Harry lives... OK?

[pattiemgsybb]

No: HPFGUIDX 172686

Kit wrote:
> > 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.

Ginger McElwee wrote:
> Dobby also chose to go into battle.  Actually he has been choosing
> to battle for Harry since he was first introduced.  He defied his
> nature as ahouse elf to protect Harry in book two.  He risked
> being caught stealing to get gillyweed.  Every time he appears,
> Dobby has shown his willingness to do whatever is necessary to
> defeat evil. Dobby is a free elf who deliberately entered the
> Malfoy's house twice during what he knew was a dangerous time.
> He is a warrior by choice as much as any major character in the
> series, and his was a heroic death.


I didn't mean to suggest otherwise -- I only meant that, in my view,
Dobby has an innocence that the adult witches and wizards don't share.  Dobby's death *was* heroic -- he was "a warrior by choice," as you say. But it's my belief that his motivation was his love for Harry, first and foremost, and love for the cause only insofar as that is Harry's cause -- and in his eyes Harry's cause must be the right cause. (Remember that when Dobby first appears he is trying to keep Harry safe by preventing Harry from going to, or remaining at, school -- even though this is not what Harry himself wants. His priority is Harry's safety.) Dobby and his fellow elves, whether some be free or not, have no guarantee that they will benefit if Voldemort is defeated -- and they have every reason to believe that the average witch or wizard isn't overly concerned with their welfare. I felt that Dobby's decision to risk his life for Harry's was both a very brave and a very altruistic one for that reason; he put his life on the line for the person he loved, time and time again.

~ Kit