Re: He is dead. Not coming back.


Louis Epstein wrote:
> stam101 <gtdun7935@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> : How can he come back if his picture is already in the headmasters office?
>
> How could he have been alive when his picture was already
> on Chocolate Frog cards??
>
> THE PICTURE BEING IN THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE MEANS
> *********NOTHING*********
> IN TERMS OF WHETHER OR NOT HE IS DEAD...
> and I say that as someone who believes he IS dead
> for good!
>


The Chocolate Frog cards are not portraits (like those in the
headmaster's office, or the walls of St. Mungo's) but pictures (like
photographs in the Daily Prophet, the picture Percy has of his
girlfriend, and the photos Harry has of his parents.) The difference
between these media is, to my mind, striking, and relevant to this
idea. Portraits seems to have special powers of speaking with the world
around them (even if they are, as JKR states, only echoes and 'stock'
phrases from the person's life); pictures are silent- they can smile,
wave, move off-frame, etc., but they do not speak. They are a similar,
but clearly different, media.

Therefore, being on the chocolate frog cards has no bearing on whether
Dumbledore is alive, dead, pining for the fjords, or just resting after
a prolonged squawk.


However, the ex-headmaster portraits which sleep in the headmaster's
office may be in important indicator of Dumbledore's status. So far,
every single one of the headmasters on those walls when Dumbledore was
headmaster was dead. However, has anyone had JKR clear this up? Are
portraits in Hogwarts only of dead people? This appears to be the case:

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/news_view.cfm?id=80

"All the paintings we have seen at Hogwarts are of dead people. They
seem to be living through their portraits. How is this so? If there was
a painting of Harry's parents, would he be able to obtain advice from
them?

That is a very good question. They are all of dead people; they are not
as fully realised as ghosts, as you have probably noticed. The place
where you see them really talk is in Dumbledore's office, primarily;
the idea is that the previous headmasters and headmistresses leave
behind a faint imprint of themselves. They leave their aura, almost, in
the office and they can give some counsel to the present occupant, but
it is not like being a ghost. They repeat catchphrases, almost. The
portrait of Sirius' mother is not a very 3D personality; she is not
very fully realised. She repeats catchphrases that she had when she was
alive. If Harry had a portrait of his parents it would not help him a
great deal. If he could meet them as ghosts, that would be a much more
meaningful interaction, but as Nick explained at the end of Phoenix-I
am straying into dangerous territory, but I think you probably know
what he explained-there are some people who would not come back as
ghosts because they are unafraid, or less afraid, of death."


>>From this interview, it appears that:
1. Dumbledore is dead.
2. Voldemort is likely to become a ghost after his death.

(wouldn't it be cool is the Bloody Baron kicked his ***... or the
Dementors sucked him up? I suspect that one of the reasons Dumbledore
doesn;t want dementors around the castle is that as soul-eaters,
they're likely to eat ghosts... as well as living kids' souls... )

.