Two years of outpouring.

[amanuensis1]

A little over two years ago, I said that I needed to see Book 6 like, yesterday.



Because I had to find out why Sirius Black needed to die, and I needed to see Harry's grief for him.

And HBP didn't give me that.

Last night, after finishing the book and sitting there in bewildered numbness trying to understand what happened to the red-herring-filled story I'd been reading, putting my thoughts together and pleading with others to tell me what had happened to make that story crumble--after gaping at the concept that there are actually people who think that Snape is evil or that Snape's motives are ambiguous; my GOD, people, Snape's loyalties to Dumbledore are the most obvious thing in the world--last night I forced myself to think about the one expectation I'd had going into this book: show me why Sirius had to die.

And I cried. I cried because every time in HBP Harry would think about Sirius and cut himself off from those thoughts, because he didn't want to think or talk about Sirius I would think, there we go, we're building up to that moment that he breaks, that outpouring of grief. Or, I thought, perhaps the reason Rowling is playing that down is because there really will be some kind of Sirius contact; a portrait, a dream, an underworld visit, something.

It never came. And I looked back on that and I cried.

Two years have passed for me while I waited to see Harry's grief for an event that would only have been a few weeks prior in his fictional life. While I waited to find out why, because Rowling said there was a reason Sirius had to die.

And HBP didn't merely ignore me, it abandoned me. It absolutely threw the lack in my face, with Dumbledore getting his goddamn funeral and goddamn tomb and goddamn phoenix pyre and where the HELL was all that for Sirius? Where was the posthumous ceremony the ministry should have staged for the "innocent after all" Sirius? Where was the moment when Harry looked at the trappings of Sirius's ceremony and broke down? Where?

I still think the story that I thought I was reading--possessed!Dumbledore and Horcrux!Harry and Purposeful!Slughorn was more fun than the one that fell out, but I think that I can go back and reread the book and bring my expectations back from the "no, these are all red herrings, see" to something simpler and find that I do really like the plot. But I can't forgive the moment I held the book in my hands and said, "All right. Sirius's death. SHOW me," and opened it to start reading.

I miss my CAPSLOCK!Harry. I have channelled CAPSLOCK!Harry for two years, waiting for this book to make me over into the person who is ready to move beyond Sirius, and in reading HBP I've learned that that ship sailed without me and I didn't even know I was expected to buy tickets.

I trusted Rowling to make me understand, and I shouldn't have trusted. I am so sick at heart over this lack in HBP that I want to curl up and die.

There were other trusts that were broken, too. I trusted Rowling to make me like the romances that I had no feelings for. I shouldn't have. I actually was amused by Harry's teenaged hormone lust for Ginny, because Harry was as bewildered by it as the reader was, I felt. "When did I go from 'that's Ron's little sister' to 'Woman. Me WANT!!'??" thinks poor Harry, and I expected either a firework-like rise and explosion and then a fizzle to nothing, or a serious development into something beyond hormonal lust. I didn't feel either, really.

(On that note, not a failing of Rowling's--I think she got this bit exactly right, but it's the right place to mention romances and obviousness--I trusted that every reader quite quickly knew that Ron/Hermione was never Ron/Lavender, never Hermione/McLaggen, and that these were just steps along the road to Ron/Hermione. And yet I'm seeing people say that they THINK Ron and Hermione will end up together. They were together DURING the Ron/Lavender, for god's sake.)

I trusted that the pensieve jaunts were not merely interesting narratives for Harry and or the reader--after all, we know Riddle's background from CoS. Seeing them fleshed out is interesting--very rich stuff, I agree--but I trusted that there was something in each that made the pensieve jaunts necessary. Something tangible, something more than mere narrative.

And I trusted that Snape's loyalty to Dumbledore was so obvious to the reader that Harry too would know it by the end of the book, of course he would.

And now I'm being told by everyone that that's the "thing" for Book 7.

