Death As A Protagonist In Harry Potter | Anika Kiehlmann ...

Transcript

Kiehlmann 1 Fenske Claudia. Muggles, Monsters and Magicians: A Literary Analysis of the Harry Potter Series. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2008. Print, 379. See Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print, 758. See Fenske, 362. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 741. See Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2004. Print, 553. See Trevarthen, Geo Athena. The Seeker's Guide to Harry Potter: The Unauthorized Course. Winchester: O Books, 2008. Print, 198. See Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print, 330-32, 556. "Death." Oxford Advanced Dictionary. 6th ed. 2000. Print. Schafer, Elizabeth. Exploring Harry Potter. Osprey: Beacham, 2000. Print. Fenske. Blake, Andrew. The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter. London: Verso, 2002. Print. Gupta, Suman. Reading Harry Potter. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print. Kern, Edmund M. The Wisdom of Harry Potter: What our Favourite Hero Teaches us about Moral Choices. n.p. Prometheus Books, 2003. Kindle file. Bürvenich, Paul. Der Zauber des Harry Potter: Eine Analyse eines literarischen Welterfolgs. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 2001. Print. Spinner, Kasper H. Im Bann des Zauberlehrlings?: Zur Faszination von Harry Potter. Regensburg: Pustet, 2001. Print. Garbe, Christina, and Maik Philipp. Eds. Harry Potter – Ein Literatur- und Medienereignis im Blickpunkt interdisziplinärer Forschung. Hamburg: LIT-Verlag, 2006. Print. Himmelsbach, Silvia. Harry Potters literarisher Zauber: Eine Analyse zum Erfolg der Buchserie. Marburg: Tectum, 2012. Print. Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print, 317. Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury, 2004. Print, 235. Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print, 75. See Fenske, 93. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 553-54. See Fenske, 49. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 710-11. See Creasey, Megan. Does Violence Have a Place in Children's Literature? Web. http://oneotareadingjournal.com/2010/does-violence-have-a-place-in-children%E2%80%99s-literature/. 11. June 2015. Fenske, 53. Ibid, 53. See Ibid, 49. Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. Print, 556. See Himmelsbach, 485. See Fenske, 53. Kronzek, Allan Zola, and Elizabeth Kronzek. The Socerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter. 3rd ed. New York: Random House, 2010. Print, 303. See Ibid, 303. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 330-31. Trevarthen, 37. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 605. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 348. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 758. Ibid, 759. See Himmelsbach, 153. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 250-51. Ibid, 464-65. See Fenske,174. See Ibid, 176. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 269. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 353. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 17. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 740. Fenske, 70. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 742. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 66-67. See Ibid, 282. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 228. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 231. See Bürvenich, 54. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 555 – 56. Ibid, 558. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 566. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 718. Ibid, 741. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 465. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 551. See Himmelsbach, 247- 50. See Fenske, 364. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 8 - 24. See Ibid, 26. See Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 226. See Ibid, 226 – 27. See Fenske, 364. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 319. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 322. Ibid, 320. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 401. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 266. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 579. Ibid, 605. Ibid, 576. See Ibid, 713. See Ibid, 723. See Ibid, 744. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 458. Ibid, 556. Ibid. P. 606. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 74. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 599. Ibid, 555. See Ibid, 554. Ibid, 561. See Fenske, 269. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 763. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 120. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 718. See Rowling. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 535. See Himmelsbach, 88. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 544 – 45. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 597-600. Ibid, 268 Ibid, 386 - 89. Fenkse, 205. Death as a Protagonist in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Literature Review 2 Method 3 DEATH AS A PROTAGONIST IN FLUX 4 RULES OF DEATH'S GAME 9 Voldemort's Death Throes 9 Harry Potter, Death's Aid 15 EVALUATING DEATH 22 CONCLUSION 26 WORKS CITED 29 1. Introduction Birth and death are indivisible parts of our lives, and living without dying is not conceivable in our world. Death is so strongly anchored in our mind-set that we even take it along to our fantasy worlds limiting unknowingly our creations. Apparently, even in literature, we need death in order to describe life and vice versa. This phenomenon can also be observed in the wizarding world of Harry Potter which is characterised by a complex and well-structured secondary world unifying the wizarding and non-wizarding community. In order to create a consistence of reality, the wizarding world mirrors our reality in terms of human needs for food and drink, the experience of fear and delight, and also the cohesiveness of life and death. But why are the boundaries of secondary worlds so strongly connected with life and death? Why are magical and fantastic elements in Harry Potter used to merely "replace common functions with a fantastic version of the same process, [while] the function remains the same" instead of creating a non-stop stream of innovations? Answers can be found in the importance of death. Death as an inevitable event changes the perception of reality and gives meaning to actions which otherwise would not be worth mentioning. Especially heroics only attain this status due to their willingness to make sacrifices. Consequently, primary as well as secondary worlds need death as a driving force and counterpart of life in order to give value to time and actions. Hence in the secondary world of Harry Potter, death remains definite and causes feelings of grief and loss. While in our primary world the ideas of death and afterlife are often bound to religious beliefs, the wizarding world of Harry Potter introduces a concept of death which allows active communication with deceased wizards in forms of echoes, ghosts or portraits. Nevertheless, death is feared by some inhabitants of the wizarding world. According to Fenkse, the fear of death even is the root of all evil. Particularly Voldemort's desire for immortality is the moving force behind his actions culminating in the final battle against Harry Potter, the only person who is predetermined to kill him. Thus, the issue of death is an important aspect of the novels due to its massive effect on the various plots of the books as well as its various manifestations in the wizarding world. The death of Harry Potter's parents, for instance, is the starting point for the whole series. Cedric Diggory's death in the Goblet of Fire, on the other hand, marks a turning point. From there on, the books are getting darker; death appears more often until it becomes the central theme for the Deathly Hallows. In the last book, death even appears as a physical character in "The Tale of the Three Brothers" creating the Deathly Hallows which facilitate Harry to defeat Voldemort. Obviously, death is not only "a power that destroys life" but also a physical figure existing and intervening with the wizarding world. This new interpretative approach sees death as an independent character being part and not the opposite of life. Therefore, death is not only an inevitable event and a driving force, but also an initiator of action. This approach leads to the following thesis: In the Harry Potter series, Death as a protagonist initiates the overall plot spanning the whole series by claiming the preservation of the natural order of life and death. At the same time, facing Death positively influences characters in the subplots related to the overall plot. Before this thesis will be examined more closely in the next chapters, the literature review helps to integrate this new interpretative approach in the context of current research. 