
organization or army?  What if, even if it IS Harry who has to be the 
one to kill Voldemort, hundreds of others are right there beside him, 
pushing back & eliminating Voldy's Death Eaters?  Then, even though 
Harry would take that final action to ensure total victory, there 
would truly be hundreds [or thousands?] of others right there to 
[rightfully!] share in the glory.  THAT would remove some of those 
pressures you went on to talk about.  

In short, I don't see that it would have to be seen as "all Harry" 
again.  Look at SS/PS.  Harry gets 60 points for his actions, yes, 
but Hermione & Ron each get 50, and Neville gets 10.  Harry DIDN'T do 
it all by himself then.  And look at what the members of the DA and 
the Order already did in the Ministry of Magic near the end of Book 
Five.  No way Harry could have survived if it had been just HIM.  
With another year or two to build up to the climactic battle, who's 
to say he won't then be surrounded by a huge number of "helpers", 
which will take much of the pressure off of him?  

Siriusly Snapey Susan