Harry Will Die--or will he?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 105436

"xtremesk8ergurl" wrote:
I agree, I think Harry is going to die in the end.  Maybe Rowling will 
be able to make this a death that the readers will approve of or agree 
with, either because of a promise of happiness after death or because 
Harry himself will want to embrace death.  But I think he's definitely  
going to die. <snip>
 

Carol responds:

It seems as if a large number of people (especially some who are new
to the list?) think Harry is going to die. I really don't think
so--first, because that's the easy way out. Much easier to have him
die heroically than to figure out how to have him destroy Voldemort
without resorting to "murder" (his own word) and come out alive,
preferably with the loss only of the powers he acquired from Voldemort
but with his own inborn powers intact. I think JKR will surprise us
all with her creativity in bringing about a happy (but not sappy) ending.

Second,there's the Prophecy itself: "Neither can live while the other
survives." Let me be unimaginative here and assume that "Neither" and
"other" actually refer, as they seem to do, to Harry and Voldemort. As
I read it, neither can truly live while the other still exists, but if
one dies, the other can finally have a real life.

With Voldemort, that's easy. He's living a half life now, having lost
his human appearance and alll human connections except his DEs.
There's also the "cursed half life" from drinking unicorn blood (via
Quirrell) to consider and his own statement in GoF that he's settling
for his body and his powers rather than immortality. But if Harry, the
only person who can destroy him, were to die, Voldemort (as I read the
Prophecy) could truly live--maybe even take a human form again.

As for Harry, he hasn't had much of a life at the Dursleys, and even
at Hogwarts, he's had to face terrors and challenges beyond his years.
In a sense, he's surviving, not living a normal life. If he can
destroy Voldemort in a way that won't make him feel like a murderer
himself, so that he can feel liberated rather than carrying a burden
of guilt, he can truly live. (It's important, in my view, that others
play heroic roles so he won't be placed on a pedestal. He needs a
chance to be normal.

That would be the greatest possible reward and the best possible
ending, at least in my view, especially if Ron and Hermione also live.
(And Snape, too, but JKR may not share my view on that!)

Carol