1. 1 Literature Review In 2000, seven years before the last book was published, Elizabeth Schafer provided with Exploring Harry Potter the first scientific analysis. This book, however, is regarded as outdated since it only covers the first three novels and demonstrates inaccurate reading. In 2002, Andrew Blake in The Irresistable Rise of Harry Potter explores the Harry Potter phenomenon and the condition of the publishing industry. Only one year later, Suman Gupta raises sociological questions and examines the novels' success in Reading Harry Potter. Edmund M. Kern in The Wisdom of Harry Potter: What our Favourite Hero Teaches us about Moral Choices (2003) focuses on the values and ideologies in the Harry Potter series. All analysis, however, are not complete since most of them only concentrate on the first four novels. It is also striking that many subsequent analysis primarily deal with the global success of the series instead of its literary composition: Paul Bürvenich in Der Zauber des Harry Potter: Analys eines literarischen Welterfolgs (2001), Kasper H. Spinner in Im Bann des Zauberlehrlings?: Zur Faszination von Harry Potter (2001) as well as the editors Christine Garbe and Maik Phillipp in Harry Potter – Ein Literatur- und Medienereignis im Blickpunkt interdisziplinärer Forschung (2006). Apparently, there are few detailed analyses covering the whole series. Claudia Fenkse's Muggles, Monsters and Magicians: A Literary Analysis of the Harry Potter Series (2008) and Silvia Himmelsbach's Harry Potters literarischer Zauber: Eine Analyse zum Erfolg der Buchserie (2012) supply detailed literary analyses concerning characters, narrative structure and ideology in consideration of all seven books. In the course of their analyses, both authors recognise the complexity and importance of death in the novels, but lack further elaboration regarding its effect upon characters and narrative structure. Taking up the issue of death in the Harry Potter novels, this paper seeks to continue this observation with an in-depth analysis of its effect upon plots and characters. 1. 2 Method Following the approach of New Criticism, the analysis and interpretation are based on close reading emphasising on Death as a protagonist who is a reappearing feature of the Harry Potter narration and consequently influences plots. In order to deal with the vast amount of material including seven books with an overall plot and various main- and subplots, this analysis necessitates a focus on the overall plot and related subplots neglecting various main- and subplots which are not related to the overall plot. Evidently, the overall plot, which spans the whole series, reaches from the death of Harry Potter's parents to the decisive fight between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort and is therefore the most important element of the whole series. In the first step, this paper examines Death as a protagonist in flux and distinguishes between Death's various manifestations and the possibilities dying offers in the wizarding world. "The Rules of Death's Game" is the second major point of the analysis, in which Harry Potter and Voldemort as the central figures of the overall plot are scrutinised concerning their relations to Death and how Death eventually influences their actions. Finally, before giving a conclusion, this text evaluates Death in relation to other characters in order to connect the dots to a multidimensional image of Death. With the help of two important subplots concerning the ambivalent and complex characters of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, this chapter reaches beyond a structural analysis as to show that Death's connotation are not fixed. The choice of characters lies in their massive effect upon the overall plot as well as their multidimensionality. 2. Death as a Protagonist in Flux In the secondary world of Harry Potter, birth and death are just as much a part of life as in our primary world. Right at the beginning of the series, readers discover that Harry's parents died by the hands of Lord Voldemort while Harry himself survived with nothing more than a scar on his forehead. It becomes obvious that death is different in the wizarding world when ghosts and speaking portraits of deceased wizards influence plots by helping Harry to achieve various tasks. Nevertheless until the Goblet of Fire, the threat of death merely seems to be an element of suspension since hazardous situations in the first three novels are accompanied by sentences like: "'Then kill him, fool, and be done!'", "'The boy is behind you. You can still smell him. Kill him.'", and "'Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead.'" However, as is the children's literature custom, evil is eventually defeated by good, and the hero is able to escape those dangerous situations nearly unharmed. This schema is abolished in the fourth book though, when the good character Cedric Diggory gets unexpectedly killed and the danger of death changes from an element of suspense to a real possibility whereas in the moment of happening the reader feels as taken aback as Harry Potter: Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was dead. For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric's face, at his open grey eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. Even though, Diggory is only a secondary character, his death marks a turning point for the whole series since more characters die in the following books. It questions the previously imagined certainty that good will win in the end of the series. On the contrary, things get even worse when Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and important father figure, dies in the next book: Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place. Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing – Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second … But Sirius did not reappear. Here again, the sudden and rapid death of an important character occurs unexpectedly. Apparently death scenes in the Harry Potter series are characterised by a swift and direct death without graphic descriptions of injuries. The lack of description, however, does not change the effect upon readers, since especially children's imagination has the power to create and picture violent situations without any further visualization in written form needed. According to Fenske, the death scenes in the Harry Potter series are "rather stereotypical" and lack "any descriptions of the feelings death provokes." She compares those scenes with Western and in Dumbledore's case even with action films: A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry's scream of horror never left him; silent and unmoving he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air; for a split second he seemed to hand suspended beneath the shinning skull, and then he fell slowly backwards, like a great rag doll, over he battlements and out of sight. These scenes are indeed similar to action films, but for many readers the Harry Potter series is characterized by its action and suspense. Therefore, the scenes meet above all children's expectation. The same literary description of death using unnatural movement or position of the body and the change in the eyes as a distinctive feature also indicates that not the act of dying is relevant for plot and character developments, but the possibilities dying offers for both those dying and those seeing another character die. In the end, Fenske fails to realise the multidimensionality and importance of death. On the one hand, death is the power that ends life definitely, but on the other hand, it is also connected with different kinds of afterlife. Namely when Sirius Black dies, he falls through an ancient veil which is deep within the Ministry of Magic. The veil, however, is not only a curtain, but a portal between life and death. It represents the threshold between this life and the next. "On one side as the world as we know it, on the other, the impenetrable mystery of what lies beyond." Even though, the imagination of life after death and especially the representation in form of a veil are originated in biblical terms, the books adopt this idea and establish it as a fact since Harry can actually hear whispered voices from within the veil. Up until this point, death is already a two-dimensional system. On the one hand, death is definite since nobody can return to life, and on the other hand, the idea of afterlife is introduced. Seen this way, death would only be a plot device influencing characters and