Harry's protection

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 112940

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" <susiequsie23 at s...> 
wrote:
> And with that segue, SSSusan begins yet again, with her spiel on 
> Sacrificial Love.  [Some are sure to be running for cover just now.]
> 
> Plain Old Love, as it were, can definitely include or involve those 
> kinds of damaging, stiffling side-effects Kneasy has cited.  Yet it 
> seems to me that Sacrificial Love - or a willingness to die out of 
> love for others - doesn't include the more negative side-trappings of 
> Plain Old Love *and* has the bonus that it deals with this 
> willingness to die that Harry seems to have.  Voldy doesn't have it - 
> he wants to live forever - and so he would NEVER consider sacrificing 
> himself, for love or any other motive.  
> 
> So I'm going with Sacrificial Love as the Power that Lord Voldythingy 
> Knows Not *and* which is somehow studied in that room in the Dept. of 
> Mysteries.  
> 

Um. I'm having trouble with this one. 
How often does Sacrificial Love turn up in the books? Once -  maybe.
Yeah sure, Lily sacrificed herself - the 'maybe' was because it happened 
before the books kicked off, but gets referred to later. I'd expect the
boys in the back-room of the Ministry to concentrate on something that
has a wider application, or at least something they can get examples of 
to study. Can't study lovin' Lil's mind set or emotions - she's gone; an 
ex-witch, joined the choir invisible, etc. How do you study that?

All very nice and fluffy of course, which is probably one of the main
reasons for my dubiety, the other main one is that it seems to be as
rare as hen's teeth. 

We've had a few examples of sacrifice - most notably the metaphorical
and literal sacrifice of Ron in PS/SS. Not made out of feelings of love,
I think - just necessity. I'm not  even sure that thoughts  of sacrifice
crossed Harrys' mind on his rescue mission to the Ministry, more the
impulse to act, to do something to help Sirius.

And if, as DD says, Harry is full of this stuff, he doesn't seem to show 
it at the critical moment when Voldy grabs his mind at the end of OoP.
Sure, he seems willing to die - but for no purpose. He will see Sirius
again, but that won't save Sirius or anybody else; it's not really a
sacrifice in the way that most would understand it. 

Mind you, I don't doubt that DD sees Harry  sacrificing himself for
the greater good of the WW - he just hasn't got round to letting
Harry in on his plan. He'll manoeuvre Harry into a postion where
it becomes an inevitability. "We are defined by our choices, Harry;
and your choice, should you choose to accept it, is to lay down 
your life for the WW.  And Voldy would probably get you anyway. 
This owl will self-destruct in 10 seconds." 

Poor Harry.

Kneasy