Bathroom scene- A different outcome

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165180

va32h wrote:
> 
> Thank you - and I do mean that sincerely - but I honestly feel that
if you had a first hand view of the situation, you would feel
differently. Killing is against our human nature - to make this on
topic, I'll point out that Slughorn says this to Tom Riddle, who
doesn't care, because Riddle is a sociopath. Only sociopaths - people
with no conscience or empathy whatsoever - can kill without a speck of
remorse.  
> 
> Part of war strategy is dehumanizing the enemy - which we must do in
order to get over that natural instinct to preserve, not destroy,
human life. 
> 
> In his own way, Harry has dehumanized the Death Eaters - Sirius
tells him way back in GoF that the world is not divided into good
people and DEs, but realizing that "the bad guys are people too" is a
lesson Harry is still learning in HBP. Harry hated Draco, Harry
mistrusts Draco, Harry is convinced that Draco is aiding the enemy,
but at the moment of truth, watching Draco's blood pouring out of his
body, by Harry's own hand, Harry cannot escape the reality that this
is a person. A human being. 
<snip>
> 
> My husband does not consider himself particularly brave. On the
first tour, he was naive, then terrified. The second time, scared, but
resolved. This time - quietly determined to get it over with. Which is
very much how I see Harry moving through his journey and realization
of what must be done to get rid of Voldemort. 
> 
> War and evil are grim realities. Eradicating them are grim 
responsibilites. Killing - no matter how noble the cause for which one
is doing the killing (and I am speaking of Harry's cause here) is
nothing to be thrilled and proud about. It is an ugly, dirty, messy
business. <snip>

Carol responds:
Thank you for this post, which brings up some important themes that
appear more prominently in HBP than in the earlier books. One is the
grim reality of killing and war (Draco, I hope, has learned that
murdering an unarmed old man is anything but glorious, and Fenrir
Greyback illustrates the bestial sort of person who enjoys killing for
sport.

The other is (Greyback aside) the humanity, or perhaps "humanness" is
a better word, of the enemy. "Spinner's End" reveals Narcissa,
otherwise an unlikeable character in every respect, as a loving and
desperate mother and loyal wife. Snape, even if he's a loyal Death
Eater, shows her something like compassion and puts his own life at
stake for Draco. Even Bellatrix shows a surprising affection for
"Cissy." It's a revelation. The Death Eaters and their supporters
(counting Snape as a DE here because he's at least playing that role)
are human, too. Harry, of course, doesn't witness the scene, but it's
an eye opener for the reader, as is the revelation that Snape's
interest in the Dark Arts is balanced by amazing Healing skills.

Draco's tears do much the same thing for him as Narcissa's did for her
in a later scene. We don't empathize with him, of course, since we
have a pretty good idea that whatever he's trying to do has to do with
killing Dumbledore, but we can pity him. He's terrified, with good
reason, of the Dark wizard he used to find so wonderful. And, as we
discover later, he's as fearful for his family as for himself.

Once Harry grasps what really happened in the Sectumsempra scene, no
longer sidetracked by the HBP or Ginny or Quidditch, perhaps he'll
remember Draco's tears. Perhaps he'll remember his white-faced
hesitation on the tower. He admits to a tiny twinge of pity for
Draco--none, of course, for the much-hated Snape, but that's too much
to expect of him now. Maybe Draco will be the first step in Harry's
progress toward understanding that, Voldemort and Fenrir Greyback
excepted, the bad guys have their loves and their values, their pain
and their anger, just as he does.

I don't think that JKR is writing a novelized video game, where blood
is everywhere and the bad guys are barely distinguishable from the
good guys. Love for the wizarding world, compassion for the suffering
Voldemort has caused to people on both sides--that's what will cause
Harry to triumph--not killing off the bad guys as if he were Dirty
Harry or the Terminator or some nameless "hero" in the heartless
simulated world of a video game.

Carol, thinking that perhaps we should look at Dumbledore's values to
determine where JKR is taking Harry in the seventh stage of his
journey to adulthood and victory over Voldemort