How can that be the "thing" for Book 7? We know what happened. We can't be strung along and surprised for something that we already know. Dumbledore--already dying, we must add--pleaded with Snape to kill him because it was necessary that Draco not be made a murderer, that Snape keep his alibi with Voldemort, that if Snape did not, Snape would die because of the Unbreakable Bond. I KNOW that scene wherein Snape argued with Dumbledore over the bond--know that Snape insisted that Dumbledore would have to kill him in the end so that Snape would not have to carry out that terrible deed, and that Dumbledore gently, inexorably kept telling Snape that they both knew that that would not be the outcome. That scene had its roots by the end of Chapter 2, and was completely written in my head not long after. And, oh, when Snape screamed at Harry not to call him a coward for doing the most wrenching, bravest act of his life--killing the man he loved like a father at his own request, for the sake of the cause. Oh. That was the moment Snape would make it plain to Harry, as it was plain to the reader. Book 7 is about Harry and Snape working on the same side, and knowing it--one from without and one from within. That's Book 7.

Except that suddenly chapter thirty ended. And it isn't.

Still grasping. Still in shock.

And, uh, all those of you who keep saying that Harry/Snape is dead? Just when I thought my bewilderment couldn't get any greater. Guys, Snape/Harry--that 'ship that so many have written as this slowly growing romance, this angsty "I am not my father and please see that" piece of gentle drama--guys, Snape/Harry is alive for the first time. Not in any gentle drama way any more than Harry/Draco was ever about gentle drama. The ending of Book 6 for some odd reason got delayed, but Snape/Harry is finally, gorgeously, alive.

Comments

[red_squared]

About the Sirius thing? *hugs* I wish I didn't understand, but I do :(

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It just plain sucks. Where's the funeral, where's the grieving?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Oh, love, I'm so sorry you didn't get what you expected. :( But yes, I think the Snape thing was just something you end up instinctively knowing, that he is still on their side, isn't he, and god, just. *hugs*

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I can't believe that there are people not getting it. That it's supposed to be some kind of cliffhanger twist. *hugs hard*

[joesther.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about waiting to see re Sirius, but she does tend to gloss over things "for the time being" and bring them back later. So maybe... book 7? Hm. I don't know. Just a thunk.

As for Harry/Snape. Yes. Totally. Yes.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I can understand if Harry's bottling his grief because it's necessary for Book 7, but I honestly don't think so. I suspect Rowling thought it was over and done after OotP.

The Harry/Snape will be volatile and fraught with character death and so much pain, but it's there, man.

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

It's so weird; I really loved the book, but I also agree with you. The moment I finished, the first thing I said aloud (yes, someone was in the room :D) was 'That was so depressing, and nothing was resolved.' So, even liking so many, many, many elements, and even though JKR ends on her typical jaunty notes of Harry hope, that was my first -- my very first -- impression.

Snarry's so not dead. Heh. Fluffy romance Snape/Harry never really should have existed in the first place.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I feel better knowing that people had dissatisfactions. After OotP, I was grieving, but I still believed it was a wonderful book. This time around it's not grief. It's gut-eating frustration.

Fluffy romance Snape/Harry never really should have existed in the first place.

At the risk of disheartening those writers who have been able to make me believe those fluffy romance Snape/Harry's, you have uttered a truth. Fanfic can be anything you want it to be, but I truly believe Snarry is closer this way than it ever has been.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I, too, was upset by the lack even of a memorial service for Sirius - what the hell was the "we didn't have a body" business? Is it necessary for a wizarding funeral? I think not - EVERY society has provisions for a death that takes place when the body is unrecoverable (like at sea, or in battle in a distant country, or in an mine accident or fire). It was disrespectful and sloppy.

I wasn't happy with a lot of this book. And I'm still not at all sure about Snape. I keep hearing about his loyalties being to Dumbledore, when that chapter with the Black sisters seems to make it perfectly clear that at best he's a double agent.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I see your interp of "double agent" and I use that term differently--maybe not correctly. But to clarify, Snape's always seemed to me most interesting as a guy with his own agenda, though I did believe he was ultimately loyal to Dumbledore as long as Dumbledore would win. But with this book, Snape's loyalty to Dumbledore couldn't be more solidified. Not even putting "I think" in front of it, not with this.

[luthien.livejournal.com]

Well, it may be that those two things you most didn't expect/understand are actually part of the same thing: perhaps Harry channelled his grief for Sirius into his hatred for Snape, thus driving the final nail into the coffin of the possibility of their seeing each other clearly before book 7.

I think Harry's grief for Sirius *will* come out in book 7, because unresolved grief has a tendency to erupt if it's not dealt with. And that resolution about Snape and his motives is coming, too. I finished this book with the strong feeling that JKR was extending her usual modus operandi across two books instead of her usual thing of wrapping up each book's main story threads at the end.

