BloodBath in Book 7 Was Re:Who dies in 7?

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 146393

Quicksilver said:
> 
> I must differ in this view form most people in this group but I 
> think that to a certain extent book 7 could (dare I say should) be a 
> blood bath. Look at the end of HBP...a DE dies from a badly aimed 
> curse (which is also revealing in that the caster wouldn't have been 
> focused on killing one of their own). That death was totally random 
> yet it showed, to me anyway, that this is going to be a dangerous 
> conflict.
> 
> I'd also like to point out that the reader hasn't yet seen 
> Voldemort, in all his power, among the common wizard. The only times 
> we've actually seen Voldemort fight is against his equals (Harry and 
> Dumbledore) so I personally hope that we, the reader, get to see the 
> cat among the mice so to speak (Dumbledore got a scene like this 
> when Fudge tried to arrest him). In fact I think that a lot of 
> people in their discussion about the Weasley wedding could be 
> overlooking something. Think about it...it's likely that a large 
> number of Order members are going to attend; there'll be Ministry 
> staff on hand, maybe even some Aurors for protection, and Harry 
> Potter. If Voldemort wanted to send a message to the wizarding world 
> I can't think of a better way then doing a little wedding crashing.
> 
> I'm also of the opinion that either the Ministry or the Order must 
> be put out of commission before Harry's final victory. Unfortunately 
> I lean towards the Order for several reasons. The Ministry simply 
> isn't pro-Harry enough nor can I see Harry asking them for aid and 
> the split seems to be semi-public knowledge which means the Order is 
> really Harry's main support base. The Order seems relatively weak 
> without Dumbledore to lead them and I have trouble finding another 
> leader among the current ranks (I also believe that Voldemort's 
> attacks on the Order have been focused on stripping away the 
> leadership potential within it). 
> 
> Quick_Silver (thinking that most people will disagree)
>
Antosha:

Oh, I think people will die--people we know, people we don't. I was
actually really saddened that two characters whom we had barely met
but found quite interesting were summarily dispatched at the beginning
of HBP (Emmaline Vance and Amelia Bones).

I still feel that lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots
and lots of dead bodies on stage, as it were, will actually make the
deaths LESS significant. As someone who's seen and read more than my
share of blood tragedies (for some reason that I'm still unable to
ascertain, I have a master's degree in Renaissance drama), I can tell
you that, at the end of a play by Ford or Webster or Tourneur, you
don't feel anything like the anguish caused by Romeo and Juliet's or
Othello and Desdemona's deaths.

How would watching LV waste a few score Hogwarts students (as he is
perfectly capable of doing) add anything to the book? It'd be nothing
more than a biblical begat list--and anyone who's read La Morte
D'Artur knows what I'm talking about: "And then Voldy slew Justin
Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones and Rose Zeller, and
the Hufflepuffs did moan and weap and gnash their teeth and cover
their heads in ashes. Zacharais Smith he did not slay, for Zacharais
Smith was a berk and not worth the trouble. And Voldy did take his
wand and did slay Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot and Su Li, and
their entrails did spill upon the ground, and the Ravenclaws did cry
unto Merlin for deliverance. And among the Slytherins he slew five and
twenty who had not shown loyalty unto him, and his servants did kiss
the hem of his garment and begged forgiveness. And then Voldy turned
upon the Gryffindors and killed everyone not named Harry, until the
Common Room did flow red with their blood.... blah blah blah." I don't
find that particularly moving. Numbing, possibly. Tedious, in the
extreme. But not particularly upsetting.

There's an old truism in war reporting: one death is a tragedy; a
hundred deaths is a statistic.

As for the elimination of the Ministry and the Order... well, I think
they've both already been sidelined. The last book is going to focus
on Harry & Co's struggle against LV and his minions. The Ministry is
already largely a non-player, and the Order will be up to its eyeballs
off-screen dealing with the kinds of attacks we kept hearing about in
HBP and OotP, while Harry, Ron and Hermione (and possibly, eventually,
Ginny, Neville, Luna, the twins and a few other odd Weasleys and DA
members) actually do the work of destroying the Horcruxes and
vanquishing LV.

I still think that any ending that is the equivalent of Dirty!Harry
standing over LV with his wand pointed at his head, saying, "Do you
feel lucky, punk?"--in other words, any ending that's simply a matter
of Harry loading up for bear and blowing Voldemort away--is going to
be unsatisfying. The series seems to be aiming at some sort of message
of love, self-sacrifice and redemption, so macho posturing and alpha
male dominance a la any Arnold Schwartzenegger movie aren't going to
ring true.

But that's me.

;-)