plots by merely happening. Nevertheless death is a far more complex system with various manifestations in the wizarding world. Besides its passive influence, death is an active character. The most obvious example is in "The Tale of the Three Brothers", when a hooded figure appears as the personification of Death. The story revolves around three wizard brothers who, instead of drowning, cross a treacherous river by performing magic. Halfway across their magic bridge, they meet the personification of Death. "'And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims . . . . But Death was cunning.'" Death awards them with gifts of their choosing. The oldest brother chooses an unbeatable wand – the Elder wand. The middle brother asks for a stone to raise the dead – the Resurrection Stone. The youngest brother, however, chooses an Invisibility Cloak in order to escape Death. "The eldest and middle brothers soon meet untimely ends. Only the youngest lives out his years and departs with Death as an equal when he removes the cloak to pass it on to his son." At first, the tale is introduced as a children's fairy tale, but in the course of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows it becomes apparent that it holds some truth. On the one hand, the three brothers from the tale can be traced back to the Peverell brothers whose grave Harry visits, and on the other hand, the objects created by Death, the Deathly Hallows, are key elements in the final battle against Voldemort. This leads to the conclusion that Death embodied as hooded figure is also part of the wizarding world and not just represented in the act of dying wherefore it is capitalized in the following analysis. Furthermore, Death is not only a power that destroys life, but also has great power since it creates the most powerful magical items. Interestingly, only Death has the capability to resurrect the dead, and thus is superior to wizards. The only possibility of conquering Death, on the other side, is to possess the Deathly Hallows and thus become the master of Death. With Death's existence as a physical figure and its great power in both the world of living and dead, it is an important character in the Harry Potter books. Its development to a protagonist, a leading character, is based on its immense influence on plot and characters throughout the whole series. Its greatest influence, however, is in forms of ghosts and portraits. Ghosts, the spirts of dead, are imprints of wizards' souls which remain upon the earth "'to walk palely where their living selves once trod.'" However, only few wizards choose this path as they can no longer move beyond the veil: 'I was afraid of death,' said Nick softly. 'I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn't to have … well, that is neither here nor there … in fact, I am neither here nor there …' He gave a small sad chuckle. 'I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead. . . .' Since only Death has the power to resurrect wizards and to control the world of the deceased, Death is the only one who can offer dying wizards the choice of going beyond the veil or remaining as a ghost in the world of living. Since ghosts are unable to have physical influence in the wizarding world, they affect plots and characters verbally, e. g. giving advice and explanations or sharing memories. The attribution of portraits to Death's range of activity, on the other hand, is more difficult because painters enchant the portraits of wizards with the result that the portraits display some characteristics of the deceased wizards. In the course of this analysis, they are assigned to Death's range because those enchanted portraits are not really alive. They merely imitate the deceased wizards in their speech and behaviour. Wizards, however, can transfer knowledge to their portraits so that they can still act as advisors after the wizards' passing. Since in the Harry Potter series portraits are mainly used to pass information and give advice after wizards' decease, they are similar to ghosts regarding their functions and their possibilities to influence plots and characters. In the end, both are imprints of deceased wizards affecting the world of the living albeit their bodies are dead. Summarizing, Death is indeed a protagonist in the Harry Potter series who is characterized by various manifestations and great power in both the world of the living and dead. Even though, Death as a physical figure appears only once, its power constantly affects the wizarding world. Consequently Death as a protagonist is composed of the event of dying, ghosts, portraits and above all its own magical power. Apart from its task to contribute to the circle of life fetching all living beings too old or ill to continue their existence, Death can act independently, and thus interact with the living and influence the presence. In the following parts, Death's effects upon plots and character will be examined in detail. 3. Rules of Death's Game 3. 1 Voldemort's Death Throe Himmelsbach describes Voldemort as the static antagonist of Harry Potter, who embodies death and evil in the wizarding world. Paradoxically, Voldemort's greatest fear is Death. Born as Tom Riddle and marked by an early parental loss, he has searched for power and immortality from an early age on. Besides his longing for power, he is characterized by an urge for knowledge and his excellent academic achievements. Hence, during his 5th year at Hogwarts, his search for immortality is finally successful when he learns about Horcruxes: A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul ... Well, you split your soul, you see, and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. In the same year, he changes his name to Voldemort meaning "flight from death" and concentrates on creating not only one but six Horcruxes. Convinced being different and better than the others, he soon strives to achieve absolute dominance over the wizarding world. His decisions, however, are seldom guided by logic but by his fear of Death – the only power he cannot control. This can be seen in several examples throughout the narration. First of all, Voldemort gathers followers, the Death Eaters, in order to secure his usurpation. Following the idea that "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," Death Eaters appear to be human barriers since Voldemort fears a direct confrontation with Death. Instead of fighting at the front, Voldemort stays in the background and commands the Death Eaters, who protect him from danger. At the same time, Voldemort applies his knowledge about the Dark Arts and creates various Horcruxes. During the process of splitting his soul, he murders and loses his humanity: He disappeared after leaving the school … travelled far and wide … sank so deeply onto the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was one Head Boy here. Consequently, the removal of his human features leads to the assumption that Voldemort wishes to escape Death by discarding his elements of a human being; thus being not recognisable for Death. His aim is the creation of an artificial creature so as to claim superiority over Death. Indeed, he reaches his goals and becomes the most vigorous and feared wizard of all time. For many years, Voldemort has been reigning and extending his powers while feeling protected since parts of his soul has been kept safe in Horcruxes. Yet his feeling of security and absolute power begins to totter due to a prophecy which depicts his death. Voldemort, however, knows only the parts of the prophecy saying "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies." Instead of figuring out the whole prophecy, he acts with precipitation. From this point on, Voldemort's decisions and actions are mainly influenced by his immense mortal agony leading to errors in judgement. Consequently, all of his deeds aim at escaping Death. Even though, Fenske states that "the villain's attempts to usurp power are the main forces of the plot," it is Voldemort's fear of Death which initiates the overall plot of the series because he hastily chooses Harry Potter as the boy who could vanquish him, although the prophecy's wording is ambiguous, and hence, another character, Neville Longbottom, fits the description as well. In the end, with the early attack on the Potters, Voldemort fulfils the prophecy and induces his decay, and thus, his own death. The first book of the Harry Potter series sets in ten years after Voldemort's attack on the Potters. His attempt to kill Harry Potter, however, has unexpected consequences: Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see … he was getting' more an' more powerful – why'd he go? Some said he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Voldemort vanishes because the killing curse reflects