[HPforGrownups] What if it's not his powers?

[Ali]

No: HPFGUIDX 98690

gregory_lynn at yahoo.com:
    <<<SNIPPED>>>
> If he has to sacrifice what he wants the most, I think it will be a 
> family.
    <<<SNIPPED>>>
> But at some point Harry has to make a decision that ends up costing 
> Ron's life.  Neither Hermione nor Ginny can really ever forgive him, 
> yada yada et cetera and so forth.

I agree with you that Harry probably won't be sacrificing his powers.  However, I very much disagree that he will end up sacrificing someone important to him.  For one, it's a difficult way to end a story, making both the reader & characters uncomfortable with someone they've watch grow.  At its heart, HP still attempts at being a children's series, and I can't see JKR, someone who vehemently wants us to dislike Voldemort, ending her series with her beloved character having to make such a monumental decision.  Good still does good in the world of Harry Potter, and good does not sacrifice people other than the self.  Voldemort definitely sends his minions to their death, but the side of good still does not attempt to do so.  Deaths on the side of good are still willing sacrifices by the participants.  JKR has drawn the dividing line between good and evil fairly clearly, and there is minimal grey space in between.  Granted, Harry is growing and seeing more grey space, but at the end of the series, he's really still just a boy with a rather giant-sized "knight in shining armor" complex.  While he may grow and mature enough to make important decisions regarding other people's lives, I don't think he'll cross that line.  It's a slippery slope that JKR may not want to deal with, especially at the twilight of her series.

Moreover, I think JKR genuinely is in love with the Golden Trio.  Sacrificing them or anyone close to them, therefore anyone Harry values, would cause an irreparable rip in the fabric of their friendship.  To put it simplistically, I don't think she wants to end the series with the Trio at odds like that.  It's a silly assumption, but generally, writers don't give characters that they've grown fond of a sad ending.  Harry having to sacrifice someone close to him would make for a very bittersweet ending, indeed.

~Ali

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