Seeing them fleshed out is interesting--very rich stuff, I agree--but I trusted that there was something in each that made the pensieve jaunts necessary. Something tangible, something more than mere narrative.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are more Pensieve memories hanging about and likely to come to Harry's attention in book 7, like maybe a few of Dumbledore's and/or Snape's. That may be the main purpose of the Pensieve in book 6 in terms of the greater plot: to get Harry thinking in book 7 about the Pensieve as one of Dumbledore's major devices, and so putting him in a postion where he sees what he needs to see with regard to the relationship between Dumbledore and Snape.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I think Harry's grief for Sirius *will* come out in book 7, because unresolved grief has a tendency to erupt if it's not dealt with.

That sounds so very like what I was expecting through this book. "Any minute now he'll erupt." I do hope you're right, but I still have a "ship has sailed" feeling.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

I can't help thinking Harry's going to have to deal with the grief some time and my thinking is when he's on the quests for the Horcrux - I think it'll have to come when he finds out who R.A.B. is, when he goes to the house he inherited (which he will have to do at some point), when he is reminded and not running around like a crazy person while people drop like flies around him...

I'll admit his numbness was definitely strange, buteven his reaction to Dumbledore's demise wasn't typical. There were a few tears, yes, but then there was simply resolution. Sadness, yes, but not utter aching grief.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, he's goin' to that house. Has to be. And, yes, I'm hoping that's when it all comes out. Thanks for pointing that out.

[xylodemon.livejournal.com]

Christ. I just unloaded on you in your other post, and here I am again. But you just made sense of something I've been trying it figure out for the last day.

I liked this book, I did. But when I was finished with it, I was still looking for something. I was still needing something.

I thought maybe I'd just missed something because I'd gotten beffudled by the romance, because it had felt like, around the middle of the book, that the plot had stopped and parted for all the ships to pass by. I flipped through some of the plottier parts hoping I would find it, but I didn't, and that is because it's not there.

And it's like you said -- I've not seen Harry grieve for anything that has happened to him, and I still do not have a satisfactory explanation for Sirius' death.

I sometimes think Sirius died simply because JKR had created a character that was too dark, too angsty and too crazy for a children's series. I really hope that come book seven, I find out I was wrong.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Your unloading is helping big time. Seriously.

that the plot had stopped and parted for all the ships to pass by.

I know exactly what you mean. I would have been all right with the 'ships--was all right with it, actually, as long as I knew that we were getting to the eruption of Harry's grief. Which we didn't.

I flipped through some of the plottier parts hoping I would find it, but I didn't, and that is because it's not there.

Story of my whole read-through--seeing this even darker plot that never manifested.

[schtroumph-c.livejournal.com]

About the snarry, it's after all the title of the book, Harry Potter and Snape.

And like someone said, funny how Harry said he learnt more from the Prince than from Snape.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

About the snarry, it's after all the title of the book, Harry Potter and Snape.

Oh, god, I think that's the first I've realized that. Ha.

[stellahobbit.livejournal.com]

Book 7 is about Harry and Snape working on the same side, and knowing it--one from without and one from within. That's Book 7.

Book 7 is all about Harry and Snape. Voldemort and the war will just be interesting sidelines as we go through the themes of distrust, revenge, mistaken identity, redemption and forgiveness.

I agree with you re Sirius. There's nothing in the book that suggests to me that Harry could get over his death so quickly, especially within a few weeks. Hell, even Remus was visibly sad for months (but we know he has different reasons ;-)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yes to everything. But I saw the distrust and revenge and mistaken identity plenty in this book--I was all ready to zip forward to the redemption and forgiveness in Book 7, darnit!

[nullabona.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, yes and yes. I really liked the honesty of your reaction. After a decade+ in fandom it is times like these when 1) I’m glad I have several fandoms in different states of flux 2) Dark Fandom = Me. Yes, even a children’s book can go cyberpunk on you. 3) Never trust the creative powers as much as your favorite fanfic writers (especially when a very vocal segment of said fandom embraces “teh gay”). It’s business. and 4) Snarry: many truly gifted fanfic writers and essayists were already hip to the possible outcome of the HBP within their general understanding of the Snarry dynamic.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I could FRAME this comment. "It's business." Hee. You are very, very cool. Hang around with me more, willya? You'll make me sound smart.

