Harry lives... OK?

[pattiemgsybb]

No: HPFGUIDX 172645

> Bobbi:
> 
> From a complete lurker(me)....and likely to become one again.
> I was totally crushed when Hedwig died.  I cried and cried, but from
> a weird sort of standpoint I could understand it.
> If we look at the name thing and see Hedwig as a symbol for St.
> Hedwig, the patron St. of orphan children, then her 'death' could be
> seen as one of the turning points where Harry becomes a man rather
> then a child.
> 
> Please don't throw stones or sharp objects.  I'm going back to the
> dungeon now.


to a fellow lurker:

Bobbi, I read someone elsewhere making that point and I thought it was
a good one (I had never known about the patron business); as you say,
it helped me adjust to that death (somewhat!). Like the first poster,
I didn't like the idea that Hedwig's was a meaningless death, and this
information suggests to me that her death really did have meaning.
Before reading your post I really wanted to block this sad scene out
of my mind, but now I'm thinking -- maybe another reason for Hedwig's
death was to underline the fact that war means death for many besides
the warriors, including many innocents.   

For anyone who loves animals and their innocence -- keeping in mind,
as another has said above, that Hedwig had no choice about going into
battle -- Hedwig's sudden, unexpected death would have to be very hard
to take. And it was made harder because Hedwig had become such a
character in her own right.  Just before reading DH I was telling my
mother how well JKR individualizes the kids' (and Hagrid's) pets;
Hedwig's so distinct from Pig, from Errol -- she has a quiet dignity
and her feathers are easily ruffled (forgive me for that one) yet
she's clever, hard-working, and she clearly has real affection for Harry. 

I'm with everyone whose heart broke over Dobby's death. The one thing
I would say about that death is that the way Harry dealt with it was
so touching.  And how right is it that Dobby's last words were what
they were? Another case of an innocent caught in the cross-fire in a
sense, though Dobby chose to enter the fray for the sake of saving the
being he loved best in the world. Talk about brave -- Dobby should've
had a bed in Gryffindor.  

In terms of whose deaths devastated me most, Fred's and Lupin's broke
my heart into pieces as well -- but there's a different quality in my
grief for them because unlike Hedwig and Dobby they did choose to go
into battle.  

~ Kit