The Death

[LaceyCrane]

This has probably been discussed already but oh well.

Why was Sirus killed? What was the point of it? To me it just seemed pointless to kill him and like JK just did it so she could say "someone is going to die and its someone you like this time! So buy my book!" And what made it even worse and more pointless was that she showed us other possible ways that it could have been avoided but wasn't because of Harry's stupidity (Sirus's gift, going to Snape).

And another reason it didn't make sense to kill him was that right before it we were given a reason not to like him. I don't know about anybody else but if he and James hadn't treated Snape that way during school I would have been a lot more sad that he was gone. Frankly I was almost glad he was gone since he was just like Malfoy and Dudley.

What does everybody else think?

[Marcus Baker]

Well, with Sirus dead, there is no other family for Harry, so he might relize that there might not be anything to live fore, hes all alone. THis might be on major emotion on his part since he has no family in the wizarding world. It might also bring his vengence on a higher scale. Voldemort has killed His WHOLE family, even his godfather and gaurdian. For all we know, he might not be able to go to hogsmend anymore (but i seriously doubt that). With Sirus gone, it also means he has no one to communicate with or express his problems insead of going to DD. WIth Sirus gone, it could be a major event in his duel with Voldemort...more rage, more anger, more passion against him.

[Devinci]

I personally think that the death is meant to make Harry all the more human.

For anyone who's ever lost someone dear to them...the whole emotional cycle that a character takes when dealing with grief hits really close to home.

And I agree, it will bring up an entirely new conflict in Harry's life.

Character development and plot depth are probably the two main issues delt with...when it comes to the death.

[choki]

I agree with Devinci...this death experience make Harry appear to be as vulnerable as anyone of us...there are always problems which cannot be solve with magic

[AccioNiffler]

I think that Sirius's death, is, uh... how shoud I put it..., multifunctional.

Of course, there's the obious thing, that it will add to Harry wanting to destroy LV. It was like there was this huge bon fire going on inside Harry's mind/heart and then when Sirius dies it's like someone threw a couple gallons of gasoline in the fire!

I also think that Sirius's death was meant to help develop other characters besides Harry. For instance, it really brings Lupin forward. Lupin is now the last marauder, Harry's last link to his father . Lupin has also lost James and Sirius. He has dealt with loss and rejection. It gives him a chance to be a bigger part of Harry's life, a father figure, a mentor (I'm leaning more towards mentor though). Other characters that it would affect is Neville and Luna. Now they know for sure that Sirius wasn't some crazed escaped lunatic, they saw how he cared about Harry. It also develops Bellatrix Lestrange more, because she's the one who did the killing. Harry can truly hate her now (of course he already hated her for what she did to the Longbottems). Harry may want to kill LV, but now he also wants to deal with Bellatrix. That also adds to his relationship with Neville, they can both hate the same person now, what great dinnertime conversations that will make ! haha, i'm kidding, i'm kidding...

His death also brings that veil into larger play. We saw the veil while the kids were walking around, but now that Sirius has gone through it, it will almost like it's calling out to Harry. Harry will want to talk to Sirius and his parents and such again. It's probably really dangerous (that why its in the DoM), but Harry's dealt with all sorts of dangerous stuff before though, right?

[yasmane]

Accioniffler,
I found your answer quite interesting.
May be you're going too far with the dinnertime
but concerning the other part, you're right to say Sirius' death will help Harry and Lupin will certainly be closer to him now.

Laceygrane, on the other hand, I don't understand you : First of all there's not always a purpose in killing someone, I mean Sirius can die just because he wasn't strong enough to fight all these death eaters. And if there is an objective in JKR's mind with Sirius death, Well I think you've seen interesting comments in the previous posts.

[the_next_hermione007]

I found Sirius's death to be very upsetting and if you want to know the truth I cried for three days.

There are a couple of reasons that i have found as to why JK killed him.

1) he was one of Harry's main supports so by killing him Harry has to face/defeat voldemort more on his own now.

2) she had to show how strong and powerful the support of Voldemort was. If it had been a non-important character that had been killed we as the readers would not have gotten the full impact of the whole situation.

[LaceyCrane]

yasmane, I know that there isn't always a reason when somebody dies but in a book there should be. There shouldn't be random killing that there really isn't a purpose for. People have said it gives Harry more of a motivation for distroying LV but he already has a really big one: the guy killed his parents and tried to kill him. And if the reason was to make us wonder about that viel thing then one of the Death Eaters or Luna could have fallen through it instead.

[almost2sweet24]

I believe that there was a purpose to kill Sirius, but JKR did it very harshley. My best friend & I went on a trip together, and we read the book at the same time..and when he was killed we both wanted to cry, and then when Dumbledore was like "Voldemort knew that Sirius Black was the only one person you would risk your life for." It was so sad! But i believe now that Harry really has no one.. he will get closer to the Weaslys, Lupin, and probably Dumbledore as well. I mean Ron has always been Harry's best friend..and I know that my best friends are like my sisters, so i'm guessing its the same way with Harry & Ron. Also, as mad as Harry wanted to be at Sirius, he couldn't be, he loved him too much, which also just made him more mad at himself for yelling & questioning Sirius the night before. I'm guessing Harry is going to be VERY angy and unplesant in the beginning of book 6.

[Eol]

Another way of looking at it was that Sirius' character had become stale. He couldn't leave the house, or do anything to help the order of the phoenix due to his criminal status.
I know that some of you are thinking that he could have become more useful in the next books as now the ministry believe that Voldey is back. But the Sirius charges are almost completely seperate. Again there is no proof that Sirius is innocent as Wormtail is still out of sight. (Probably deliberately as Sirius is a very talented wiz, and Voldy wouldn't want him in the fray??just a thought)
So sirius was dead end and so ended up as cannon fodder. Don't get me wrong i was sad when he died too, but that's the way it goes.

[Meg Boyd]

Exactly, Eol...his character was becoming stale...

every great book needs irony...and right now it doesn't look like Sirius will be cleared anytime soon, so I guess I'd rather have him fighting the enemy than be sitting with Kreacher all alone...but I am willing to bet (as a climatic, ironic twist...) Sirius's name will be cleared in the end of the saga, so he never really got to enjoy the freedom...

[Colin]

I would have rather seen the death of Kreacher than his master. But life is never fair.

[Marcus Baker]

Well, my new thoughts on the death. I actually think that sirus should die. He was now getting narrowed down. they found him in London, and Umbridge caught him, any moment he would of been caught. No one would believe that he was good...so I just think its best for him to die..

[Meg Boyd]

I think it would be hard for him to have his name cleared and go back in to society...so sorry die-hard sirius kiddos...Sirius is prolly better off dead...sorry

[Eol]

That's what I was thinking about his death. There was no way for his character to evolve any further. He became obsolete.