Narrative strategy and Harry's death

[ariston3344]

No: HPFGUIDX 107199

I (ariston) wrote:
 
> Any scene leading to Harry's death would obviously be THE
> climax of the entire series -- it's almost unthinkable to me that
> such a scene would not be told from Harry's POV.  But if it is
> told from his POV, how would JKR smoothly handle Harry's
> death itself?

Hans' response:
> As I've said in my predictions in post 106899 I predict that Harry
> will go through the Gate of Saturn. That's the arch with the veil.
> It's a symbolic death, but at the same time very real from a
> story point of view. It will obviously be quite simple to tell this
> from Harry's POV. I think Harry will be able to return through the
> gate because of some kind of magic. [...]

ariston again:
If Harry is able to come back to life after death, then that does 
more or less render the POV question moot.  But I'm pretty sure that 
JKR has gone on record saying that a fundamental limitation in the 
Potterverse is that magic can't bring people back from the dead.

Hm, let me see if I can find that... ah, here it is (from  
http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/1099-
connectiontransc.html ):

---
Well, it would be nice, but I'll tell you something. You've
raised a really interesting point there, Peter, because when I 
started writing the books, the first thing I had to decide was not 
what magic can do, but what it can't do. I had to set limits on
it 
immediately and decide what the perimeters are. One of the most 
important things I decided was that magic cannot bring dead people 
back to life. That's one of the most profound things. The natural 
laws of death applies to wizards as it applies to Muggles and there 
is no returning once you're properly dead. You know, they might
be able to save very close to death people better than we can, by 
magic. They have certain knowledge we don't, but once you're
dead, you're dead. So, yeah, I'm afraid there will be no
coming
back for Harry's parents. 
---

-ariston