[scary-sushi.livejournal.com]

You fleshed out my thoughts completely: it has been eight hours since I finished the book, and it has been eight hours of wondering where was the Sirius grief, the Lupin anger (he wasn't writing to Harry), ... I know for a fact when my grandmother died (and I hadn't been close with her because she was old and tired and we seldom saw her), I just couldn't put it in the back of my mind. I couldn't move on until I properly grieved. And here, it's a parental figure, the parental figure of Harry who has died.

Apart from that inconsistenncy, I'm afraid of one thing only: Rowling doesn't like Snape. And even if every fan of Severus can see his motives clearly, I'm terrified he'll really turn out to be the horrible traitor she made him seem in Book 6.

[mawaridi.livejournal.com]

This is completely unrelated to anything (sorry, amanuensis1!!) but...your icon?! I LOVE IT. Where did you get it? If you made it, you are genius, otherwise you are still entertaingly great :D

[dungeons-master.livejournal.com]

Word!
Snarry lives now more than ever. Can't wait to see their next meeting...
I totally agree with you on the grieving Sirius front.
But there's something that really makes me worried about the reason he he was so ignored in book 6, and might reappear in book 7.


'Er ... right,' said Harry. 'Well, on that leaflet, it said something
about Inferi. What exactly are they? The leaflet wasn't
very clear.'

'They are corpses,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'Dead bodies
that have been bewitched to do a Dark wizard's bidding.
Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since
Voldemort was last powerful ... he killed enough people to
make an army of them, of course.

I just wish I'm wrong.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Well, they don't have Sirius' body.

But they do have Cedric's, James', Lily's...

Dumbledore's...

[maeglinyedi.livejournal.com]

Hehehe. It's good to see you've calmed down a bit, and got your thoughts straightened out. ;-)

guys, Snape/Harry is alive for the first time. Not in any gentle drama way any more than Harry/Draco was ever about gentle drama. The ending of Book 6 for some odd reason got delayed, but Snape/Harry is finally, gorgeously, alive.

YES! I can't agree with you more. It will take work to make Harry understand what Snape did and why he did it, but damn, they've never been closer in canon before.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh my god I couldn't even speak last night. You were a witness.

I'm still loopy over the idea that anyone thinks Snape's gone EVOL. It's not even ambiguous. What do they need spelled out?

Bah, I dislike the idea of this being a "cliffhanger." At least I'm not screeching, "What, what is it, what is it? Gimme book 7 NOW!!" Hell, take all the time you want with Book 7, Rowling. I already know what's going on. Maeg, I think I feel a bit like you did when you said you didn't care about spoilers for book 6 because she'd already killed your favorite character, so, what did you possibly have to fear.

[snapetoy.livejournal.com]

Amy, HPB is only part of the story. I think we've been spoiled by, for the most part, having complete sets of stories. HPB is a cliffhanger. It's only half the book.

And I don't believe that the time has come for Harry to have resolution on Sirius' death. He's going to need all the anger and blame and pain in the next book, to bring to some terrible confrontation.

In my lj, here:
8/ There is no resolution for Harry of Sirius' death - two weeks, and Harry's just fine
Harry's hatred of Snape is, I believe, also a factor in the brushing over of Sirius' death - there's no resolution for Harry in HBP at all. Harry's packed those emotions down so tight, so hard and has such a lid on it and been encouraged to do so by Dumbledore. Harry is still blaming Snape for Sirius' death, and I believe that it will be a factor in the conflagration that will occur at their next meeting, most likely to be at the confrontation with Voldemort.

It's nowhere near over, and this is only half of the book. Last time, she left us without resolution on Sirius' death, this time she's left us with a cliffhanger.

[fluffyllama.livejournal.com]

Yep, and the parallel with what he does with Sirius is there, too. He blames Snape for both and acknowledges early in the book that he blames Snape to relieve his own guilt. He fed the potion to Dumbledore after all. And what is it Hermione says when she sees Dumbledore's hand? That there are old curses that can't be lifted and poisons that have no antidotes.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

I was really geared up to have Harry tear up Dumbledore's letter about coming to the Dursleys and telling him to go fuck himself. I was so, so angry when he was ashamed of wrecking Dumbledore's office.

Harry has every right to be viciously bitter of Sirius' death, not to mention be helplessly wrecked over it. I think the closest thing we got was when he freaks out over Mundugus raiding Grimmauld Place. If there's any explanation for his silence on Sirius, maybe it's just still shock.