from Harry and instead hits himself. The prophecy would already have been fulfilled if Voldemort had not created his Horcruxes. Nevertheless, his body is destroyed forcing him to live without a shape. His wish for immortality and power, on the other side, is even strengthened which is why he acts imprudently. Instead of gathering new strength secretly, Voldemort occupies Quirrell's body in order to gain access to Hogwarts and its grounds, although Dumbledore, the headmaster, is the only one he is afraid of. It can be noticed that Voldemort only focuses on escaping Death. On the grounds of Hogwarts, he kills a unicorn and drinks its blood in order to keep himself alive. The downsides of this action are that, on the one hand, his life is now cursed and hence unworthy living, and on the other hand, he attracts attention to himself. Both consequences do not matter for him as long as he is on step closer to his aim. It is striking how his focus on Death actually narrows his mind. In younger years, he was an intelligent and outstanding student, but during his adult years he is characterized by bigotry and unconsidered actions. In consequence, Voldemort's death throes start early in the narration and become an essential part of his striving. This can be seen in his effort to steal the Philosopher's Stone in Hogwarts, which obviously is a dangerous and rather ill-judged undertaking because his viability depends on the weak wizard Quirrell. Voldemort's judgement is clouded since the stone produces the Elixir of Life, which would secure his immortality for a second time. His static behaviour apparently forces him to ensure his survival although he is already immortal due to his Horcruxes. His narrow mind is only conducted by his deadly fear. Unsurprisingly, Voldemort's ambitions fail in the beginning of the narration due to his poor bodily state and his hurried venture to Hogwarts. His rash actions set back his already achieved power by years. Therefore, he only appears in person again in the fourth book. The overall plot, however, is still massively influenced by Voldemort and his attempt to escape Death in the second book. While Voldemort recovers, his diary, which is also a Horcrux, is brought into Hogwarts. Since the diary is bewitched, Voldemort's memory guided by a part of his own soul is able to take control over a girl and to open the Chamber of Secrets in order to release the Basilisk. Interestingly, his diary is coincidentally brought into Hogwarts. Hence, the encounter between Voldemort and Harry was not deliberate, and yet it has a huge impact on Voldemort's life because the diary is eventually destroyed and with it a part of his soul. A seventh part of Voldemort dies without his knowledge. This shows above all Voldemort's static and repetitive behaviour since he portrayed as a one-dimensional character who is not allowed to advance. Tom Riddle himself says: "Voldemort is my past, present and future", and so his aim will always be to kill Harry Potter, the only one able to dispatch him, in order to ensure his immortality and power. Therefore the climax of every single main plot of the various books as well as the climax of the overall plot, the final battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort, is featured by his wish to escape Death. He only focuses on this aim, while he ignores other consequences caused by his actions. Thus, the on-going battle between Harry and Voldemort is not – as stated by Bürvenich – characterised by a mounting dynamic but by a repetitive schema whereas the only change can be found in Voldemort's shape. While in the first book he was "less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost" and dependent on Quirrell, in the second book Voldemort's shape is his former self. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, however, is an exception because Voldemort is not an active part of the story. While he recovers from his attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone, one of his servant's is introduced. Only in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and hence three years after his first appearance, more information of Voldemort's current shape are provided: [It] had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Harry had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face – no child alive ever had a face like that – was flat and snake-like, with gleaming red eyes. His dehumanised shape shows the effects of his desperate attempt to escape Death, and again, Voldemort is dependent on the help of his followers in order to survive and finally rise. With the bones of his father, flesh of a servant and the blood of Harry Potter, Voldemort is able to get a new body: . . . the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron. . . . His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cat's, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness. Paradoxically, the more he tries to escape Death, the more he bears an uncanny resemblance to it. The fear of Death thus is Voldemort's motivation and the main driving force concerning his plots. It is almost impossible to argue about his life's journey without his immense necrophobia because Voldemort is characterised as an intrinsic evil protagonist who is forced to behave in a static and shallow way. He cannot change or develop his character and is doomed to repeat his actions as it can be seen in the remaining books. Consequently with Death as a permanent threat, his driving force and basis for his repetitive behaviour remains his trepidation. Even after his rise in the Goblet of Fire, when Voldemort can indeed be sure that he is immortal, his goal remains the same: "You know my goal – to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked." In the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort's static behaviour forces him to repeat himself since "there is nothing worse than death." He concentrates on obtaining the prophecy and on trying to get more information about the circumstances of his death but fails because it is his fate to fail. In the end, the wording of the prophecy is only known to Harry and his friends: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies . . . . Would Voldemort have heard the whole prophecy, he had known that he had caused his soon death by attacking the Potters, which supports the notion of Voldemort's death struggle. In the Half-Blood Prince, the information obtained about Tom Riddle only relate to his search for immortality, and thus, the creation of the Horcruxes. While for others being dead would be more preferable than splitting their soul, Voldemort splits his soul six times consciously and once unconsciously as he tried to kill Harry Potter. For Voldemort, avoiding Death is the only thing living for. Even in the final book, Voldemort tries to kill Harry in order to ensure his survival. Blinded by his arrogance, he oversees the he already owns two out of three Deathly Hallows which would make him to the master of Death. The Resurrection Stone, however, is only valuable for him since he made it into a Horcrux. Thus, this possibility to conquer Death once again passes unused since his narrow-mind forces him to focalise only on the current death threat triggered by Harry Potter and the prophecy. Voldemort eventually dies in the final battle since all Horcruxes are destroyed. With the focus on Death's approach, he forgets to protect his Horcruxes while endangering himself in battles with others. His death throes are accompanied by arrogance and megalomania since he wants to find more than one way to be immortal - only to die soon. Consequently, Death cannot be cheated. In the end, Voldemort is able to theoretically delay his death by using Dark Arts and trusting the support of his subjects. Nonetheless, his death struggle immediately starts at the beginning of the narration and is an important factor in the course of the story. In fact, Voldemort realises this process but is unable to control his fear. He is also characterized by the loss of humanity. The splitting of his soul prevents his personality development and forces him to behave static. With only a seventh part of his soul left, he only is a seventh part human, and therefore lacks common sense and the possibility to develop himself. The remaining part of his soul focuses on Death, a rather silent protagonist who acts in the background. Blinded by his struggle and limited by his own destruction, Voldemort does not care about the identity of the boy from the prophecy and thus is not interested in Harry Potter at all, who blunders into being Voldemort's adversary at random. Death as a protagonist acts rather passively concerning Voldemort; allowing his plan to progress because Voldemort is already in a too strong position for Death to interfere. Fortunately for him and Harry Potter, Voldemort fights against Death and not for his life. What seems to be a nuance of interpretations is indeed a crucial point regarding Death's role in the contestation. Voldemort chooses Death as his primal enemy but fails to see that he cannot win this battle due to his bigotry and greed. Eventually, megalomania and Harry Potter at the side of Death – this being a subject in the following chapter – are able to overthrow Voldemort in the end. 3. 