[HPforGrownups] Re: The two-way mirror - a cruel useless plot device

[Maria]

No: HPFGUIDX 163679

Both Carol and Jen bring up very good points:

Carol:
In OoP, the mirror serves in part to prove to Harry and the reader
that Sirius Black, who only fell through the Veil, is really dead. But
its use as a plot device also illustrates Harry's tendency to forget
important things--it's there; he could have used it if he hadn't
forgotten about it (as he also forgot about Sirius's knife during the
Second Task in GoF). If Black had told him what it was, he might have
used it. Instead, he gave it to him crudely wrapped and told him to
use it if Snape gave him a hard time. Instead, he forgets about
it--never even opens it, in fact--because he's he's never in danger
from Snape and because he's trying to protect Black: "It would not be
he, Harry, who lured Sirius from his hiding place" (quoted from
memory.

and Jen:
Harry is doing the magical equivalent, hoping against hope he might
actually talk to Sirius again and reasoning he couldn't because Sirius
didn't have the other mirror--that moment was particularly moving,
Harry thinking the reason he couldn't talk to Sirius was because Sirius
didn't have the mirror, not because Sirius was dead and they would
*never* talk again in the same way.

Maria:
You both are right, and I can see that the mirror serves many purposes
in the book besides the one for which it was designed and never
occurred (communicating with Sirius)..

My point, however, comes from the sadness and pain Harry goes through
in the hours and days after Sirius goes through the veil... he feels
incredibly guilty, and the discovery of the mirror serves to increase
this guilt upon realizing that he coudl have reached him with it and
saved everyone the trouble and Sirius his life. In that sense, he
doesn't need the extra guilt. But I see that the mirror can still
offer a lot of other uses, like you all point out very well.

Maria