DH:34 - The Forest Again (Bloomsbury 2007)
Italics are impressions from my first read, when I did not yet know what was going to happen.
1) First thought. Harry has willingly faced death many times before, but now he knows he must make himself go from a position of relative safety into certain death. That takes a very special kind of courage.
2) Harry contemplates his death. Harry counting his hearbeats and wondering how many more there would be and whether dying would hurt was heartbreaking for me, but he never even considers not doing it.
3) The empty portraits. Symbolic of Harry being alone at last, without help or comfort from the living world.
4) Harry perceives Dumbledore as cold and calculating. I still can't see it that way. I think that *somehow* Dumbledore was able to predict what would happen, just as it seems he predicted every other thing that happened in this book. But it was essential for Harry to believe that he was going to his death, and for him to willing choose it. I wish I could explain this better. Harry knows that Dumbledore chose rightly as well; he does not begrudge him arranging things like he did, and when he talks to Neville, he even consciously tries to be like Dumbledore. There is no room for anger or bitterness; only the task which must be done.
5) He wonders if Ron or Hermione will finish off Nagini. He does not plan to say any goodbyes, because he knows they would try to stop him, and he doesn't want anyone to try now that he's made his decision.
6) "Nearly half of the hour alloted by Voldemort for his surrender had elapsed." Bullshit. First of all, he had to make his way all the way from the Shrieking Shack back to the castle and up to the Headmaster's office, and then he saw all those Snape memories including half of a Hogwarts Sorting. Unless watching memories actually takes no time at all, the passage of so little time is not possible.
7) Harry puts on the Invisibility Cloak. He walks through his own life, already half a ghost, aware but separate and unseen.
8) Colin Creevey is dead. He was never much of a character; just presented as Harry's Biggest Fan in CoS, and then rarely heard from afterward. But he opted to die for his hero, and that says a lot. He was a true Gryffindor. I'm still not entirely sure how he got to Hogwarts in time for the Battle. I wonder where Dennis is?
9) Neville. He is heroic, too. He's survived this long when so many others have fallen, and here he is, not weeping, but helping to carry in the bodies of his fallen friends and comrades. He is so strong. And it is to him that Harry speaks and passes on the mantle of responsibility. "Now Neville would take Harry's place," and in a way, he will fulfill the prophecy too. Neville grasps Harry's hand in parting. I think he can see that Harry needs a little human contact, and I also think Harry is aware that this will probably be the last human touch he will feel. *chokes up* This, right here, is my postwar 'ship, and my whole reason for creating prophecy_boys. These two trust and understand one another without question on a deep level. *Harry/Neville forever*
10) Harry's last obstacle. Ginny appears out of the darkness, a temptation to turn him away from his path. This is the moment when his internal struggle is most fierce, but still he grits his teeth and carries on, fully aware of what he has given up.
11) "He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys..." Harry gets it. They were all alike, but for the choices they made.
12) "I open at the close." Now is the time. "I am about to die," Harry whispers, and at last the Snitch reveals its secret: The Resurrection Stone. Harry is now the owner of two of the three Hallows.
13) Harry summons his beloved dead. They cluster close around him, as they did at the end of GoF. His parents, Remus and Sirius. These are the people Harry considers to be family -- though the fact that he's still thinking of Remus as "Lupin" will always bother me. Dumbledore is not present, nor is Fred, and nor (much to my personal relief) is Tonks. I'm taking this as confirmation that Harry at least subconsciously 'ships Remus/Sirius. They are all young and happy and glad to see him. Harry is not alone in the end after all. He has set aside all trappings of power and aid, and walks to his death only with things of comfort.
14) "You've been so brave." Lily's words just made me tear up again. *sniff* This isn't like the Mirror of Erised or the Priori Incantatem. They are really there. It's really her, and at last Harry hears his mother speak to him. Why should dying hold any terror if it means that he is going to be with these people who love him at last, and never be separated from them again? But still he looks to his parents for comfort. "Does it hurt?" he asks. It is Remus and Sirius who offer him the words of comfort he so desperately longs for.
15) Back to where Aragog lived. You know, I suddenly remembered Mr Weasley's car at this point, realising it's still out there somewhere. I would have expected to see it in the battle sequence, but I knew it was too ridiculous to think it would come and save Harry at this dramatic juncture.
16) Harry does not plan to fight. He approaches them unarmed, as prepared as he can be. He drops the stone, and his honour guard vanish. Now Harry must truly face his destiny alone. And suddenly I am thinking of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
17) Hagrid's not dead! Jo is toying with us over him. This is the second time this book that he's been not dead after all. Of course Voldemort would want a witness from the other side to see his triumph.
18) "Bellatrix [...] was looking eagerly from Voldemort to Harry, her breast heaving." She's getting off on this, isn't she? Dirty tramp....
19) Harry's "final" thought is of Ginny. Her "blazing" look, and of kissing her. I admit, I've always been a mild Harry/Ginny 'shipper. It doesn't do it for me quite like Harry/Neville, but I've no objections to Harry becoming part of the enormous Weasley clan who love him.
