Why I'm not convinced DD is dead (long)

[lagattalucianese]

No: HPFGUIDX 148535

Sherry:
> 
> i agree with you that I'm tired of Harry losing people.  But if 
anyone comes
> back from the dead, i hope it's Sirius.  Sirius is the person Harry's
> parents appointed to be his guardian, his father's best friend.  i 
think his
> return would be more meaningful in the long run for Harry, because 
he is a
> connection to his parents, because he's young enough to be in 
Harry's life
> for a good long time.  i also find Sirius' death more ambiguous than
> Dumbledore's.
> 
> Sherry
>
La Gatta Lucianese:

If anything, I think his death is considerably less ambiguous than 
Dumbledore's. I'm surprised that this issue hasn't come up before (if 
indeed it hasn't).

It sounds to me as if Sirius was dead even before his body fell 
through the veil. Here's the canon:

"Only one couple were still battling, apparently unaware of the new 
arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was 
laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, 
his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

"The second jet of light hit him squarely in the chest.

"The laughter had not quite died from his face,but his eyes widened in 
shock....

"It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a 
graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from 
the arch...."

Notice that Sirius makes no effort to save himself or break his fall. 
He simply sinks backward. If what Bellatrix hit him with was an Avada 
Kedavra curse (and there can be little doubt that she meant it), I 
doubt that he was alive at that point.

Passing but related thought: What if it isn't the spells themselves 
that are "color coded". What if it depends on the wizard/witch casting 
the spell, or on the intensity of the caster's feelings, or even some 
combination of factors. Thus Bellatrix's fury is reflected in the red 
of her curse, while the one with which Snape hit Dumbledore was a 
sickly green.