Funerals

[kiricat4001]

No: HPFGUIDX 137787

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lisa graves" 
<monalila662 at e...> wrote:
> In HBP, we are shown a wizard funeral. People sitting, mourning, 
speeches (from a man in 
> black? I'd really like to know who this is btw) etc. All of DD's 
friends, supporters, 
> colleagues, etc come to pay their respect. Which got me thinking 
about Sirius' death. I 
> realize there was no body to bury... but wouldn't there be some 
kind of ceremony? 
> Wouldn't it have given some closure for Harry and members of the 
OOTP? Isn't it a bit 
> strange that noone did anything? At the very least, he WAS a black-
 someone should've 
> had a "proper" goodbye.


Marianne:

I agree - I felt the total lack of any sort of ceremony very strange 
and unsatisfying. We, the readers, didn't even have to be present at 
a memorial service. It could have simply been mentioned in passing.  
It's like saying that, if there's no body, there is no 
acknowledgment of a person's death, or of the life they once had.  
We'll all just pretend he left town and didn't leave a forwarding 
address.

Pure speculation here - I think that Harry will in some way 
memorialize Sirius in Book 7, if he does indeed go to Godric's 
Hollow and visit his parents' graves.  (Aside: how long has Harry 
known where his parents were buried?  Who told him? When?  Why is a 
visit only occurring to him now?)

Lisa graves:
> This also led me to think about wizard funerals in general. Why 
bury one of the greatest 
> wizards- wouldn't his body be in danger of becoming an inferi with 
Voldewart running 
> around? Just the sight of DD as an inferi could be enough to send 
people staight to St. 
> Mungo's. 

Marianne:

I imagine that there are powerful protections on DD's tomb that 
would prevent this particular type of tomb raiding.  I have to 
reread the descriptions of Inferi. Are they created from people who 
have died, and not yet been buried? Or can they be created from any 
dead body, regardless of how long ago that person died?

And what about the other big ceremonies - weddings and baptisms? 
What are the Wizard versions of these?  I suspect we might see a 
wedding between Bill and Fleur, so perhaps that question may be 
answered.  

I wonder, though, about the level of committment that is required of 
a godparent.  In JKR's recent TLC/Mugglenet interview she seemed to 
shy away from fully discussing Harry's baptism. I got the feeling 
that Sirius as godfather was required to take some sort of vow that 
went beyond the traditional "I promise to take care of the kid if 
something happens to the parents." 

Again, it's speculation on my part. But, as at this time, according 
to the recent interview, the Potters were already in hiding because 
of the danger to Harry, perhaps there was an additional level of 
protection for the child agreed to by the godfather because Harry 
faced greater peril than most children.

Marianne