Usual cast of suspects

[darkmark90]

No: HPFGUIDX 120328


Cory <ohneill_2001 at y...> wrote:
> I'm no good at predicting specifics, but in terms of the big 
> picture, I agree that Dumbledore is most likely going to die.  
> <snip> throughout the books, there have been constant 
> references to the fact that everything is going to be fine as
> long as Dumbledore is around. <snip>   
> 
> Therefore it only makes sense that Dumbledore not be around 
> for the final showdown.  I would view Dumbledore as a parent
> figure to Harry; he's been keeping Harry safe from Voldemort 
> all this time.  At its heart, this story is about Harry's 
> journey from childhood to adulthood, and forcing Harry to 
> finally face Voldemort without Dumbledore's help or guidance 
> will represent Harry's final step into adulthood.


I think this has a good chance of being correct, from a dramatic 
point of view.  Couching this in terms of a Western:  if Harry was a 
deputy being trained by a sheriff, and the point of the story was 
that Harry was going to have to face an outlaw in a final fight at 
the end of the saga ("High Noon", anyone?), sooner or later the 
sheriff would have to be taken out of the picture so that the deputy 
would have to stand on his own two feet against the bad guy.  That's 
probably what's going to happen here.  

Also combine that with the feeling of sympathy when / if Dumbledore 
buys it.  He's of the older generation, and probably not far, 
symbolically, from passing on; the readership would accept that far 
more than they would accept the deaths of Hermione or Ron, who are 
young and closer to Harry than the old wizard.  If either of the two 
kids died, the readership would be up in arms, taking up picks, 
shovels, and clubs, and making pilgrimages to JKR's home just so she 
could give them directions as to where Voldemort was so they could 
kill him.  If Dumbledore died, we'd be sad and mournful, but we'd 
accept it more easily, and we'd be ready for Book Seven with an air 
of, "Harry---go get 'im!"

No clues, but I write, and the dramatics of the situation seem self-
explanatory to me.  And I'm a reader who really loves Dumbledore.

dm