The Saddest Moment in Deathly Hallows

-- What was the Saddest Moment in Deathly Hallows? (3/31/08-4/13/08)

Edited by Kip Carter Apr 27, 2008 4:33 pm

ANOTHER NEW POLL (Hey, it's been a while, so....) March 31, 2008 to April 13, 2008

This poll was suggested by Mona Amon back in Oct. '07.

I hate trying to choose the "most" or the "best" out of a long list...so please feel free to indicate your top 2 or 3 answers from the 8 given below..

Which were the saddest moments in Deathly Hallows?

1) One of the deaths (please indicate which one of these)
 a) Remus and Tonks
 b) Dobby
 c) Fred Weasely
 d) Hedwig
 e) a different death (please tell who)

2) Harry's visit to his parents' graves in Godric's Hollow on Christmas Eve

3) The murder of Harry's parents as seen through Voldemort's eyes

4) Harry's walk away from DD's office and into the forest to allow Voldemort to kill him

5) Harry's conversation and walk with Sirius, James, Lily and Remus in the Forbidden Forest

6) Harry passing by Ginny on his way into the forest

7) Snape being killed by Voldemort

8 ) Snape giving Harry his memories before he died

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Anna L. Black - Mar 30, 2008 11:40 pm (#1 of 34)

Woohoo, new poll! Freshwater, I think you're as good as PAH when it comes to advertising

Anyway, my answers:

5) Harry's conversation and walk with Sirius, James, Lily and Remus in the Forbidden Forest is definitely my top answer. That's the only time I really cried in DH, even in re-reads.

The next two saddest moments are 7) Snape being killed by Voldemort and 1) Deaths - when Harry sees everyone lying in a row... Fred, and Lupin and Tonks, and Colin....

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Hogwarts Class of 85 - Mar 31, 2008 1:54 am (#2 of 34)

Definitely Harry's conversation and walk with Sirius, James, Lily and Remus in the Forbidden Forest - specifically the line "Stay with me"

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Verity Weasley - Mar 31, 2008 3:25 am (#3 of 34)

Definitely Dobby's death and more specifically when Harry digs his grave. Also, Harry's conversation and walk with Sirius, James, Lily and Remus in the Forbidden Forest.

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azi - Mar 31, 2008 4:30 am (#4 of 34)

5 and 1a.

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Julia H. - Mar 31, 2008 4:56 am (#5 of 34)

Snape being killed by Voldemort - because it was such a lonely and pointless death, because we never learn when and how his body was retrieved and because he died thinking that Harry would soon have to die too (and this was what he had wanted to prevent all those years) and because he died without having any real hope of his true allegiance becoming known.

Deaths: Remus and Tonks - because of the baby they left behind and because they had just found true happiness (it was cruel to kill them just then).

Harry's walk away from DD's office and into the forest to allow Voldemort to kill him (I found this part sadder than his conversation with Sirius, Lupin etc. because of the loneliness Harry felt - IMO the conversation in the Forbidden Forest was incredibly beautiful but at the same time encouraging and comforting).

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Thom Matheson - Mar 31, 2008 7:10 am (#6 of 34)

1b by a long ways.

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Swedish Short-Snout - Mar 31, 2008 7:21 am (#7 of 34) Reply
Edited by Mar 31, 2008 6:22 am

Out of these, 1b.

But for me, the saddest moment was when I had read the whole book and realised that the story was over.

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Elanor - Mar 31, 2008 9:09 am (#8 of 34)

1b (all the deaths actually, including 7 - Snape being killed by Voldemort - but for me there was something even more haertbreaking in the description of Dobby's death )

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freshwater - Mar 31, 2008 9:58 am (#9 of 34)

Anna, you may choose 2 or 3 answers....shall I put you down for both 1b: Dobby and #7: Snape killed by LV?

As for my choices.....I agree almost completely with Julia (post 5):

#4, Harry's walk away from Hogwarts to go to LV was much more heartwrenching and courageous to me...his meeting with James/Lily/Sirus/Remus was more touching and comforting.

1a, Remus and Tonks; having both just reached a place of love and comfort after years of loneliness and struggle, it broke my heart to see them lose each other and leave Teddy behind.

#8, Snape giving his memories to LV; for all the reasons Julia explained so eloquently in her post (although she was talking about Snape's death) and because I can picture Snape's desperation to assist Harry one final time, for Lily's sake **OK, tearing up now**sniff**.