2 Harry Potter, Death's Aid Just as Death is a passive presence for Voldemort, it is an active force for Harry Potter. Thus Harry unknowingly becomes Death's aid, which is demonstrated in the following passages. This chapter deals to a great extent with Harry's development, his adventures and encounters with Death from his point of view. Nonetheless, this analysis interprets Death's role as a protagonist in relation to Harry by evaluating Harry's role in the plots and Death's influence on him. It is striking that Harry Potter is chosen rather by coincidence as the protagonist of the series. Voldemort's hasty actions at the beginning of the narration transform Harry unintentionally and unknowingly into a Horcrux and mark him as his opponent. The interpretation of Death as initiator of the overall plot and hence the prophecy has its origin in Harry's miraculous survival of Voldemort's killing curse. Obviously, he survives because he is needed. It is Death's natural task to preserve the circle of life and death, and Harry happens to be a suitable character to help Death's efforts to catch Voldemort since he is the only one able to defeat the Dark Lord. In general, the flight from Death is of no avail in our as well as the wizarding world. Even Nicholas Flamel and his wife, who have lived for over 600 years, eventually give away their Philosopher's Stone and die. Therefore, facing Death is obligatory. Death, however, needs an adjutant who traces the Horcruxes since Voldemort has already acquired immortality before the Harry Potter series sets in. In the end, Voldemort has determined Harry Potter to be the chosen one – for Death and himself. Apparently, Death is not the only one who uses Harry. For Dumbledore, he also is an important tool in order to achieve his goal – the fall of Voldemort: "So the boy…the boy must die?" asked Snape, quite calmly. "And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential." . . . "You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?" "Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?" Harry's actions are guided by either Dumbledore or Death making him an object like a pawn in their larger game. Throughout the narration, Death uses Harry's parents as major element to control and manipulate Harry's thoughts and actions. The past is the key to the present since especially Harry's relation and idealisation of his dead parents play a significant role throughout the narration. Therefore, they are the ideal figures for Death to manipulate and eventually misuse Harry for his purposes. Furthermore, Harry's lack of parental guiding makes him more vulnerable for accepting guidance by others. Death ultimately adopts the role of an advisor and motivator. As Himmelsbach states, Harry is, on the one hand, able to make decisions concerning his surroundings and evaluates certain processes but he is, on the other hand, deprived of his freedom of choice concerning the overall plot. Nevertheless, in the final battle Harry decides to sacrifice himself to finally overthrow his enemy. This shows that Harry is indeed the suitable character for Death's purposes because he overcomes his own fear of Death and is willing to make a martyr of himself. The need for sacrificing himself origins, on the one hand, in the prophecy and, on the other hand, in his parents, who did the same, but the duel to death which is a returning aspect of his education has prepared him for this. In addition, Fenske describes Harry not as an initiator of action but mostly as being forced to react and respond to the action of his enemies and his allies. Certainly, Harry lacks his free will but this does not mean that he is unable to develop and reflect upon the on-going processes. He becomes victorious because he loses his fear of death in the end. In the following, this text shows Harry's relation to Death in the course of the narration and its significant importance for the plots. Apart from the overall plot, which starts with Voldemorts attempt to kill the Potters and ends with the battle of Hogwarts, Harry meets Death early on in the first book. In the very first chapter Harry is introduced as "the boy who lived" emphasising his miraculous survival of Voldemort's attack. He is the only one who ever survived the killing curse marked with nothing but a scar. The love of his mother protected him from Death because she sacrificed herself, but in the end it is Death who initiates the overall plot by accepting her sacrifice and letting Harry live. As a consequence, Harry has to live a miserable life with his aunt and uncle while being slighted. He therefore is a blank sheet of paper as he arrives at Hogwarts searching for knowledge and guidance at this alien place. There he also sees his parents in the mirror Erised first-time: "Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?" . . . Harry was looking at his family for the first time in his life. The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he starred hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness. Harry finally develops a feeling of belonging. He recognises that they even share the same bodily features: he has his mother's eyes and his father's hair. With a picture of his parents in mind, he starts idealising them. This space for his imagination, however, is given by Death since it took his parents away. Fenske states that his parents, especially his mother Lily, appear to be rather flat characters. It is understandable that his parents do not develop and establish deeper meaning because they are constructed by memories blanching the truth over. Furthermore, in the course of the narration it becomes clear that they serve Death to control Harry's feelings and actions whereas they need to be a source of comfort and fondness. A living source of comfort is Dumbledore, who gives Harry the Invisibility Cloak of James Potter. Here, it can be noticed that Dumbledore interacts with Harry fairly early because he knows that the boy is of great value for his own plans. This is notable after Harry's fight with Quirrel whereas he is also confronted with Death presence: "'I feared I might be too late.' 'You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –' 'Not the Stone, boy, you – the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had." Dumbledore's word can be interpreted as genuine concern but in connection with the former quote ("You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?"), he appears to be cold-hearted since he acts out of pure expediency, although that does not preclude that Dumbledore indeed worries about Harry. Harry, on the other side, does not know Dumbledore's intentions and sees him as a father figure. Therefore, his opinion about Death is highly influenced by Dumbledore who is not afraid of Death and sees it as a mere adventure. In his second year, Harry gets help from Myrtle, a victim of the Basilisk and now a ghost in the girl's toilette. She is characterised by her tantrums and wailing. Furthermore, she floods constantly the toilet and haunts everybody except Harry in this place. Instead she provides crucial information for the following plot in the second book since she actively helps him to find a way to the secret chambers of Hogwarts. Her role as advisor can also be noted in the fourth book, when Harry also needs her assistance to open the golden egg of the Triwizard Tournament. Her ambiguous behaviour is characterised by helping Harry and haunting the other students. It illustrates her important role which is in serving as Death's speaking organ. Death established a way to communicate with Harry in order to ensure that he is able to perform his task, and thus, brings him one step closer to killing Voldemort. The third year is very interesting for this analysis because Harry is followed by an omen of Death, the Grim, which turns out to be his god-father Sirius. The use of this omen as a positive element in the series supports Harry's development to an open-minded individual accepting that Death is not only of negative connotation. At the same time, Harry is able to hear is parents' voices for the first time since he was a small child. Even though, their echoes are of the moment they are dying, he wants to experience the moment anew "Harry felt angry with himself, guilty about his secret desire to