Veil Musings
I just wanted to get these veil musings out.
Since book five I have been very bothered by the Veil. Not necessarily what it is -- I always thought that it was a gateway to the land of the dead was something we could probably assume.
Instead there are two things that bother me:
The second question is the one that drives me up the wall because it seems so illogical. Both Harry and Dumbledore, who are arguably the two main characters, are obessed with deaths in their families. Both have exhibited weakness to the idea that they could communicate with the dead, whether something as static as watching their images in the Mirror of Erised or as hopeless as dragging them back with the death stone. And the veil, and Sirius' entry into it, was very sudden and very unlike any other death we've seen. Since Harry doesn't know what the veil is exactly, why would he accept that Sirius had died? He seems to think of it as the same as if Sirisu had been avada kedavra'd, which he can't have been because he didn't die as soon as the curse hit. No, Bella's curse threw him off balance; it didn't kill him. And since Harry can hear the voices of the dead, and is obviously upset with the deaths in his life to the extent that he obsesses about other means of contacting them ... why does he just dismiss the veil? I don't think he should have gone back there, but I do think it's illogical for him to have assumed that there's nothing there for him, or that Sirius is dead in the normal way. I think Hermione or Dumbledore should have talked him out of it -- or he should have just put it off until after killing Voldemort and after his use of the death stone and trip to King's Cross I don't think he would have wanted to go back, but before that?
I wouldn't even be surprised if Dumbledore had created the veil -- apparently it is sort of like the death stone, except the death stone brings them back without the archway. And Dumbledore so easily did something so foolish for the prospect of contact with the dead. It just makes no sense at all that Harry would glom on to the mirror and stone and ignore the most concrete way of contacting the dead he's ever seen! I wouldn't have been surprised if Harry had wanted to pull an ariadne, tie a string around his waist and walk in!
That just seems like such a huge characterization hole. I have trouble dealing with it. Maybe that has contributed to my hatred of OOTP.
Since book five I have been very bothered by the Veil. Not necessarily what it is -- I always thought that it was a gateway to the land of the dead was something we could probably assume.
Instead there are two things that bother me:
- Why was it in an amphitheatre
- Why didn't Harry obsess over this, like he did the mirror or the death stone?
The second question is the one that drives me up the wall because it seems so illogical. Both Harry and Dumbledore, who are arguably the two main characters, are obessed with deaths in their families. Both have exhibited weakness to the idea that they could communicate with the dead, whether something as static as watching their images in the Mirror of Erised or as hopeless as dragging them back with the death stone. And the veil, and Sirius' entry into it, was very sudden and very unlike any other death we've seen. Since Harry doesn't know what the veil is exactly, why would he accept that Sirius had died? He seems to think of it as the same as if Sirisu had been avada kedavra'd, which he can't have been because he didn't die as soon as the curse hit. No, Bella's curse threw him off balance; it didn't kill him. And since Harry can hear the voices of the dead, and is obviously upset with the deaths in his life to the extent that he obsesses about other means of contacting them ... why does he just dismiss the veil? I don't think he should have gone back there, but I do think it's illogical for him to have assumed that there's nothing there for him, or that Sirius is dead in the normal way. I think Hermione or Dumbledore should have talked him out of it -- or he should have just put it off until after killing Voldemort and after his use of the death stone and trip to King's Cross I don't think he would have wanted to go back, but before that?
I wouldn't even be surprised if Dumbledore had created the veil -- apparently it is sort of like the death stone, except the death stone brings them back without the archway. And Dumbledore so easily did something so foolish for the prospect of contact with the dead. It just makes no sense at all that Harry would glom on to the mirror and stone and ignore the most concrete way of contacting the dead he's ever seen! I wouldn't have been surprised if Harry had wanted to pull an ariadne, tie a string around his waist and walk in!
That just seems like such a huge characterization hole. I have trouble dealing with it. Maybe that has contributed to my hatred of OOTP.