1) First thought. Harry has willingly faced death many times before, but now he knows he must make himself go from a position of relative safety into certain death. That takes a very special kind of courage.
2) Harry contemplates his death. Harry counting his hearbeats and wondering how many more there would be and whether dying would hurt was heartbreaking for me, but he never even considers not doing it.
3) The empty portraits. Symbolic of Harry being alone at last, without help or comfort from the living world.
4) Harry perceives Dumbledore as cold and calculating. I still can't see it that way. I think that *somehow* Dumbledore was able to predict what would happen, just as it seems he predicted every other thing that happened in this book. But it was essential for Harry to believe that he was going to his death, and for him to willing choose it. I wish I could explain this better. Harry knows that Dumbledore chose rightly as well; he does not begrudge him arranging things like he did, and when he talks to Neville, he even consciously tries to be like Dumbledore. There is no room for anger or bitterness; only the task which must be done.
5) He wonders if Ron or Hermione will finish off Nagini. He does not plan to say any goodbyes, because he knows they would try to stop him, and he doesn't want anyone to try now that he's made his decision.
6) "Nearly half of the hour alloted by Voldemort for his surrender had elapsed." Bullshit. First of all, he had to make his way all the way from the Shrieking Shack back to the castle and up to the Headmaster's office, and then he saw all those Snape memories including half of a Hogwarts Sorting. Unless watching memories actually takes no time at all, the passage of so little time is not possible.
7) Harry puts on the Invisibility Cloak. He walks through his own life, already half a ghost, aware but separate and unseen.
8) Colin Creevey is dead. He was never much of a character; just presented as Harry's Biggest Fan in CoS, and then rarely heard from afterward. But he opted to die for his hero, and that says a lot. He was a true Gryffindor. I'm still not entirely sure how he got to Hogwarts in time for the Battle. I wonder where Dennis is?
9) Neville. He is heroic, too. He's survived this long when so many others have fallen, and here he is, not weeping, but helping to carry in the bodies of his fallen friends and comrades. He is so strong. And it is to him that Harry speaks and passes on the mantle of responsibility. "Now Neville would take Harry's place," and in a way, he will fulfill the prophecy too. Neville grasps Harry's hand in parting. I think he can see that Harry needs a little human contact, and I also think Harry is aware that this will probably be the last human touch he will feel. *chokes up* This, right here, is my postwar 'ship, and my whole reason for creating prophecy_boys. These two trust and understand one another without question on a deep level. *Harry/Neville forever*
10) Harry's last obstacle. Ginny appears out of the darkness, a temptation to turn him away from his path. This is the moment when his internal struggle is most fierce, but still he grits his teeth and carries on, fully aware of what he has given up.
11) "He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys..." Harry gets it. They were all alike, but for the choices they made.
12) "I open at the close." Now is the time. "I am about to die," Harry whispers, and at last the Snitch reveals its secret: The Resurrection Stone. Harry is now the owner of two of the three Hallows.
13) Harry summons his beloved dead. They cluster close around him, as they did at the end of GoF. His parents, Remus and Sirius. These are the people Harry considers to be family -- though the fact that he's still thinking of Remus as "Lupin" will always bother me. Dumbledore is not present, nor is Fred, and nor (much to my personal relief) is Tonks. I'm taking this as confirmation that Harry at least subconsciously 'ships Remus/Sirius. They are all young and happy and glad to see him. Harry is not alone in the end after all. He has set aside all trappings of power and aid, and walks to his death only with things of comfort.
14) "You've been so brave." Lily's words just made me tear up again. *sniff* This isn't like the Mirror of Erised or the Priori Incantatem. They are really there. It's really her, and at last Harry hears his mother speak to him. Why should dying hold any terror if it means that he is going to be with these people who love him at last, and never be separated from them again? But still he looks to his parents for comfort. "Does it hurt?" he asks. It is Remus and Sirius who offer him the words of comfort he so desperately longs for.
15) Back to where Aragog lived. You know, I suddenly remembered Mr Weasley's car at this point, realising it's still out there somewhere. I would have expected to see it in the battle sequence, but I knew it was too ridiculous to think it would come and save Harry at this dramatic juncture.
16) Harry does not plan to fight. He approaches them unarmed, as prepared as he can be. He drops the stone, and his honour guard vanish. Now Harry must truly face his destiny alone. And suddenly I am thinking of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
17) Hagrid's not dead! Jo is toying with us over him. This is the second time this book that he's been not dead after all. Of course Voldemort would want a witness from the other side to see his triumph.
18) "Bellatrix [...] was looking eagerly from Voldemort to Harry, her breast heaving." She's getting off on this, isn't she? Dirty tramp....
19) Harry's "final" thought is of Ginny. Her "blazing" look, and of kissing her. I admit, I've always been a mild Harry/Ginny 'shipper. It doesn't do it for me quite like Harry/Neville, but I've no objections to Harry becoming part of the enormous Weasley clan who love him.