Albus Dumbledore must die.

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 89454

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "smirnov3" <smirnov3 at y...> 
wrote:
> It's true, if the Harry Potter series is to follow the 
classic 'Epic Fantasy' motif. In all good epic fantasy, the main 
protagonist starts off with a mentor, who takes him and teaches him 
how to be a hero and a mensch. But as the protagonist reaches 
maturity, the mentor always dies, or 'goes away. In Star Wars, that 
was Obi-one and Yoda. Both died. In Lord of the Rings, Gandalf 
disappears, but Tolkien is more soft hearted, and has him return for 
the final curtain.
> 	But I think JK Rowling is going to continue to push the 
series in a darker direction, and I don't think she will be soft on 
Dumbledore.

Meri here: Actually, both Obi-Wan (and to some extent, Yoda) came 
back to help Luke even after their deaths, so they both had 
ressurections just like Gandalf. And as to JKR being harder on her 
characters than Tolkien (or George Lucas), I also believe that 
Dumbledore is doomed but, as we have seen through his friendship 
with Nicolas Flamel, Dumbledore isn't afraid to die, and believes 
death to be nothing more than the next great adventure (and from 
someone who's lived a life like he has, that is really saying 
something, as my imagination can hardly comprehend the adventures 
that old Dumbles must have had!) I am also of the humble opinion 
that if JKR decides to follow the classic pattern and kill off Albus 
then he too will enjoy a temporary ressurection, if only to give 
Harry one more bit of advice, though as to how he will die or what 
he'll say when (or if) he comes back are a mystery to me. 

 smirnov3 asks again:	In that same vein, I think she is going to 
take a fairly dark, if not unrealist approach to the romance in the 
series: I expect there to be at least one romantic relationship in 
book 6 that fails horribly (hey, how long does the average teen 
romance last, anyway) . Will it be Ron and Hermione? Harry and Luna? 
I don't know, but don't expect any lasting relationships in the 
series until the final book.

Meri here: Well, we've allready seen at least two relationships fail 
miserably: Harry and Cho (I was pretty sure that this one was going 
to fail, just because the hero hardly ever starts off falling for 
the right girl, and was actually glad when it did, simply because 
Cho was acting like an idiot, IMO) and Ginny and Michael Corner (I 
for one did not see Ginny's massive character development coming, 
and was quite pleased with it, and also with Ron's wheedling to get 
Ginny and Harry together). I don't know what's in store romance-
wise, but sometimes when you meet the right person, teen love can 
last forever: my grandparents met in high school and will soon be 
celebrating their 50th anniversary, so it could happen. Anyway, some 
good points that are only making my thrist for HP #6 stronger! 
Meri - heading back to lurkdom and college.