The Dual Nature of DD

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 150877

We have discussed many things here about DD, including the idea the 
he is a Saint, a Phoenix and just a human being like the rest of 
us.  There has been some discussion here recently about DD being 
immortal and others saying that he can't be immortal and giving all 
good reasons for that point of view.

Today I had a talk with a priest that I know who has not read the HP 
books so I was telling her what I see in them and about the 
discussions that have been going on here.  She told me that to be 
immortal and to be eternal are two different things and that 97% of 
people think that they are the same.  I had never thought about this 
distinction before either. Now that I have I would like to take 
another crack at a theory of DD.

First LV wants to be immortal. He wants to stay in a human body in 
the material world.  We must assume that there is life after death 
in the WW, because both Luna and Harry heard people talking on the 
other side of the veil and Luna knows that they are there. I think 
that we can infer from this that Tom Riddle is afraid to die in 
perhaps much the same way that the ghost are afraid.  I think that 
this means that Tom is not after eternal life, he is after immortal 
life.  Immortal life being one that is in the body.

DD on the other hand does not fear death. He says that it is 
the "next great adventure".  This implies that he too knows that 
there is life of some sort after the body dies.  He does not seek 
immortality.  

DD is fully human like the rest of us.  But I think that DD might 
also be eternal.  The part of him that is eternal is the part that 
Harry saw flying away as a Phoenix.  

I have suggested before the perhaps the reason that DD has so many 
names is that he is a Phoenix and each time he comes back he gets 
another name. This idea would be re-incarnation which is not a 
Christian concept. I was toying with the idea that JKR might be 
giving us a variety of spiritual ideas other than Christianity.  

But if we stay with a Christian interpretation of DD, his different 
names could be the different ways that he is perceived by different 
groups of people.  Sort of like St. Nicholas.  St. Nicholas was a 
real person who was a Bishop in Asia Minor.  But over the centuries 
different stories have sprung up and he has come to be known by many 
names the world over such as Kris Kringle, Santa Claus, Father 
Christmas, and so on.

Now back to the personhood of DD.  Even thought it appears that the 
WW has the concept of the (shall we call it) soul of the person 
living on in another realm of existence, I think that DD is a 
special case. I could be wrong here, because there is also a 
difference between being Christ and being Jesus.  Jesus had a dual 
nature that was both eternal and mortal.  And His eternal nature was 
of a different kind than ours in that He existed from before the 
beginning and we were formed after that. 

Now JKR has said that DD is not Jesus.  John Granger says that this 
does not mean that DD can't be a Christ figure.  I think it is quite 
clear that DD is indeed a Christ figure.  Now here is the problem. 
Only Jesus had 2 natures in one being, so I am not sure if I can go 
there with these ideas for DD.  But if by chance she has DD being 
around from before the beginning of the world
 as in very old magic, 
then she will have in essence made him another Jesus.  

But for the time being, let us ponder that DD is the end result of 
the type of Alchemy that was done in (I think) the Renaissance.  
That type of Alchemy was not turning lead into gold in a literal 
sense, it was a spiritual quest to attune oneself to God.  In this 
way DD is the end result of this by becoming what we would call a 
Saint and some would call becoming one with Christ or even becoming 
Christ.  (Waving over to Geoff whom I know does not like me to use 
this type of terminology, which is a valid concept in Christian 
mysticism.)

What I am saying here is simply that DD is Christ and that he is 
both human and shares in the divinity of Jesus and hereby is now 
eternal.  That is why we see the Phoenix rise out of the flames at 
his funeral.  I also suspect, but can not proof yet, that DD is more 
than a Saint.  I think that he will come back in book 7 to fight 
with Harry.

Now I know that may say that Harry is the hero and he must go on 
alone and this is a coming of age story, etc., etc.  On the other 
hand, have we really seen JKR stick to the classic story line or 
have we seen her stray this way and that or with a bit of a twist?  
I think that just maybe Harry does not have what it takes to defeat 
LV by himself.  I think that JKR is going to show that none of us 
can go it alone, that we all need some help and a little well placed 
luck as Snape would say. For this reason I think that DD will come 
back at least for a short time in book 7.  If he does then I will 
have to say that JKR has done more that show him as just another 
Saint.  

Tonks_op