It’s entitled: “The Lightening-Struck Tower”. It’s THAT chapter. It’s the reason I’ve only read Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince once. The event at the end of that chapter is the reason I laid on the couch wiping tears out of my eyes during the final three chapters of the book. Yes, this is a total confession post. Make fun all you want, but it’s not my fault I fell into such a melancholy stupor. It’s J.K. Rowling’s. She is a manipulative, little bitch. Oh, how I love and loath her!
No, I won’t give it away and will speak of the character only in non-gender specific terms. Let’s just say I predicted it was going to happen before Book 5, but was incorrect about which book it would happen in. I was told it was going to happen right before I started to read Book 6 but — to be honest — I think it made reading the book even worse since I knew it was going to happen.
Now that I’m re-reading the entire series in preparation for The Deathly Hallows on July 21st, I now see how Rowling used our love to destroy us into unfocused staring into the distance, the up-sale of tissues and even openly weeping in public. Oh, yes. When Book 6 came out, I saw green books everywhere I went (the US edition has a green cover). I finished the book in three days (No, not the quickest for me. I devoured Book 5 in less than 12 hours). When locating people reading it, I would see how close to the end they were. If they were within the last 50 pages, I would look at their face and it would break my heart. Everything was registered there: shock, loathing, grief, disbelief — to the point of their eyes swimming in tears.
If I didn’t see those emotions, I would break into the shop they were sitting and yank up the sleeves of their shirts to see if they have the Death Eater tattoo. Upon discovering of the evil, wretched and vile mark, I would scream like the pod people in Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and the rest of us would tear out the non-believer’s stone heart and hide it in the Room Of Requirement until the end of time.
I was recently told that was ‘wrong’. So much for the Barty Crouch / Dolores Umbridge approach. Jeez.
And now I’ve digressed.
The point is that Rowling went out of her way in Half-Blood Prince to make you adore a certain character — showing them as lovable, wise, strong, witty, caring, vulnerable and firm but easily forgiving throughout the book. Don’t believe me? Read Chapters 3, 4, 10, 13, 17, 20, 23, 25, and 26. In each chapter, one or more of the aforementioned qualities is displayed making them more human than at any other time in the series. Rowling makes this person more parental, more supportive, more a protectorate. They become the mentor we all wish we could have in our lives. Then — like life is wont to do — they are taken away from us as quickly as you can say, “Avada Kedavra”. (Yeah, I can’t say it very fast either.) The fact is: it had to happen. It just had to. The horrible event in Chapter 27 needs to make Harry a stronger person — more determined, more understanding, more real. The epitome of what most of us would like to be or how we would like to be seen.
I freely admit that I cried over the death of a fictional character. Yes, I do realize that there is death everyday throughout the world that should have me just as upset. The rub here is that you know what these fictional characters are thinking as well as saying. This is not true with living humans. You have to weave through, learn from and toss aside those that deceive, covet power and hurt others merely for the pleasure of making themselves feel better. Finding true and trust-worthy friends is our hardest and most time-consuming quest. It’s a job from which we constantly learn. And we need a break from it occasionally. That’s how I think of books. Buying a book is like putting in a vacation request from the human vocation. Being burnt by a bad human causes you to lose so much including faith. Being burnt by a bad book, you lose — what? — $29.99 plus tax. That, my friends, is as inexpensive as reprieves get.
Listening to: “I Remember You” - Eurythmics
