Flitwick, Harry's book, sexy Snape, Harry's heart

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 139648

Ginger:
> If we go back to the graveyard scene in GoF, Harry decided to
> face, and possibly accept, death.  He decided to die on his feet,
> fighting like his father.  This courage in the face of death 
> happened even before the Phoenix started singing.  
> 
> LV, on the other hand, was described as "his face livid with fear" 
> when facing the echos of his victims.  Death looked him in the
> face, and he was afraid.  Death looked Harry in the face, and he
> rose to the challenge.

Jen: The graveyard scene became particulary meaningful after hearing 
Dumbledore describe Voldemort as secretly fearing both death and 
darkness. I felt empathy for young Riddle when Dumbledore described 
those particular fears, still present in the most evil wizard ever. 
He spent his life attempting to conquer death and the ultimate 
darkness, but he can't conquer those little-boy fears conceived 
during his early life at the orphange. 

Ginger:
> I think in the end this will be Harry's strongest weapon.  He is
> not afraid of LV's greatest fear.

Jen: You just made me realize a really big difference between these 
two--Harry's fears have changed over time because he is capable of 
finding the resources to overcome them. He once feared Dementors 
most of all, but now he's learned a strategy to banish them, so I'm 
certain he has a new boggart fear. Perhaps not dying, but dying 
before he defeats Voldemort? 

Ginger: 
> He will go into their final battle no holds barred, no fear, ready
> to give everything, even his life if necessary, to defeat LV.  
> Hopefully, he will have destroyed the Horcruces by then.  If he
> keeps his wits about him, this will be a powerful weapon in
> addition to dueling.  
> 
> If he can keep up an ongoing patter along the lines of "You're
> going to die, Tom.  I destroyed your locket.  And your cup.  And
> your ...(insert other Horcruces)  You will die.  Perhaps not
> today, but you will die.  If you kill me, there will always be
> another.  And another.  I am but one man.  You can kill me and
> others will come after.  But you will die.  It's over.  You are no
> more immortal than I." he may wear LV down and force him to make
> crucial mistakes. 

Jen: HEEE, love this Ginger. I'm sure those were the kinds of things 
the Priori Incantatem ghosts were whispering in Voldemort's ear to 
increase his fear in the graveyard. Not about the Horcuxes (or maybe 
so, could they know more than they knew alive?), but whispering how 
Harry is more powerful, how he will eventually destroy him.

Ginger:
> OK, so there's a reason I'm not a writer, (That last paragraph
> sounds familiar- does it ring a bell with anyone else?  Reply 
> offlist, please.  It's bugging me.) 

Jen: Maybe someone already suggested this to you off-list, but I 
actually have a canon point to make so I'm writing on-list ;). Your 
previous paragraph reminded me of Obi Wan and Darth in A New Hope 
when Obi Wan tells Darth: "You can't win, Darth, if you stike me 
down I will only become more powerful. I will join the force..." or 
something to that effect. 

So for the canon comment, I thought of this scene when Dumbledore 
died. I wondered if he, too, would become more powerful in death? 
Not as a vision coming to Harry, like Obi Wan for Luke, but 
more....well, I'm not sure exactly what, but there's something 
significant about the moment Harry realized how his parents, Sirius, 
and Dumbledore had stood in front of him 'one by one....all 
determined to protect him'. I don't believe Dumbledore intentionally 
sacrificed his life for Harry on the tower, but he actually did 
sacrifice the life he once had on the day he heard the prophecy. 
Maybe when he heard the prophecy he didn't *love* Harry yet, but he 
believed in the power of love magic to overcome Voldemort's type of 
magic. And he was willing to do everything he could to make sure 
that happened, as were James, Lily and Sirius. Belief that strong 
must confer some kind of power from the after-life! 

Jen, suddenly realizing while the people Snape hates tend to end up 
dead, the same could be said for the people Harry loves :(