Love, Hate, Joy, Despair---the Greatest is Love

[willsonteam]

No: HPFGUIDX 191062


> >Nikkalmati
> 
> I am not sure you will get many responses. lol.   This is a very dark series.  Love is emphasized by its absence. There is lots of mother love, of course.  Lily, Molly, Narcissa, Merope, Petunia (?). 

Potioncat:

That was my first thought too, there had been a complaint about how dark our discussions are---well, this is a dark story! I don't have the book and page, but isn't Love the mysterious power in the MOM--that is so powerful and dangerous? JKR certainly shows how dangerous love can be.

Just looking at mother love--Lily's willing sacrifice for her son created a both a defense from and a weapon against LV. Merope's love for her unborn baby couldn't keep her alive, but she made an effort to provide life for Tom. (Very much like Oliver Twist---locket and all) Molly has a fierce love for her children, one that some readers feel is too intrusive. Narcissa betrays LV twice for her son. Petunia---poor Petunia--she really does love Dudley but she hasn't a clue how to be a parent. 

We are shown obsessive love with Merope for Tom, and to make sure we "get" it, Slughorn discusses the danger of it. Who doesn't understand the desire to make someone love you?---that one perfect person to love you? Most teens and some adults go through that stage--in the RW we see stalkers on one level and day-to-day people on the other. Merope's efforts went so far and caused damage that went through several generations. Snape's love for Lily became obessive at the end--a sort of honorable obessive love. It drove him to great lengths of courage and sacrifice---but his love stayed very narrow and focused.

There is early stage romantic love (Harry for Cho and Ron for Lavendar) and a mature romantic love (Harry for Ginny and Ron for Hermione) I'm not sure it was well written, but the intent is there. I know that many readers do not like the Ron-Hermione dynamic and consider it a  younger version of Arthur-Molly. But I think Arthur and Molly have a weathered, loving relationship that fits their personalities and works toward their strengths and weaknesses.

 
Nikkalmati
> I am not sure it is Harry's love that saves the WW.  Do you mean his love for that world in general, so he is willing to die?  I see it more as his sense of duty.


Potioncat:
Duty plays into the battle--by many of the characters. A call to arms is a reaction to our sense of duty. But Harry makes his decisions based on love (imho) And we see his love for others--an agape love--many times. One that comes to mind is when Cho sees him on the train and he wishes he was sitting with a cooler crowd---but he never puts Neville or Luna down or makes them feel uncomfortable.

I think Harry saw his battle with LV as his destiny and yes a sort of duty---but how he played it out, I think, was due to his love. At the end he was rescuing DEs (Draco and friends) and even tried to save Tom Riddle from his eternal fate by urging him to feel remorse.

Yep, love isn't exactly a rosey topic in the WW, is it?