hear his parents' voices again." His desire to experience his parents in any manner reaches its pinnacle in the battle against the Dementors, when Harry imagines his father as rescuer, albeit he himself saves the others. It becomes evident that Harry's parents, although being dead, are not completely absent; not only in Harry's thoughts but also in reality in form of echoes. They are his guidance and motivation, and it seems that his yearning for them is in some degree a yearning for Death, too. Nevertheless, Harry respects Death. In the Goblet of Fire, he saves Fleur's sister and Ron in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, although he himself struggles under water, because he takes the song of the Merpeople seriously. It seems that his attitude towards Death echoes his parents' since he is willing to sacrifice himself as long as he can save other from Death. Consequently, Harry is also prepared to sacrifice himself in the final fight against Voldemort, and thus, fulfils Death's as well as Dumbledore's plan. The fulfilment of this plan, however, is bound to the destruction of the Horcruxes. Therefore, Harry has to survive the battle in the fourth book because he as a tool is still needed. In the situation of greatest danger, Death sends his parents to protect him: The smoky shadow of a young woman with long hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at him … and Harry, his arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of his mother. 'Your father's coming …' she said quietly. 'He wants to see you … it will be all right … hold on …' And he came … first his head, then his body … tall and untidy-haired like Harry, the smoky, shadowy form of James Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like his wife. . . . 'When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments … but we will give you time … you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts … do you understand, Harry?' Interestingly, the victims of murder emerging from Voldemort's wand due to the effect of Priori Incantatem do not only hold conversations but are also informed about past and present events. How can they be proactive if no spell can reawaken the dead? Dumbledore describes the phenomenon as "a kind of reverse echo" and yet the echoes act independently and thoughtfully. Cedric even asks Harry to bring his body back to his parents. This leads to the conclusion that Death has indeed manipulated the echoes in order to protect and support Harry in a fight that he would have lost otherwise. Up until this point, Death has painted a flawless picture of Harry's parents. In the Order of Phoenix, the picture gets scratches when Harry attends Occlumency lessons given by Snape. For the first time, he experiences his father as an arrogant bully whereas his view of him comes into question: "For nearly five years the thought of his father has been a source of comfort, of inspiration. Whenever someone had told him he was like James, he had glowed with pride inside. And now … now he felt cold and miserable at the thought of him." In the moment of struggle and disorientation, however, Death takes away another father figure reminding him of what is important – Voldemort's downfall. With Sirius's demise, Harry's hatred towards Voldemort and his followers is rekindled, and he clearly feels the need for vanquishing Voldemort. As a consequence, he accepts the prophecy and that eventually one has got to kill the other one in order to end the ongoing battle. Thus, he accepts facing Death. The sixth book focuses on bringing the various plots together in order to prepare for the last novel. Nevertheless, Death and Dumbledore continue their game of chess while having unknowingly the same target. They both help Harry to fulfil his duties. Dumbledore, on the one hand, destroys various Hocruxes in advance, and Death, on the other hand, uses Aragon. Apparently the spider does not coincidentally die since it provides venom that is used by Harry to gathers important information about the missing Horcruxes from Slughorn. In the end, even Harry discovers the benefits of death when he uses his mother to persuade a teacher to give him the final clue: "She gave me her life, but you won't give me a memory." Death, however, goes one step further by checkmating Dumbledore who is not needed anymore. He has prepared and supported Harry but in the end, it is Harry's task to defeat Voldemort all alone. Interestingly, Dumbledore accepts his faith of a soon demise since it was his wish to see his deceased family which tempted him to put on Marvolo Gaunt's cursed ring. Furthermore, he even plans how his death should occur – by the hand of Severus Snape: 'Severus …' The sound frightened Harry beyond anything he had experienced all evening. For the first time, Dumbledore was pleading. . . . Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face. 'Severus … please …' Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. 'Avada Kedavra!' Dumbledore's pleading illustrates the significance of the act and it also shows that his sacrifice is more important than his perhaps existing fear of Death. Harry, who observes the scene, can finally understand that they are things much worse than Death, namely Voldemort's seizure of power. Since Harry loses his advisor, he decides by himself to search and destroy the Horcruxes. It is remarkable that he chooses his parents' grave in Godric's Hollow as the starting point for his search. He states that "for me, it started here, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves, I'd like that." Death opens up new possibilities for Harry and it appears as if Death gives Harry some space to operate on his own. Consequently, Death does not only end plots but also creates new ones. In the final book of the series, Harry experiences Death at the most intensive level. Alastor Moody and Harry's owl Hedwig die during their dangerous escape from Privet Drive. Besides the loss of his parents and various father figures, Hedwig eventually marks the end Harry's childhood: ". . . Dumbledore always had the answers . . . but Dumbledore, like Mad-Eye, like Sirius, like his parents, like his poor owl, all were gone where Harry could never talk to them again." Even if he cannot talk to the living Dumbledore anymore, Harry is still supported by him. Firstly, Dumbledore has left a last will and testament giving Harry, Ron, and Hermione four valuable items. Secondly, in the twilight zone between living and dying, Dumbledore reappears in the moment Harry dies providing advice and explanations. Lastly, Harry seeks Dumbledore's portray after the final fight: "He directed his words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with enormous care. Exhausted and bleary-eyed though he was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last piece of advice." Consequently, Dumbledore's death does not affect his ability to support Harry which could be a reason why Dumbledore himself was not afraid of dying. Death as a protagonist, on the other side, conducts and supports Harry from the background. One by one, it lets Harry have the Deathly Hallows: the Cloak of Invisibility after his father's death, the Resurrection Stone after Dumbledore's, and the Elder Wand who changes hands from Dumbledore to Malfoy and finally to Harry. According to "The Tale of the Three Brothers," the possessor of all three objects will be master of Death – but Harry is not the master of Death, he remains its aid and its pawn. All the previously losses and experiences caused by Death blighted his own wish for immortality preparing him to sacrifice himself: Dumbledore knew, as Voldemort knew, that Harry would not let anyone else die for him now that he had discovered it was in his power to stop it. The images of Fred, Lupin and Tonks lying dead in the Great Hall forced their way back into his mind's eye, and for a moment he could hardly breathe: Death was impatient … Nevertheless, at the moment of his decease, Harry can feel adrenalin in his veins. So that Harry does not refuse in the last moment, Death sends his deceased family and friends as supporters. "Beside him, making scarcely a sound, walked James, Sirius, Lupin and Lily, and their presence was his courage, and the reason he was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other." With the help of the Deathly Hallows, Harry eventually defeats Voldemort and consequently fulfils Death's plan. The immortality given by Death, however, protects him from Voldemort's killing curse a second time. It solely destroys the part of Voldemort's soul in him. Consequently, Harry survives since it has never been Death's plan to fetch Harry before his time arrived. Harry was merely an object helping to preserve the natural order of life and death by catching Voldemort who tried to escape. In the end, Harry destroys and hides the Deathly Hallows which shows that he has learnt that immortality is not desirable as there are worse things than dying. In the end, Death's as well as Dumbledore's plan worked out. 4. Evaluating Death Reactions towards Death differ significantly in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. While evil characters like Lord Voldemort and his followers are characterised by an immense fear of Death, one-dimensional but good characters like Luna Lovegood, who as a minor character acts flat and static, are not concerned about Death: "'Yes, it [her mother's death] was rather horrible,' said Luna conversationally. 