Book 7 predictions

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 98206


Warning : I might be a bit rough in my wording (I'm sick, head's 
fuzzy, I have problems reading my words with others' eyes), but I do 
not mean to sound mean or anything, and I apologize if I do.

vmonte wrote:
> I don't beleive that all of Harry's magical powers came from 
> Voldemort.  In fact, the only thing that we do know is 
> specifically a feature of Voldemort is to be a parseltongue.

Del replies :
Actually, we don't even know that for sure. We only know that this 
is what DD said to Harry, that he had inherited Parseltongue from 
LV. But that's not necessarily true. Harry could be a spontaneous 
Parselmouth. It's unlikely, but not impossible.

Vmonte wrote :
> His flying skills, and his patronus stag, seem more like they are 
> inherited from his father.

Del replies :
That bothers me too. The whole Love / Old Magic matter annoys me 
already, but at least we can suppose that Lily put a real Charm on 
Harry. But the fact that Harry naturally inherited his father's 
ability at Quidditch irritates me : extraordinary athletic 
capabilities are rarely inherited, and even when they are, they 
still usually need a lot of practice to blossom. Harry first got on 
a broom at age 11, I just can't see how he could be right away as 
good as his dad who probably mounted a broom as soon as he could sit 
on it.
But the worst part is the whole stag business. Unless Harry saw his 
father transform into a stag as a baby, there's no way he could have 
known, even unconsciouly, how important the stag symbol was for him. 
Are we then supposed to believe in some mystical link between father 
and son ? It's possible, but it irritates me when it happens in an 
otherwise quite practical world. I'd rather believe that there's 
more to this stag business than meets the eye : did James, knowing 
that his own life was in danger and still wishing to protect his 
baby, perhaps put a Charm of his own on his son ?

vmonte wrote : 
> I do, however, believe that Harry's greatest gift is his ability 
> to love and his compassion for others.  This gift is probably 
> inherited from his mother, and although it has nothing to do with 
> magic, it is more powerful than any magic.  

Del replies :
Even after all that time, even after reading so many posts about it, 
I still don't see it, I still don't see that Harry has any more love 
or compassion than any average kid. Harry has a lot of qualities, 
courage and perseverance for example, but he doesn't strike me as 
either particularly loving or exceptionnally compassionate. Can 
someone explain that to me yet again :-) ?

vmonte :
> Harry will sacrifice himself -- to save his friends.  Through all 
> the books Harry's greatest fear is not Voldemort, the DEs, or even 
> death. Harry's greatest fear is that he will lose the people he 
> loves.

Del replies :
Many people are like that, it's not exceptional. Many kids will let 
themselves be tortured emotionally and physically rather than let 
someone they love be hurt, and they will go to incredible lengths to 
try and prevent one of their dear ones from dying. And many adults 
would rather hurt or die themselves than lose someone they love or 
see them in pain. "I would take your place if I could" is so common 
a phrase that it's almost a cliche. But by doing so, we would 
actually accomplish exactly the opposite of what we want, since 
losing us or seeing us in pain would be the most terrible thing 
possible for our dear ones. For people like Harry who believe in 
being reunited with their loved ones after they die, dying might 
actually be easier than living in pain and hopelessness. So I'm not 
sure that dying in itself would be so much of a sacrifice for Harry, 
especially if he's already lost many of his friends. If the choice 
was between dying and living a miserable life, it wouldn't be much 
of a choice for someone like Harry. *However*, if the choice was 
between dying and the promise of a happy, hopeful life, then of 
course it would then be a sacrifice. But that would mean that Harry 
*could* have this happy life, so it would mean that the Wizard War 2 
would be already finished and LV had been defeated. But maybe LV 
would still be barely alive somewhere, and Harry could destroy him 
forever by dying, and if he waited it *might*, just might, be 
impossible later, and everything *might* start again sometime later, 
maybe much later. Then he would have to choose between dying to 
preserve the possible future of the WW, and living happily ever 
after or at least quite a few years with that beautiful (insert your 
favourite name here) who would be waiting for him back home. Now 
*that* would be a sacrifice all right !

vmonte wrote :
> I'm pretty sure that Harry will sacrifice himself, but that 
> doesn't mean that he will die...  Maybe someone will be able to 
> put a stopper on death. Or maybe someone else will step up and 
> forfeit their life to save Harry. Could it be Ron or Dumbledore?  
> Ron did sacrifice himself for Harry in SS/PS, during the chess 
> game.  Was this foreshadowing (like many posters believe)?   

Del replies :
I don't think Harry would like that better. Knowing Harry, he would 
never forgive himself, and he would make himself miserable for 
years, to atone for what he would probably see as his fault somehow. 
And I'm not even mentioning the sheer *pain* Harry would have to 
live with, if he were to lose Ron. I don't like Harry that much, but 
I can't wish *that* on him.
I remember reading a series of books about 2 teenage friends when I 
was young. In the last book, they get involved in World War 2, one 
of them dies and the other is sent prisoner into German camps. I 
could never decide, and still can't, which one got the worst deal. 
Eric, the dead one, dies young and still full of innocence, he will 
never learn about the horrors of WW2, he will never have to deal 
with the torture and death of loved ones, and so on. But he will 
never love and be married, he will never have kids, he will never 
experience the joy of his country being liberated. Christian, on the 
other hand, will have to survive the camps, and if he does he will 
have to live through the tough demands of reconstructing a wrecked 
country. But maybe, if he gets through, he will know love and 
happiness again. But then again maybe he won't, maybe he will be too 
hurt and destroyed to ever enjoy happiness again. So who's to say 
which of the boys got the worst deal ?
So I'm not sure which would be worse, whether Harry dies or lives.

Del