A portrait of Sirius? (Was: Empty picture)

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 95091

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at y...>
wrote:
> > Potioncat wrote:
> > So far when we've seen these animated portraits, they seem very live, 
> > and personable. But they are not the original person.  They are some 
> > sort of spell, copy, imitation. So I think if Harry comes across a 
> > portrait of Sirius, it will be an empty experience for him. If it 
> > does give him some comfort, like watching an old video of a loved 
> > one, it still won't be Sirius.
> 
> Carol:
> I agree that the portrait won't be Sirius, who (IMO) is "properly
> dead" and won't be coming back except as some sort of image. Still, if
> Harry comes across a portrait painted after the Prank, ... I'm 
> afraid that the portrait, even if he could find one, would be as 
> much of an "arrogant little berk" as Sirius himself.  ...edited... 
> Harry will just have to find out information from Lupin himself--the
> most capable of the three survivors (Peter, Snape, and himself) of 
> providing Harry with any reliable information about his father and 
> Sirius as boys.
> 
> Carol

bboy_mn:

I don't think there will be a portrait of Sirius. That's a little too
easy from a plot perspective. I do however believe the Sirius will
reappear in the story again. Notice I said he will reappear in the
story, I didn't say he will come back to life.

First, my theory on portraits. I believe that they are like actors
portraying a role. However, given that, by JKR's statements, enchanted
protraits have a piece of living tissue from the portrayed person
imbedded in the portrait, they contain the very essence of that
person. But while the essense and history of that person gives the
actor a great deal of knowledge and insight into the person being
portray, they are none the less just a portrayal and not the actual
person.

Even in the bounds our limited muggle lives, we have seen historic
figures portrayed in stage plays and movies with a great deal of
conviction and passion, however, if we tried to have a deep insightful
conversation with the actor, it would a some point break down. Because
the portrayer only has a fixed bank of information to draw on, the
illusion of character portrayal would eventually be broken.

Enchanted portraits have an unprecedented amount of character
information to draw on, so I believe their portrays are amazingly
lifelike and real, but as extreme as the portrayal is, I still believe
the illusion would break at some point. So, I agree with the other
posters that Harry would quickly find the portrait illusion of Sirius
very unsatisfying and disappointing.

So, how do I think Sirius will reappear in the story?

First and foremost, it will be in the form of reminiscences and
recollection by people who knew Sirius, most noticeably Remus Lupin. I
could also foresee his appearance in a pensive memory, although whose
pensive memory I'm not sure.

More importantly, I think Sirius will speak from beyond the veil. I
have to believe the Veil is somehow significant to the resolution of
at least one book, if not to the whole story. I just can't see an
incredable plot device like this appearing and then for it to never be
seen again.

This 'beyond the veil' concept is very common in mythology and
fantasy. Heroes frequently go 'beyond the veil' into the underworld to
perform some quest. The quest could be to save someone, to gain some
knowledge, or whatever; the point is that travel 'beyond the veil' is
a known concept in mythical adventure. 

Also, this allows a somewhat embodies Sirius to appear in the story
without him actually coming back to life. Instead of Sirius rejoining
the land of the living, Harry joins the land of the dead.

So, I could conceive of Harry actually travel 'beyond the veil' for
some reason, although, at the moment, I can't come up with a really
top notch scenerio in which that might happen. But at bare minimum, I
do believe that at some critical point in the story, Harry will talk
to Sirius or gain some help from Sirius by communication to him
through the Veil.

Perhaps, in the final death of Voldemort scene, Harry and Voldemort
will be fighting in the Death Chamber, and Sirius's hand will reach
out from behind the veil and pull Voldemort back through the Veil into
the land of the dead.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn/Steve