'I still feel very sad about it sometimes. . . . And anyway, it's not as though I'll never see Mum again, is it?' 'Er – isn't it?' said Harry uncertainly. She shook her head in disbelief. 'Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil, didn't you?' . . . 'In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them.' The death of a living being is accompanied by a momentarily feeling of grief and loss, but it is striking that the event of death is not feared or of negative connotation. Ghosts, for example, even celebrate their obit. Nick's deathday party is equipped with food, music and games, and well-attended by other ghosts. Paradoxically, the beings with a particular strong fear of Death, those who chose to remain behind in form of ghosts, do not consider their day of death as a negative event. It is more the fear of the unknown that holds them back in the end. Thus Dumbledore's saying: "To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure" mirrors the good character's attitude towards Death. Dumbledore himself is not afraid of Death since he holds the view "that there are things much worse." Surprisingly, this does not mean that the dying of others does not affect him. The early decease of his sister Ariana marks a turning point in his life. Instead of searching for the Deathly Hallows, and consequently for power and immortality, he becomes a teacher and a well-respected wizard. Nonetheless, the clash with Grindelwald, which led to Ariana's death, has been hunting him ever since. In the end, without this terrifying experience, Dumbledore would possibly be the villain in the narrative since his search for immortality and power mirrors Voldemort's behaviour. Hence, meeting Death at an early age influenced him positively. Himmelsbach, however, considers this detail about Dumbledore's past as redundant because it only elaborates on the conception of the character, but is not relevant for the plot. This does not seem to be true since especially Ariana in form of a portrait is important for the final battle in Hogwarts. Her portrait conceals a secret passage to Hogwarts, which allows Harry and his friends to enter the castle unseen giving them an advantage in the battle. Ariana also walks in between those two portraits in order to pass messages. It is striking that her portrait and the hidden passage only appeared after the students had already fought the new headmaster and Voldemort's followers. This shows that even after her death, Ariana tries to protect those things most important to their brothers – the pub and the school. Both facilities provide shelter and secureness for students. Hence, her portrait and the hidden passage reunite the brothers who fell out over her death. It is remarkable that another character experiences the same development after being confronted with Death. Severus Snape as former Death Eater was interested in the Dark Arts and followed the pure-blood supremacist. However, he changed sides after his childhood love Lily Potter scarifies herself for her son: "'If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear. . . . You know how and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily's son.' . . . There was a long pause, and slowly Snape regained control of himself, masters his own breathing. At last he said, 'Very well. But never — never tell, Dumbledore! This must be between us! Swear it! I cannot bear ... especially Potter's son . . . .'" Again Death marks a turning point since the character changes from evil to good. Snape now acts as a double agent. He works for Dumbledore, passes on secret information and is eventually involved in Voldemort's downfall. Even though, he remains his façade of indifference and nastiness, he saves Harry Potter several times. The greatest influence on the overall plot can be seen in the final book, when Snape's patronus in form of a silver doe leads Harry to the sword of Godric Gryffindor – the only item able to destroy Horcruxes. This shows not only Snape's bravery, since betrayal is punished with death, and confirms his change to the good side, but also reveals his love for Lily, even after her death, because he copied the form of her patronus. Eventually at the moment of his own death, Snape urges Harry to look at him because Harry has the eyes of his mother. Obviously, seeing Death changed him, but for facing Death himself he needs the reminder for whom he has suffered. Nevertheless, her death changed him positively. Although several characters die in the course of the narration, it seems that some deaths are more significant than others. Out of the over 50 deaths which occur in the Harry Potter series, only four characters are paid tribute with a burial: Harry Potter's parents, Dobby, and Dumbledore. Interestingly, the only thing they have in common, apart from their love to Harry, is their way of dying. All characters choose a sacrificial death, and are apparently rewarded with a proper burial. This leads to the assumption that in the series taking conscious steps towards Death is an act of greater value than dying naturally. The decisive criterion hence is the loss of mortal fear in a moment of danger. Therefore, highlighting sacrificial death elucidates that dying is not the worse part of life, and that there are indeed things that are worth dying for. The atmosphere of Dumbledore's funeral, for example, presage that the perception of death is ambivalent, and thus, not only of negative connotation: An aisle ran down at the front, all chairs facing it. It was the most beautiful summer's day. An extraordinary assortment of people had already settled into half the chairs. . . . The castle ghosts were there too, barely visible in the bright sunlight. . . . He [Harry] suddenly remembered Dumbledore's idea of a few words: 'nitwit', 'oddment', 'blubber' and 'tweak', and again, had to suppress a grin … what was the matter with him? Obviously, the decease of Dumbledore is tragic, but Harry knows that he died for a reason making it more bearable. Death can indeed be useful. Parallels can also be seen in the sacrificial death of Harry Potter's parents, even though their decease occurred ten years before the first book sets in. Their sacrificed themselves for Harry and make it possible for him to survive. Again the benefit of their deed was greater than their fear of Death. Interestingly, both graves are marked by a white stone: . . . he moved towards her feeling as if something heavy were pressing on his chest . . . a grief that had actually weighed in his heart and lungs. It [the headstone] was made of white marble, just like Dumbledore's tomb, and this made it easy to read, as it seemed to shine in the ark. The white stone reappears as a symbol at the burial scene of house-elf Dobby, who also sacrifices himself for Harry Potter in the battle against Voldemort. Obviously, the burial of the house-elf is a sign of respect, particularly as Harry inters him by hand and not by magic: 'I want to do it properly,' were the first words which Harry was fully conscious of speaking. 'Not by magic. Have you got a spade?' . . . He dug with a kind of fury, relishing the manual work, glorying in the non-magic of it, for every drop of his sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who had saved their lives. . . . He looked around: there were a number of large, white stones, smoothed by the sea, marking the edge of the flowerbeds. He picked up one of the largest and laid it, pillow-like, over the place where Dobby's head now rested. It is striking that all characters mentioned-above sacrifices themselves for the greater good. They are not afraid of Death since Voldemort's sovereignty over the wizarding world or Harry's death over would be worse. The usage of white as stone colour represents chasteness, peace and innocence, and emphasises that death itself is not a negative event, but simply a part of the life. Choosing an early death therefore is not an act of bravery, but of responsibility. Furthermore, those characters who meet Death early in their life change positively in the course of the narration, even though the decease of others causes feelings of loss and grief. In general, Death appears as a positive force and presence helping the characters to develop an eye for the important things in life while at the same time assigning the characters responsibility for others and for themselves. 