my DH reactions minus Snape

[Kim]

No: HPFGUIDX 172867

Sherry Gomes wrote:
> I do not get the whole deathly Hallows thing at all. Did Harry end up
> Master of death? But he still destroyed the Horcruxes. How did Harry live
> in the end? If his mother's blood in Voldemort tethered him to life when
> Voldemort killed him in the forest, then how did he live when Voldemort
> tried it again in the great Hall? I just don't get it, and I'd be glad for
> clarification.

M.Clifford wrote:
> It seems to me that the second time, in the Great Hall, then, Harry
> was the undisputed Master of Death. That was the moment when he took
> possession of the last Hallow and mastered it in his magical control,
> the only thing he hadn't done yet, and so in that moment, he could not
> die. Voldemort's immortality was gone as of Nagini's death so he could
> die, and via the shared blood it is possible he could have taken Harry
> with him, it was at that moment, I believe, that Harry had achieved
> the legendary immortality bestowed by the Hallows and thus couldn't
die.

Kim:
I'm not sure that the possession of the 3 Hallows actually makes the possessor the Master
of Death.  The following passage leads me to believe that the hallows were three powerful
magical items that a tale was built around, but not that they were beyond death.

King's Cross, page 714:
"So it's true?" asked Harry.  "All of it?  The Peverell brother --"
"--were the three brothers of the tale," said Dumbledore, nodding.  "Oh yes, I think so.
Whether they met Death on a lonely road...I think it more likely that the Peverell brothers
were simply gifted, dangerous wizards who succeeded in creating those powerful objects.
The story of them being Death's own Hallows seems to me the sort of legend that might
have sprung up around such creations.

Dumbledore doesn't make any comments about Harry being invincible, nor does he tell
Harry that he is the true owner of the Elder Wand.  Harry had to figure that out for himself.
Besides, I don't know if the power of the Resurrection Stone was significant.  The figures
that were resurrected were more like hallucinations.

The Forest Again, page 698
"They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see that.  They resembled most closely
the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made
nearly solid.  Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved
toward him, and on each face, there was the same loving smile."

It seems to me that they could just as well be a figment of his imagination, which leads me
to another quote that discounts the difference between real and imagined encounters.

King's Cross, page 723
"Tell me one last thing," said Harry.  "Is this real?  Or has this been happening inside my
head?"
Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even
though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that
it is not real?"

I'm not sure of how the Elder wand was actually Harry's...that whole thing didn't make
sense to me.  So I couldn't say how he survived.  The best I can say is that I think he lived
in the end because he was stronger than Voldemort.  Unlike Voldy, he wasn't scared of
death, the Elder Wand, or of his foe.  Maybe he just psyched Voldy out enough to win.

Kim