But yeah, I wanted Harry and Remus to talk about Sirius and would have been thrilled with nearly anything that could have happened there.

And, oh, when Snape screamed at Harry not to call him a coward for doing the most wrenching, bravest act of his life--killing the man he loved like a father at his own request, for the sake of the cause. Oh. That was the moment Snape would make it plain to Harry, as it was plain to the reader.

For some reason, this floored me even more than Dumbledore's death. Because Snape is clearly furious at Dumbledore as well, bitter that it came to this, torn by his two faces.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love that you have anger over things I let go--like Harry's shame over wrecking D.'s office. Thank you so much for--well, it seems silly to say, "Thank you for feeling this way," but that's how it is. For being just as angry as I am over Harry's lack of rage or grief, and missing more Harry & Remus interaction. And understanding just what the worst part of what Snape's loyalty had cost him is.

[snapesdarkling.livejournal.com]

Oh Wow yes. I was waiting for the Sirius thing. It seemed so abnormal that Harry did not grieve, just made this decision at the Dursleys to not crack up. However, I think that his grief will fuel him for what he has to do next... It would have been nice to see all those things for Sirius.

And Harry/Snape? Well my muse took a beating over that but I can see clearly now that you and many others are right. The intensity of the pairing is peaking. Yes, it is alive. Some wonderful fiction will come from it. I look forward to that very much. Part of me is sad that the gentle romance thing may not be plausible any more but hey this is the tough ship guys. We are dealing with the major players here with the big issues and most to lose. Now the real fiction will start, hopefully with grieving over sirius!harry and finally reconciled!severus/harry

Snape? I love him so much I could cry.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Part of me is sad that the gentle romance thing may not be plausible any more but hey this is the tough ship guys.

I love how you say that, seriously. It's all military 'n' stuff: "Are you all little PUSSIES that I have to send home to your MAMAS? We're SNARRIERS! We don't die, we MULTIPLY!"

And yes. This is the book where I love Snape so much, and canon's never made me do THAT, I can tell you.

[inspiredlife.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely. I was shocked by the glossing over of Sirius. I don't understand how we go from capslock!Harry to this new and mature Harry in just a few weeks. The brief Sirius mentions didn't do it for me. Harry is suppressing his grief and still blaming Snape (as he openly admits) and, I assume that this is going to explode in book 7. But, I still want to know why Sirius had to die. Grrr.

As for Harry/Snape, as far as I'm concerned that shop is sailing stronger than ever!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

People are saying that Sirius most likely died to show Harry how awful war is--and I could have lived with that had JKR not SAID, "I'm really really sorry for what happened to him. There's a reason. You'll have to keep reading." (paraphrasing) So, yes. I was expecting that, I wanted it, and I'm miserable I didn't get it.

[bookshop.livejournal.com]

This was how I was at the beginning of book 5. I had waited for three years for Draco. I went into OOTP with every expectation that the 4-year-long rivalry we had seen would have finally matured into something deeper, would finally become active rather than passive on Draco's part, would finally involve harry seeing draco as a human being, would finally involve them both growing up.

And I didn't get it. I didn't get anything like it, and the post I made after I read the book (for the first and only time) made it clear that I thought we were never ever going to get it. Because five books in is a long, long time to have that expectation and be constantly let down again and again and again.

And then came book 6.

I know how jarring it must be, but I really think that the answer is: wait. Just wait. And don't give up hope.

As for why I think Sirius had to die, my answer hasn't changed and in fact has been bolstered by book 6: he didn't. He died because this is war, and war is senseless, and senseless things happen. Just like Dumbledore didn't have to die because the locket wasn't a horcrux. I thought the pomp and ceremony and public trappings of grief were there to parallel Sirius' death, and the fact that while only a few people mourned for him, his death was just as immense and left just as gaping a hole in Harry's life as Dumbledore's did. I thought it was there to show how Harry had finally adjusted in the last three years to the deaths in his life--had come to accept them and grieve and keep doing what he had to do. And I thought that it was there because if R.A.B. is Regalus Black, then we're not done with the Blacks, nor are we done with Sirius--and because Harry has yet to forgive Snape for Sirius' death, and because I believe he has to forgive Snape in order to be successful against Voldemort, then he still will have to come to terms with Sirius' death if only to understand that Snape was no more responsible for it than he was able to choose not to kill Dumbledore.

