The Issue of Death In Harry Potter

[pulpficlet]

No: HPFGUIDX 91659

Alisha wrote:

> Alright, first and firemost this is my first post here. Hi i'm 
> Alisha! I'm not technically a grown up, but I actually possess 
>brain cells, so feel free and imagine that I'm a 'grown up' because 
>I have the mind of a forty year old.

Welcome to you Alisha.  I am pretty new also, but getting the hanag 
of it!


 
>I'm just really curious 
> about how witches and wizards deal with the subject of death, and 
>do they have funerals for their dead? I've been trying to look this 
>up on discussion boards and in the books themselves, and so far I've 
> only found little clues.

Crouch Jr. buried the body of his father once it was transfigured 
into a bone, so maybe that is a clue.  And the big scene in GoF takes 
place in a graveyard, although I seem to remember it was a Muggle 
graveyard.

Maybe JKR is being vague on this point for a reason.  If wizards bury 
their dead, then Harry has been acting strangely not to express any 
interest in visiting the graves of his parents.

 
>So obviously, if they don't bury the departed, they 
> don't have funerals. But then, what do they do?

I think they keep an appropriately British stiff upper lip!  We 
rarely see true grieving in the wizarding world either, do we?  It's 
odd IMO and is a missed opportunity for JKR to show us the depth and 
vulnerability of her characters.

Paula