Thematic thoughts on Book 7

[Dean]

No: HPFGUIDX 136228

JKR has suggested that there is a biblical parallel in the Harry 
Potter series and that we might use that information to see where 
the story will go in book 7.  Here is my take on the subject.

The main theme of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ, who had 
not sinned, sacrificed himself so that we sinners might have a 
chance at redemption.  Sub-themes include living a life that 
reflects your beliefs, i.e., living a good life, defending the 
religion, and spreading the message of Jesus Christ to as many as 
will listen.

If there is a biblical parallel in the Harry Potter series, then the 
Christ figure is obviously Dumbledore.  He is unerringly good and 
capable of sacrificing himself to the greater well-being of mankind, 
both Wizard and Muggle.   The combination of Dumbledore and the 
phoenix provides us a more "complete" Christ-figure.  The phoenix is 
a symbol of everlasting, eternal life: like Christ, when a Phoenix 
dies, he is resurrected.  Like Christ, he has the power to heal.  
His song brings hope and joy to listeners.  Dumbledore is constantly 
associated with the phoenix: he keeps one as a pet; his Patronus is 
a phoenix; Harry thinks he sees a phoenix rising as Dumbledore is 
entombed, which suggests that perhaps Harry is seeing Dumbledore's 
soul leave his body.

Yet, if Dumbledore is the Christ figure, he is less important 
thematically than the figure represented by Snape.  He clearly 
fulfills the role of Judas Iscariot.  Like Judas, Snape may have 
betrayed Dumbledore to his enemy out of greed -- or perhaps, pride.  
In order for Snape to need redemption he must have sinned; that is, 
Snape must have truly betrayed Dumbledore and therefore cannot be in 
league with him.  Snape must have truly returned to the Dark Lord.

That is not to say that Snape is entirely evil.  It seems unlikely 
to me that JKR would have gone to such great lengths to keep 
reminding us that Dumbledore trusts Snape implicitly only to make 
the rather niggly point that Dumbledore could be wrong in his 
assessments of people.  Clearly there is more to the Dumbledore-
Snape relationship than we readers have seen.  I believe Dumbledore 
sees Severus Snape as not too different from Draco Malfoy.  He might 
or might not know of Snape's treachery; JKR hasn't told us.  He 
might or might not know of the Unbreakable Vow; once again, there is 
no canonical evidence.  But he clearly does not view Snape as evil, 
even if he does know of these things.  Perhaps the trust he puts in 
Snape is not a belief that Snape is not aligned with the Dark Lord, 
but rather, just like Draco, that when the time comes, that Snape 
will do the Right Thing.  He trusts that Snape, who has saved 
Harry's life more than once during Harry's stay at Hogwarts, yet who 
has also abused Harry's, Neville's, and even Hermione's innocence 
since the they first arrived, will not in the end succumb to the 
temptation of evil but will rather rise above his anger, jealousy, 
and pride to come over to the right side.

It is also not to say that Snape does not admire and respect 
Dumbledore; he probably does.  Judas admired Jesus.  But Judas also 
thought that Jesus' methods were ineffective in dealing with what he 
saw as evil embodied (in Judas's case, the Roman occupation of 
Judea).  Snape dislikes what Dumbledore stands for: pure good, 
success, position, status, respect, and so on.  Judas's hatred for 
Jesus, mixed with his essential greed, eventually destroyed him.  
Snape's history of hatred for Dumbledore, mixed with his essential 
jealousy may, in the end, destroy Snape.  The question is in the 
manner of his destruction, because for Snape, it could go either 
way: he could be destroyed along with Lord Voldemort, or (and this 
seems more likely, given the facts so far) he could in some way be 
brought to realize his errors.  He may, in the end, like Judas, feel 
guilt and remorse and  a need for repentance; he may be offered, 
like Judas, a chance at redemption.

But unlike Judas, who refused redemption and instead destroyed 
himself, Snape may choose to accept it.  Snape's act of repentance 
and the actions that result very well may be what saves Harry from 
being killed by Voldemort and also provides Harry with the means to 
destroy him.  Only such an act would provide Snape with true 
redemption.  Perhaps Snape's act of redemption will also require 
Snape to sacrifice himself, giving up his very life for Harry's 
benefit.

And finally, those enigmatic words Dumbledore called to Snape just 
as the Avada Kedavra hit him: "Severus... please...".  It is 
completely out of character for Dumbledore to beg for his life, 
though Harry thinks that's what he's doing; for Dumbledore, death is 
just the start of another adventure.  No, whatever Dumbledore wanted 
Snape to do, he clearly intended from the time he drank the potion 
in the middle of the lake -- that's when he began asking for Snape. 
But then, if he is NOT pleading for his life on the Astronomy Tower, 
but what is he pleading for?  Popular discussion has it that he is 
pleading, for various reasons, for Snape TO kill him.  That, of 
course, is a possibility, but only if we assume that Snape is on 
Dumbledore's side and has told him that he was forced into an 
Unbreakable Vow.  There is no direct (nor even clearly implied, 
despite our speculations) indication in the Canon that this is so.  
Under the scenario that I have suggested, Dumbledore may be pleading 
with Snape to remember that redemption is yet possible; like Draco, 
Snape can still be redeemed.  Or it may be that Dumbledore IS asking 
for Snape to kill him, not as a result of some plan set between them 
previously, but because Dumbledore knows that in death he will be 
more powerful than he ever was in life.

If that is true, book 7 becomes a book about Harry Potter in the 
same way that the original three Star Wars episodes were about Luke 
Skywalker -- his actions advance the plot and the story is told 
through his eyes, but the main theme is the redemption of a powerful 
agent of evil (not the destruction of the evil itself, however -- 
that will still be the job of the book's hero).

Note that Harry, throughout the six books so far, has never faced 
and defeated Voldemort alone.  He has always had help: sometimes Ron 
and/or Hermione, sometimes Dumbledore, sometimes others, but never 
using his, and only his, personal power.  In this view, Harry is 
only the catalyst that sets a much grander play into action: a 
struggle between the very forces of good and evil, and a revelation 
of what is required for true redemption of sin.  In this last part 
of the play, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna become 
Dumbledore's apostles.  Draco may yet join them.  Certainly the 
remaining Weasleys, except for Percy, will become disciples, as will 
Fleur, McGonegal, and others.  They will become the Warriors of 
Good, battling the forces of Evil.  Some undoubtedly will die.  
Among those who live, some will marry and some will become Hogwarts 
teachers.  Thematically, none of that matters.  All that matters is 
that in the end  redemption is made possible and evil is destroyed.
 
In brief, I suggest that in the end, Snape will be redeemed, 
Voldemort will be thereby destroyed, and the kids will carry out 
Dumbledore's mandate to go out into the world and spread the 
influence of the goodness of Love.  Because that is Dumbledore's 
message, just as it was Christ's: Love is the strongest magic there 
is.

Dean