So, again, I say with much love and compassion: Just wait.

*hug hug hug*

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

As for why I think Sirius had to die, my answer hasn't changed and in fact has been bolstered by book 6: he didn't. He died because this is war, and war is senseless, and senseless things happen. Just like Dumbledore didn't have to die because the locket wasn't a horcrux. I thought the pomp and ceremony and public trappings of grief were there to parallel Sirius' death, and the fact that while only a few people mourned for him, his death was just as immense and left just as gaping a hole in Harry's life as Dumbledore's did.

I just want to quote this bit because I think this is very close to the mark. I think that narratively, Sirius and Dumbledore had to die because Harry must have these important figures of love and personal strength leave him, so that he can go on his hero's quest. Yes, he's supported by his friends, but they are peers - they are not the father-figures that Sirius and Dumbledore are.

I agree exactly with Aja that Dumbledore's fancy funeral is meant as a mirror to Sirius's simple disappearance - it tells us whether or not these happen, the death is still there, the person is still gone.

I would have liked to have seen more of Sirius, too, but Regulus is going to become important, I think we all agree, and this will probably shed some more light on Sirius.

And, you're on crack about the Snape/Harry. It's all about the Snape/Draco. :-)

well said!

[(Anonymous)]

i have to say that while i read ur post i cried, i literally cried! what u said about sirius was almost word for word what i was thinking about the HBP before and after i read it!

i'm not joking, sirius was my fav. character and JK said there was a reason he died, BUT WHAT WAS THE REASON??!! and we have to wait another 2 years to find out!!! the whole thing with sirius was rushed and harry didn't react at all how i thought he would.

i agree on your snapes loyalty to dumbledore whole-heartedly,
and althoughi i'm not a harry/snape shipper(more a harry/draco)
i could understand what u said and could see it happening.

but as i read ur post i burst into tears as what you said completely reflected what i have dwelling on for the past 10 hours after closing the book T_T.

R.I.P

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Gone, but never to be forgotten.

Re: well said!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you came and posted this. I need to know that there are fellow weepers for Sirius. And for exactly the same reason I'm crying. JKR, you said there was a reason, so TELL us the reason!!

Thank you for this comment. Thank you SO much. *hugs*

[marginaliana]

You know, so many people said over and over and OVER that OoTP was a "transitional book" in this series, and that never really clicked with me. But HBP? Is a transitional book.

And I, too, was expecting and then missing some elements I thought FOR SURE would be there. Where is Harry's rage at Kreacher? Where is Harry being tempted by dark arts? Where is Harry trying to bring Sirius back? Where was Harry saying "sorry, no, not good enough, Headmaster"?

But the more I think about it, the more I think she's been edited to death. I was expecting HBP to be darker than OoTP, but it really wasn't. All those things I wanted? Too dark for a "children's book." All those things I thought unnecessary to the plot that she threw in anyway (cough romance cough)? Added in to make the mainstream audience (young teens and pre-teens) happy. The resolution? Put into book 7 so as to draw more people into buying the next book (as if they needed a cliffhanger to make a metric assload of money on book 7). It's a marketing ploy, I think, and one which I resent. I blame her editor, really.

But I do think we'll see Harry's grief for Sirius come out, and I do think we'll find out (my guess is through either Dumbledore's pensieve, or through Harry doing leligmency on Snape) that Snape was acting on DD's orders and all that you said. Just not, ya know, where it makes sense to actually have it. :(

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I think that when all seems darkest, I will follow your suggestion, chomp down on a fake cigar and growl, "Eh. Damn editors." Thank you for reminding me of those perspectives too; they help.

And by the way thank you for your contributions to hbp_chapters!

[moriann.livejournal.com]

I trusted that there was something in each that made the pensieve jaunts necessary. Something tangible, something more than mere narrative.

I'm sure they have a concealed meaning. There were five memories. One - the Gaunt House, Voldemort's mother, uncle and grandfather, second - Dumbledore's visit in the orphanage, third - Voldemort's visit in his family home, fourth - the old lady and founder's artefacts, and fifth - Slughorn's momory about the Horcruxes. In my opinion, the last one is the key that shows what to look for in the previous ones. We've got four memories left and four Horcruxes to find (the diary and ring were already destroyed).