5. Conclusion This paper has shown that Death is not only an important protagonist in the Harry Potter narration but also plays a crucial role concerning the progression of the overall plot. Although Death only appears once as a physical character, its presence is marked by a cohesive line of events, which forward the narration throughout the seven books. Characterised by various manifestations, Death uses ghosts, portraits and other perceivable sources as mediators, which play different roles in the overall plot. Being a protagonist in flux, it is not obvious that Death is the deciding factor in the Harry Potter series. The act of dying, on the other side, seems less relevant for the plots and is described in a rather brief manner. Thus, Death's importance lies in its effect on the plots. Apart from being a motivator and advisor for Harry Potter, Death is also the initiator of action and therefore manipulates different plots. This interpretation opens up new a new approach concerning the plots of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, most analyses focus on the first three books, whereas other studies covering the whole series recognise complexity and importance of Death but fail to give in-depth elaborations regarding its effect upon characters and narrative structures. In fact, Death is an independent character because of the central theme of the narration: Voldemort strives to overcome Death, whereas Harry, being the good protagonist by coincidence, is Death's aid to stop Voldemort from achieving his goal. Claiming to preserve the natural order between life and death, Death intervenes in the narration by using all the resources possible. It is crucial to understand that death is not the opposite of life in the story but rather a part of it. This notion, however, is not accepted by Voldemort, who is the static antagonist in the narration and whose greatest fear is Death. His only ambition is to become immortal and thus to flight from Death's sphere of influence. He is already a very powerful wizard but his focus on fighting Death affects the storyline and provides Harry Potter the chance to defeat him. In the end, Voldemort's mind is narrowed and he acts precipitately which leads to errors in judgement. In addition, he does not realise that splitting his soul causes the loss of his humanity and his human shape which draws Voldemort nearer to Death than he eventually recognises. His death struggle starts early on in the narration and is marked by repetitive behaviour. Voldemort is able to secure his immortality more than once but does not realise his achievements and strives after more ways to deceive Death. Consequently, Harry Potter is the best possibility for Death to stop Voldemort because he is a Horcrux, which means that if Harry dies, Voldemort would die too, and a figure that is easy to manipulate because of his background. Harry knows Death to be part of his life from the beginning because his parents died in the battle against Voldemort, and also his two father figures, Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore, die in the course of the narration. Consequently he soon accepts that dying is inevitable and sometimes even required for the greater good wherefore he loses his own mortal fear. With his loss of his fear, Harry proves to be Death's aid. Harry is able to accomplish his missions by the help of Death's mediators and motivators such as his parents, Myrtle, Cedric Diggory, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore and his relatives. The storylines also show that Harry is not the master of Death but subordinate to its powers because Death gives him the Deathly Hallows deliberately. Harry, on the other hand, does not understand all the processes around him to full extent but only figures out that he has to continue his mission in order to defeat Voldemort. Subsequently, Harry seems not only to be a naive character but also possesses enough will to fulfil his role in Voldemort's and Death's clash. At first glance, its ambivalent reception places Death in between good and evil characters. It is respected by Harry Potter, his friends, the wizards at Hogwarts and Voldemort at the same time, but while good accepts Death as part of life, evil characters are guided by their immense fear of Death. Undisputedly, the appearance of Death is not always a joyous event in the narration but it has the power to influence characters positively and to open up new possibilities. This can be seen in the most important subplots, which are related to the overall plot. Severus Snape's and Albus Dumbledore's personal histories are characterised by Death's presence initiating a turning point in their lives. Dumbledore becomes the greatest wizard and the headmaster of Hogwarts and Snape moves away from the darker periods of his life and serves as a double agent helping Dumbledore to stop Voldemort. Furthermore, sacrifices are praised and more valued than natural deaths in Harry Potter. This occurrence also shows Death's importance in the narration because the characters who served Death until their end are honoured separately. Hence, Death is a protagonist in Harry Potter because its concept escapes the general idea of death and opens up new possibilities for the characters in the wizarding world. It is usually the initiator of storylines and the main feature of the overall plot. Although it does not have a coherent shape, Death is still present in the narration and uses its various intermediaries to control and manipulate Harry and his believes. Hence the fight between Death and Voldemort becomes the central theme of the story. Death acts from the background and sends out his assistants in form of ghosts and echoes, and eventually Harry Potter to stop Voldemort from destroying the order between life and death. Ultimately, the role of life and death is an important factor in the Harry Potter series which tends to be overlooked and neglected by readers because other themes like friendship and love appear to be easier to recognise. Nonetheless, Death's intervention marks the most crucial parts of the narration, where plots expire and culminate. 6. Works Cited: Primary Literature: Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print. ---. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury, 2004. Print. ---. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print. ---. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2004. Print. ---. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print. ---. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. Print. ---. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print. Secondary Literature: Blake, Andrew. The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter. London: Verso, 2002. Print. Bürvenich, Paul. Der Zauber des Harry Potter: Eine Analyse eines literarischen Welterfolgs. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 2001. Print. Creasey, Megan. Does Violence Have a Place in Children's Literature?. Web. http://oneotareadingjournal.com/2010/does-violence-have-a-place-in-children%E2%80%99s-literature/. 11. June 2015. "Death." Oxford Advanced Dictionary. 6th ed. 2000. Print. Fenkse Claudia. Muggles, Monsters and Magicians: A Literary Analysis of the Harry Potter Series. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2008. Print. Garbe, Christina, and Maik Philipp (Eds.) Harry Potter – Ein Literatur- und Medienereignis im Blickpunkt interdisziplinärer Forschung. Hamburg: LIT-Verlag, 2006. Print. Gupta, Suman. Reading Harry Potter. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print. Himmelsbach, Silvia. Harry Potters literarisher Zauber: Eine Analyse zum Erfolg der Buchserie. Marburg: Tectum Verlag, 2012. Print. James, Edward: "Tolkien, Lewies and the explosion of genre fantasy." The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature. Eds. James, Edward, and Farah Mendlesohn. Cambridge: Cambridge, 2012. Print. Kern, Edmund M. The Wisdom of Harry Potter: What our Favourite Hero Teaches us about Moral Choices. n.p. Prometheus Books, 2003. Kindle file. Kronzek, Allan Zola, and Elizabeth Kronzek. The Socerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter. 3rd ed. New York: Random House, 2010. Print. Trevarthen, Geo Athena. The Seeker's Guide to Harry Potter: The Unauthorized Course. Winchester: O Books, 2008. Print. Schafer, Elizabeth. Exploring Harry Potter. Osprey: Beacham, 2000. Print. Spinner, Kasper H. Im Bann des Zauberlehrlings?: Zur Faszination von Harry Potter. Regensburg: Pustet, 2001. Print.