[HPforGrownups] Sirius can't be dead

[Taryn Kimel]

No: HPFGUIDX 85751

Sploogal:
I was absolutely distraught when I read the bit where Sirius
supposedly dies - I cried for hours!  (He was my favorite character.)
 I refused to even look at the book for a month afterwards.
I've been doing some thinking though, and I don't think that he really
is dead at all - it just seems that way.

Taryn:
Why would JKR have been so distraught about it if he was not actually dead? (I've been looking, but does anyone know that old article from before OotP came out with JKR talking about talking to her husband and crying about it after she wrote it? Can't seem to dig it up.)

Sploogal:
First of all, the whole of PoA centres around Sirius and introducing
him as James' best friend and a very loyal and trustworthy person. 
Yes, PoA is about other stuff as well, but one of the main things in
it is Sirius.  If JKR has devoted an entire book to Sirius, it seems
unlikely that she would kill him off two books later without a really
good reason.  Can anybody think of a really good reason as to why
Sirius had to be killed?

Taryn:
Sometimes the best reason is there isn't a good reason at all. Death doesn't pick and choose. Sirius is a death that is extremely emotional for Harry without totally destroying the balance of the books, like the death of one of the Trio would.

Sploogal:
I can think of a lot more reasons for him to stay alive, one of the
most important of these being that he's a father-figure to Harry. 
He's the person that Harry turns to for advice and comfort.
Also, in GoF, when Cedric Diggory was killed, it states that "He was
dead." immediately.  Other characters later say out loud that Cedric
is dead. When Sirius 'dies', nobody actually says out loud that he is dead
except for Harry.  

Taryn:
You could say Lupin's reaction is pretty evident. "He's gone" seems just a softer waying of saying, "He's dead." And Lupin knows what the Veil is--death. Hence why he wouldn't release Harry to go through it after Sirius.

Sploogal:
You'd expect Dumbledore to say something about it,
wouldn't you?

Taryn:
He does. 

"It is MY fault that Sirius died," said Dumbledore clearly. (OotP American Hardback, pg. 825)

And...

"Am I to understand," said Phineas Nigellus slowly from Harry's left, "that my great-great-grandson--the last of the Blacks--is dead?"

"Yes, Phineas," said Dumbledore. (pg. 826)

Sploogal:
Lupin saw Sirius 'die' and seemed to react a little to calmly to the
loss of his last remaining friend from his time at Hogwarts.  Perhaps
that is just because of the type of person that he is, or he was in
shock, but I don't think so.

Taryn:
Lupin's reaction has bit quite a point of speculation. I think it's important we didn't see his immediate reaction when Sirius fell through the veil. I think he was partly in shock and the only thing he could think to do was keep Harry from going after Sirius. Sometimes, at such an emotional climax, people can only work on instinct, and Lupin's instinct was to keep Harry safe.

Sploogal:
Another interesting point is that the curse that hit Sirius was not a
killing curse - it was just a stunner.  Sure, it sent him flying
through the veil, but we don't actually know anything about the veil,
do we?

Taryn:
Not directly, I suppose, but it seems pretty clear that it's Death. Hence the phrase, "Passing beyond the veil" and the chapter title "Beyond the Veil" as well.

--Taryn

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