Harry's death, Snape's sacrifice (was Re: Predictions about book 7)

[juli17ptf]

No: HPFGUIDX 152979

<snip>

>   Eggplant:
> > Voldemort will definitely not win of course, but people will be
> > debating for a long time if Harry was really victorious and if the
> > price he paid was too high. 

 
> KJ:
>    I think this is very true, particularly if my prediction is true 
and 
> Harry gives up his life in the cause to destroy the final piece of 
soul. 
> I can picture a heart-rending scene where his mother, father, 
Sirius, 
> Dumbledore, probably Lupin, and Ginny are all waiting to welcome 
him 
> home. Pretty sure Voldemort won't be going there!

Julie:
I've seen this theory before, that Harry will die and rejoin his 
loved ones beyond the veil, and I personally can't imagine a worse 
ending. Or a worse message to send children (who still make up a 
large number if not a majority of HP readers). It's like 
saying  "Don't bother about this life, the next one's so much better 
anyway! Especially if you've lost loved ones, you can just join them 
for a fabulous friend and family reunion! Really, who wants to wait 
for that anyway?"  

I know that's not what anyone who's suggested this theory is 
advocating of course, but I think it could certainly be read that way 
by children or others who've lost people important to them or who are 
finding life a struggle for whatever reason. If Harry Potter can 
escape his suffering, avoid having to live with the loss of so many 
people he's loved and just get "home" to them that much sooner, why 
don't I deserve the same?

I'm also not disagreeing here with Dumbledore's assertion that death 
is the next great adventure. That's a great way to look at it. 
Dumbledore doesn't fear death, which is very admirable, but he 
doesn't embrace it either. He embraces life, and he makes the very 
most of *that* great adventure first, gracefully moving on to the 
next adventure, death, only when there is no other option left.

I can only hope Harry is allowed to do the same. He's lived so far 
with too much pain and sorrow, and with a cloud hanging constantly 
over his head. If he dies without ever having had the opportunity to 
embrace life and all it can give him, then he won't be moving on to 
the *next* adventure, because he won't have experienced the first 
one. And Harry deserves NOTHING less than that. I can only believe 
that his parents, Sirius, and the others beyond the veil who love him 
also want that for him far more than they want him to come "home." 

So while Lupinlore may toss his HP books in the wood chipper if Snape 
isn't publically flogged while the citizens of the WW chant "You 
reprehensible CHILD ABUSER!", for me it would be Harry going beyond 
the veil permanently as an implied reward for his goodness and 
courage that would induce me to give away my HP books. (I don't 
expect JKR will kill off Harry, so really I'm just expressing my 
opinion here.)


KJ also wrote:
> 
>    I also think that Snape will not survive.  I suspect that his 
sole 
> purpose is to see the end of Voldemort, no matter what he has to do 
to 
> achieve it. He will throw himself in front of Harry shielding him 
from 
> the killing curse and drop his wand at Harry's feet so that Harry 
has a 
> wand that will work against Voldemort's wand. This is why it was so 
> important to place Snape at Voldemort's side when Harry finally 
comes 
> before him, and why Ollivander was hidden away where Voldemort 
could not 
> find him to change wands. I bet!
> 

Julie:
Now this idea I love! I hadn't thought about it in this way before, 
but it is a good reason for Snape to be with Voldemort when Harry 
shows up for the final confrontation. It seems all but certain that 
Snape will sacrifice himself to bring about Voldemort's downfall. 
Though I'm still not certain Harry will kill Voldemort in a 
conventional way (with a wand), there could still be another use for 
Snape's wand. If Voldemort is the one who took Ollivander, forcing 
him to fashion a new wand, could it be that Snape too could secretly 
get Ollivander to fashion a second wand, one that Snape would toss to 
Harry during the final confrontation, one that would create the same 
wand effect as in GoF, so that Voldemort couldn't kill Harry, *again* 
(ooh, he'd be so maaad), allowing Harry to vanquish Voldemort in some 
other way while remaining safe from AKs and the like?

Julie, pondering a bit aimlessly in her sleepiness...