Harry's Angst Re: A Simpler Scenario

[Jen Reese]

Annemehr:
> My problem? I thought that in OoP it wasn't the idea of "destiny"
> that bothered Harry so much, it was the idea that he would either
> kill or be killed.  Then in HBP, DD takes away the idea of 
> destiny.  But where did the angst about killing go?  Was it ever
> there, or did I read OoP wrong?  It's the process of Harry 
> reconciling himself to killing that we never see.

David: 
> I think the angst was there.  It's very clear, IMO, in POA when he
> prevents Sirius and Lupin from killing Pettigrew.

Jen: The moment when Harry understands the prophecy seems more like 
a theoretical acceptance of facts than a true reconciliation about 
killing Voldemort. He did feel the flame leap inside his chest, and 
said he would want to be the one to 'finish' Voldemort, but that 
moment reminded me of Dumbledore telling Draco: "Killing is not 
nearly as easy as the innocent believe." 

I don't think Harry has faced the killing part of his destiny at 
*all*, yet. He now understands why Voldemort is hunting him, why he 
hasn't been succesful and the very limited choices Voldemort has 
forced upon him: run & hide or face him. But Harry doesn't get his 
own unique role in in the process yet. The bit where he is equal to 
LV because LV made it so, and has a power to defeat him when the 
time comes. It won't be found in dark magic like Harry keeps trying 
to use in HBP, and not through closing his mind. I don't think we 
have a satisfactory answer yet because similar to casting the 
Patronus on the lake, Harry will discover this power inside himself 
when he finally truly believes in it. It's not something Dumbledore 
can teach Harry or make happen, even though all his efforts mirror 
Lupin teaching the Patronus and will contribute in the end.

David: 
> We have yet to see what JKR really makes of this, but I will feel 
> cheated either if:
> 
> - Harry kills Voldemort because that's what he has to do
> - Deus ex machina kills Voldemort, saving Harry the bother

Jen: We may get more about the nuances of killing in self defense, 
or mercy killing or killing in a time of war. Some explanation of 
Snape's AK could help this part of the story along. I think part of 
Harry's mercy to Wormtail was realizing how Sirius and Lupin would 
be killing an unarmed man in cold-blood, for revenge, and he won't 
be facing a similar situation with Voldemort.

But in the end I don't think Harry will kill him in a traditional 
way. 

David:
> The classic way to deal with this is for Voldemort's own plans to 
> somehow recoil upon his own head, triggered in some way be Harry's 
> presence or intervention, hostile to Voldemort, yes, but not 
> directly aimed at his life at that point.  Not sure how I feel 
about 
> that one.

Jen: This one really seems the most likely because of the set-up we 
have now. Voldemort continues to strengthen Harry every time he 
fails to defeat him. He also continues to defeat himself by doing 
stupid things like taking Harry's blood and insisting on killing 
Harry himself. One of the DE's casting a killing curse during the 
race across the grounds and Harry would be dead now. But Voldemort 
obsessively insists on killing Harry, and each failure 'hands Harry 
weapons'. Now he can't possess Harry, or use the mindlink. And the 
Parselmouth will come back to haunt him as well, I suspect. 

Plus that gong spell Dumbeldore cast at Voldemort in OOTP will most 
likely come into play, from what JKR *didn't* say in the 
interview :).

Jen