Ginny Weasley (and the archway)

[ilubom]

No: HPFGUIDX 89541

shrijnana wrote: 
<snip>
> > But what about Ginny? Why is she entranced by the veil?
 
> Hitomi:
> My only thing with your point here: we don't know if loved ones 
> are heard from behind the veil, we just know dead people, or 
> spirits, are more than likely heard behind the veil.  We could just 
> be making something out of nothing, in that maybe Hermione and Ron 
> didn't look at it the same way the others did, or weren't listening, 
> or some trivial detail.  Do I think we are?  Not really, but like I 
> said, there's only so much speculation one can do.  Maybe Ginny heard 
> voices because she killed chickens, I don't know (though that would 
> be stupid in my opinion, and wouldn't really make sense, considering 
> they're animals and don't talk).  I don't think she saw Tom 
> Riddle "die," so that can't be it.  Maybe those tombs in Egypt had 
> an affect.  


I've got a bit of a wild idea about Ginny and that archway. Hitomi 
mentioned the trip to Egypt and it sort of got me thinking about 
some other connections with Egypt and its mythology (eg Hermione's 
mention that Egyptians were amazing wizards, the sphinx in the GoF, 
etc). Now, the setup of the room where the archway is, as described 
by Harry, resembles a courtroom. If the room merely contains a 
doorway to the spirit world/underworld - why have that sort of a 
setup?
What I am thinking is in Egyptian mythology, when a person dies they 
are "tried" before 42 judges. This trial takes place in the throne 
room of Osiris (a king who was killed by his brother, resurected for 
one day by his wife to father a son who eventually came to defeat 
the murderer). Those judged pure of heart would become spirits and 
pass into the spirit world where they could battle the chaos serpent 
(Egyptians had a thing about snakes). Egyptians also believed that 
the separation between the spirit world and the world of the living 
was very flimsy indeed and there are, in some writings, analogies to 
veils or curtains.

So what if the veil/archway is the entrance to the spirit 
world/world of the dead and the soul of the dead person is allowed 
to enter it after a "trial". (Perhaps those who aren't deemed worthy 
to enter the spirit world remain behind as ghosts? Sirius then can't 
come back as a ghost because he went through into the spirit world). 
Harry, Luna and Neville have each seen death, a soul making the 
transition to the spirit world - they may be able to feel the world 
beyond the flimsy curtain. Ginny may not have seen death in the 
traditional sense, but a part of her own soul was separated from 
her - Riddle mentions in the second book that she was putting a bit 
of her (her soul?) in the diary. In fact, she put enough of her soul 
in it to be pretty close to death. Perhaps this is the reason that 
she too can feel the spirit world and is entranced by it - she 
almost crossed into it herself.

Or perhaps, as Hitomi suggested, something in Egypt made her 
particularly attuned to the afterworld.

It is interesting that Hermione is terrified by the archway and she 
has in the past demonstrated a particular fear of near-death 
situations (eg. in P/SS she panics in the devil's snare, in PoA she 
is extremely tense/panicky when they enter the Shrieking Shack). She 
is afraid of death and maybe she can feel its presence in that room.

Ok, I think I'll stop now, thanks to those who are still awake and 
listening to my out of the left field ramblings.

Cheers
IL