The two-way mirror - a cruel useless plot device

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 163682


> 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. 

Magpie:
I think the extra guilt is more important than just guilt, though. 
Harry's guilt is a big part of what fuels his escalated anger at Snape 
in HBP. He needs to think Snape killed Sirius to avoid his own guilt. 
So there might be a good emotional reason for Harry to need a symbol 
of that in the mirror that brings his own mistake painfully to mind.

Besides which, since I do think the mirror will probably be important, 
having it come from Sirius might make for a more healing emotion later 
on. Harry could have used it but he somehow wasn't "supposed" to use 
it or wasn't "ready" to use it in OotP in terms of his emotional 
development and how the story was going. But he still has it as a 
charged reminder of Sirius. It may work as a deeper symbol for that 
reason; not only does it let Harry communicate with people he's 
separated from, but it connects him to Sirius beyond the veil because 
he owns something of his, as he owns his father's invisibility cloak.

Actually, that makes me wonder if there's something more to be seen in 
that--I mean, if we can find a sort of resonance in the things he's 
inherited. Does an invisibility cloak "fit" James or James' role in 
Harry's life in a way that the two-way mirror fits Sirius? A cloak is 
by nature protective, and by being invisible it protects Harry as he 
finds things out in the world--something a father would do. The mirror 
represents communication, and Sirius was a living connection for Harry 
in the world, one that both connected him to his parents and family 
and one who made him feel like he wasn't truly as alone as he thought 
he was.

-m