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

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 85723

Siriusly Snapey Susan wrote:
> 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.  
><snip>  

Excellent point! Harry isn't Frodo on a lone quest to throw the One
Ring into Mt. Doom, with only Ron (as Sam) to keep him on his feet and
sustain his will. Harry's friends and a lot of other people are going
to be involved in this war (including a very probable siege of Hogwarts).

We've already seen Harry joined by others who are eager to help him
triumph over Voldemort (or in Hermione's case, talk him into seeing
the battle in realistic terms and stand by him if he doesn't), and I
think he may have lost some of his lone hero delusions as a result of
the debacle at the DoM. Yes, the DEs were arrested and one has his
head caught in a time warp, but Harry was tricked and Sirius is dead.
Even with the Prophecy, we shouldn't see him having more thoughts like
the ones he hadwhen Ron and Hermione got Prefect badges and he didn't:
"They didn't fight Quirrell with me. They didn't take on Riddle and
the basilisk. They didn't get rid of all those dementors the night
Sirius escaped. They weren't in that graveyard with me, the night
Voldemort returned. . . ." (OoP 167, Am. ed.)

I devoutly hope he's put all such thoughts behind him. Not only Ron
and Hermione but Luna and Neville and Ginny were with him in the DoM
and some of them were injured in the battle. Not only that but he,
Harry, did not triumph over anyone. He had to be saved by Dumbledore
and the person he intended to rescue was killed trying to rescue him.
So Harry must know now, despite the prophecy, that he can't do this
alone. He and Voldemort must ultimately fight it out, but there are
other battles and plenty of other dangers from Death Eaters to dragons
for them to face. I'll be very surprised if each of the kids with
Harry at the DoM doesn't do at least one heroic thing before the end.
And I "Siriusly" hope that Snape does, too, not to mention the other
members of the Order and the myriad of minor characters we've become
so fond of, from Mrs. Figg to Dobby.

Carol