[HPforGrownups] Sirius' death (was: Re: ESE!Lupin condensed)

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 146981

Maria next:
I respectfully disagree, Karen. Sirius' death did not touch me *at all*. I
liked Sirius' character, but his entire death was just such a 'non-event'
that - like Susan - it left me cold. I actually had to go back and reread
the last few pages to even realize *that* he'd died... I remember the next
chapter starting out with something like "Harry couldn't believe Sirius was
dead" (or something similar - sorry, I don't have the book here), and I
thought "Huh? He died?"... oh yeah... he 'fell through the veil'.

I was touched by both Cedric and Dumbledore's death, so I think it was just
a spot of bad writing on JKR's behalf (but then, OotP is so far my least
favourite of the HP books that I'm inclined to say I dislike it). After
having known for the entire book that somebody was going to die, it was just
too anti-climatic.


Maria


Sherry now:

I had a completely opposite reaction.  oh my, Sirius murder was devastating
to me.  After all his anguish, the 12 years in Azkaban, then his freedom
snatched away in moments, his inability to help Harry, his anguish over the
fate of the Potters ... wow, it shook me to have him die as abruptly and
brutally as he did.  and even more so, because Harry witnessed it.  And it
was really Harry's reaction that got to me, touched me and broke my heart.
His reactions seemed so perfectly right on, his denial, his desire to rush
behind the veil, his cries for Sirius, his belief that Sirius would just
reappear, Lupin having to hold him back ... i found all of that very
powerful. 

in fact, in an odd way, Dumbledore's death didn't get me as much.  It was
terrible in terms of shock value, but that was more because of how it
happened, than the fact that it did happen.  after all, it was very much
expected that Dumbledore would be the one to die in this book.

Sherry