It was book 6, The Half Blood Prince; so much was going on… Sirius had died,the Order of The Phoenix was a mess, and Dumbledore had taken Harry under his protective wing, sharing secrets of Tom Riddle. This is the book where we learn of the Horcrux’s. And this is the book… when Dumbledore dies and my heart breaks a little….forever.
It would take me 8 years before I realized this was my favorite book of the series.
~Sheila
I dont know why but this question has been in my head for a few weeks now and finally has made it to the blog. It is one of those pivotal fiction moments that is embedded in me forever.
I was at the YMCA on the treadmill. I had just read through the whole chapter of Harry and Dumbledore searching for a horcrux and they had just made it back to Hogwarts, Dumbledore being in a weakened state. It is Malfoy who approaches Dumbledore first and Harry is hiding below the staircase where he can see it all as it plays out. Soon Belatrix arrives with her sister and they are shouting at Malfoy to do it, just kill him… but here is where you see that Malfoy is not as evil and dark as he wished he was. It is then that Snape comes up the stairs quietly past Harry and you think that Snape will save the day…. but he doesn’t. He instead kills Dumbledore and the pages become a massive blur of smear as I try to keep reading and understanding believing it must be a joke… it has to be really great magic …. it can’t be….
but it is.
That July day in 2005 I was at the YMCA on a treadmill with tears rolling down my face reading a big hard cover book that was hard to hold on the treadmill but it didn’t matter.
It is amazing that even as I write this I have to pause and take a deep breath because it all comes rushing back.
I write this post because much like the loss of a beloved relative or friend or famous actor, we tend to remember forever where we were when we first heard… first knew… it amazes me that in a really incredible read, that can happen as well.
For you maybe it wasn’t the death of Dumbledore… maybe there was another beloved character out there that even when you think of them today tears can come forward or your heart takes that little extra beat of sorrow.
I would love to know who that character was for you and from what book. Sure, for me there have been others, but Dumbledore was the one that really taught us all lessons (not only the students) through the years of the books leading up to book 6. I still hold his wisdom true today and occasionally quote him the way some would quote Yoda. 😉
Please add in the comments either the answer to the BIG question, where were you when Dumbledore died, or where you were when that character you loved and cherished ceased to be.
*Oh and just in case anyone calls “Spoiler alert” to my description of the death scene…. I am sorry but…. REALLY? I think the statute of limitations on spoilers in a book like this ran out a long time ago. If you have not read this or any of the Harry Potter books you are truly missing out on the books that changed fantasy writing forever.
Book Journey 