Self-Sacrifice in Harry Potter
Self-Sacrifice in Harry PotterThe example of self-sacrifice selected that is committed by Harry Potter is taken from the final film of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (David Yates, 2011). This seen takes place towards the end of the film after the Battle of Hogwarts has been halted by Lord Voldemort to urge Harry to face him one on one to put a stop to the loss of innocent lives to protect his. After seeing how many of his friends and loved ones, including Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Fred Weasley, have laid down their lives to defend him, Harry decides to sacrifice himself in order to protect the rest of his loved ones from harm.
After saying goodbye to his best friends, Harry walks into the Dark Forest, situated on the perimeter of the grounds, alone and without protection. He chooses to face Lord Voldemort rather than trying to fight him and his followers, as he knows this is impossible. Harry is fully aware that he is about to meet his end and fully accepts the finality of the situation. Harry faces Lord Voldemort head on, his wand hanging at his side, and allows Voldemort to strike him square on with the killing curse. This scene will referred to as “The Boy who lived come to die”.
Albus Dumbledore’s sacrifice
Dumbledore’s example of self-sacrifice is taken from the 6th film in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (David Yates, 2009). After a mission in which Dumbledore and Harry travel to find a retrieve one of Voldemort’s horcruxes leaves Dumbledore weakened by a poison, they return to the tallest tower of Hogwarts via apparition. Dumbledore sends Harry to fetch Professor Snape for help, Harry narrowly misses Draco Malfoy and overhears Draco disarm Dumbledore of his wand and the follow conversation between the two characters.
Draco informs Dumbledore of his attempts to end his life as he was ordered to do so by Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore implores Draco not to finish his mission as he can see in his heart he does not really want to finish his job. As Draco begins to lower his wand, Snape and some of Voldemort’s follows appear and Bellatrix LeStrange, Draco Malfoy’s aunt and Lord Voldemort’s most dedicated servant, urges Draco to finish the job. Snape stands between them and after Dumbledore askes Snape “Please…” Snape casts the killing curse which strikes Dumbledore in the chest causing him to stumble back and fall from the tower as he dies. The seen will be referred to as “The Tallest Tower”.
Although on the surface this doesn’t seem like a self-sacrifice on Dumbledore’s part, as Severus Snape seems to have betrayed Dumbledore’s trust and double-crossed the Order of the Phoenix by taking on Draco’s task of killing Dumbledore on the orders of Voldemort. It is later revealed that due to a curse caused from wearing the ring horcrux, contained to his hand by Snape, Dumbledore only had about a year to live. Aware of Lord Voldemort’s task for Draco, asks Severus to try help him and if it comes down to it will take his place and complete the task by killing Dumbledore himself. By doing this Dumbledore wishes to protect Draco’s soul from the irreparable damage of taking another’s life.
Lily Potter’s sacrifice
Lily Potter’s example of self-sacrifice is first seen in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Christopher Columbus, 2001), the first film of the series, and is briefly seen in the memories of Severus Snape in the series’ final film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (David Yates, 2011). This scene takes place early on in the first film after Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School and Harry’s first friend from the wizarding world, takes Harry to buy school supplies at Diagon Alley and tells Harry the true story of how his parents were killed by He Who Must Not Be Name aka Lord Voldemort.
Lily and James Potter, Harry Potter’s parents, had gone into hiding with the infant son from Lord Voldemort and his followers. Sadly their location is discovered and Voldemort himself goes to the Potter’s home to kill Harry. This is due to one of the Deatheaters, later revealed to be Severus Snape, overhearing Sybil Trelawney foretelling a prophecy about a boy born at the end of July who will have the power to destroy the Dark Lord (Voldemort). Voldemort identifies this boy as Harry Potter and goes to kill him to stop the prophecy from coming true.
Upon entering the Potter’s home Voldemort kills James, who is wandless at the time, as he tries to give Lily time to get Harry and hide. Voldemort then goes to Harry’s nursery where Lily is protecting Harry. He tells Lily that if she stands aside and allows him to kill Harry that she will be spared. Lily refuses to move, begging Voldemort to kill her instead. Voldemort laughs and casts the killing curse on Lily, he then moves towards the crib and attempted to cast the same curse on the baby. The curse rebounds on Voldemort and destroys his mortal body while Harry remains alive and unharmed with the exception of his soon to be infamous lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.
It is later revealed that Lily’s love for Harry and her sacrifice to save him cast a type of very old and powerful magic which protected Harry from Voldemort’s killing curse. This act is the crux of the entire storyline as without it our main character would have been killed. This scene will be referred to as “Lily’s Sacrifice”.
Hermione Granger’s sacrifice
This scene takes place at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (David Yates, 2010). Dumbledore has left Harry as well as his friend Ron and Hermione the task of finding and destroying all of Lord Voldemort’s horcruxes. Before setting off on their journey, Hermione is at home with her parents. We see her standing in her room looking around when her mother calls her for tea. She comes downstairs to see her parents sitting on the couch, facing away from her. Hermione raises her wand and casts an Obliviate charm, a spell used to modify one’s memory, on her parents.
Family pictures in the house are then shown and all traces of Hermione disappear from them. As soon as this is done, Hermione grabs her bag, walks out the front door and down the road without saying a word to her parents.
We are later informed that in order to protect her parents from becoming targets for the Deatheaters, Hermione erased all memory of her existence from her parents’ memories. Her parents are both muggles, therefore they do not fully understand the dangerous situation in which they are in and do not possess magical abilities consequently being unable to defend themselves from magical attack. She also changed their identities and gave them a desire to move far away in order for them to be protected. Hermione has also done this so that in the event that she does not return from their mission, as it is highly dangerous and potentially fatal for the three of them. This seen will be referred to as “Obliviate”.
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