Dumbledore used the orphanage memory - he found one of the hiding places is the cave Riddle visited once as a child. Maybe the other memories contain clues to the other hiding places?

[nights-mistress.livejournal.com]

Current theory on my flist is that Hepzibah Smith and Zacharias Smith are related. In book five, we were told that the houses had to unite, and we all assumed it was the school. What if instead, the four heirs have to meet up for the first time?

Okay, I just kinda want to have some backlash from Zacharias after the hexing and having a broom rammed at him for doing exactly what Lee Jordan did (Jo? Double standards are not cool), given that I doubt either Neville or Luna will tell off the four Gryffindors for essentially abandoning them for the year, and not even telling them that there won't be another DA meeting.

My thoughts, if you want to know.

[ou-peachus.livejournal.com]

Okay, I read your post, but not most of the comments so if this has been said or done I am sorry for the repeat.

While I feel your pain, for the most part I don't agree. (Don't hate me! I ADORE your writing! *blinks rapidly*)

You said "...I'd had going into this book: show me why Sirius had to die." And I think that the this train of thought is off. That what I got out of it, and I THINK what Rowling was doing here, was that there is NO reason for his death. That death, like war, has no reason. It just happens. And its horrible when it does. That war is horrible and people die and its all so stupid and preventable if only people cared more about human life than....gah. Sorry ranting. Anyway, that in war death happens and there is never a good reason why a good person has to die.

Also, IF you are interested I wrote a bit about the Sirius issue and what I think it all means in my journal. *shrugs* M'not good with words so its all choppy, but my thoughts are there, I think.

peachus

Re: My thoughts, if you want to know.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

'S cool, 's okay! Here's why I had such expectations: Rowling said, in response to plaintive, "Why did you do that to Sirius?" questions, "I"m really sorry. If you keep reading, you'll see why Sirius had to die." Which is NOT a "war is horrible and people die" answer to me, and that's what strung me along. She's since had something new to say about it and believe it or not, I can get behind what she has to say. More on it later.

[wordplaywright.livejournal.com]

Hello,

here through underlucius's journal. I've read your previous post as well, there were some awesome conspiracy theories in it. *wink* I considered commenting on that post, too, but it seems others have made you change your mind - so it's better if I just comment on this.

Where was the moment when Harry looked at the trappings of Sirius's ceremony and broke down? Where?

Yeah, somewhere aroung the beginning of the book I felt like that, too, but the plot of HBP made me change my mind. The wizarding world has suddenly become a battlefield. In a war there's often no time to mourn properly, and some painful memories just get trapped and bottled up inside one's soul, and won't surface for a long time. I guess Harry might see Sirius' death as the first one in the row of deaths and disappearances that happen in the background in HBP - which means a new perspective for him. His whole world has changed. Remember his dread when he saw all the hands on the Weasley family clock pointing to "mortal peril"? Things haven't been normal from the very beginning. The normal world where a person's (Sirius') death is a rare, tragic event is gone. In the new world it's a horribly normal thing that people die.

I guess he'll face down Bella in Book 7, and he'll be able to mourn Sirius properly after that. I just hope he won't have to see Sirius again as one of the Inferi.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Your perspective is excellent. It's beyond the "war is senseless and senseless deaths happen" that is often postulated, and focuses on Harry's mourning, which isn't addressed if all one focuses on is the "senseless" aspect. Yeah, the hands on the clock made my eyes bug out. Loved that.

[ook.livejournal.com]

I will state first off that I have NEVER been a fan of Sirius Black.

HOWEVER, I dislike that fact that Sirius is almost completely ignored in book six. Harry never comes to terms with his grief over Black's death...because Rowling wouldn't let him. I not like that Harry seems "over" the death after just two weeks of moping in his bedroom at Privet Drive. And Harry sure does forgive Dumbledore quickly...just weeks after screaming at the wizard and trashing his office. Harry's characterization just was not consistent. He seemed like a different character.

I had just finished listening to audiobooks four and five just a few days previously, so the Harry from those books was fresh in my mind...and that Harry didn't really jive with the new Harry in book six.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I agree. I liked the last three books as books, but there is no character continuity between Harry of GoF, Harry of OotP, and Harry of HBP. If anything, we go straight from GoF to HBP as far as consistency goes. It makes OotP feel more of an anomaly than before, and it is very shoddy writing.