Before reading the answers of others here, I would have said 1d, Hedwig's death because I was so shocked and grieved for Harry, and because it affected no one else but him, poor boy....but now I'll have to leave it to my first three choices.

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Anna L. Black - Mar 31, 2008 11:39 am (#10 of 34)

Freshwater, it's more 1E for me, I think.

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geauxtigers - Mar 31, 2008 2:52 pm (#11 of 34)

Oh lord, it was all sad! I can't decide which deaths were the worst!

I think the saddest part of the whole book was 4. Harry's walk to his death I cried for a long time and still do on rereads. And I'm not one to cry for fictional characters, but I really believed that Harry was going to die and that it was over and Jo was the worst person alive and I don't think I'm going to finish the book now and OH MY GOSH HE'S NOT DEAD! Jo you're the best! LOL

Next would be 1. B Dobby's death Never thought I'd cry for Dobby, or have to for that matter. and 1. C Fred Weasley Because I didn't think she'd kill one twin. That hit a little close to home.

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Madam Pince - Mar 31, 2008 2:56 pm (#12 of 34)

Saddest moment? My answers: 1.c. (Fred's death) and 8. (Snape's death -- "Look...at...me..." oh it kills me every time... *sniff*)

I was rather expecting Dobby's and Hedwig's death (after someone here on the Forum suspected it first), so while they were very wrenching, they weren't quite as bad as Fred's for me.

I must be a cold-hearted wench because none of the following (actually, the rest...) affected me in the least:

1) Remus and Tonks (except it sort of made me mad at Tonks)

2) Harry's visit to his parents' graves in Godric's Hollow on Christmas Eve (eh)

3) The murder of Harry's parents as seen through Voldemort's eyes (eh; knew this mostly already)

4) Harry's walk away from DD's office and into the forest to allow Voldemort to kill him (this is one that seems to 'get' most people and to be honest I barely read it, I was so anxious to find out what happens; that passage made me more impatient than anything else.)

5) Harry's conversation and walk with Sirius, James, Lily and Remus in the Forbidden Forest (eh. I thought Snape should've been there some way.)

6) Harry passing by Ginny on his way into the forest (eh.)

Egads I'm awful...

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Potteraholic - Mar 31, 2008 5:51 pm (#13 of 34)

1) b) Dobby

4) Harry's walk away from DD's office and into the forest to allow Voldemort to kill him

8 ) Snape giving Harry his memories before he died

Edit: Thanks for reviving the polls, freshwater. I'm looking forward to finding out the results of the ones that have been stuck in purgatory for a wee while. I read somewhere that you didn't have a calculator handy. I was just wondering, does your computer have one? Mine does; it's a Mac. I find it so handy!



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Chemyst - Mar 31, 2008 7:16 pm (#14 of 34)

Dobby's death was the saddest, by far and away.
A distant second, although not even an option on this poll, was Aberforth's telling his side of Ariana's story and his keeping of her picture in his apartment to the exclusion of all others. In many ways, he seemed even lonelier than Snape. And the love-loss he mourned was more tragic; I'm quite sure Aberforth would have willingly given up his school chums for his sister.

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kaykay1970 - Mar 31, 2008 8:16 pm (#15 of 34)

1b for me too! 4 is a close second!

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Apr 1, 2008 5:35 am (#16 of 34)

1b and 5.

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Holly T. - Apr 1, 2008 9:49 am (#17 of 34)

1b, I get teary just thinking about it.

Also 2 and 4

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Orion - Apr 1, 2008 11:35 am (#18 of 34)

The saddest moment of this book, for me, isn't on the poll, and that is the terrible conversation between Snape and McGonagall in "The Sacking of Severus Snape", in which Snape can't tell what he's up to and McGonagall can't know and it all goes horribly wrong. It's written with the same gleeful determination for the worst possible outcome as Sirius' death in OOP (which I have read once and never again, so what happens exactly in the Department of Mysteries will forever remain a mystery for me). Madam likes to torment her readers.

So I split my answer between 1a, 1c, 5 and 8.

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Madam Pince - Apr 1, 2008 12:31 pm (#19 of 34)

At last! Someone else sad about both Fred and Severus! I was starting to feel lonely...

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Choices - Apr 1, 2008 12:38 pm (#20 of 34)

There were lots of teary moments, but honestly, I sobbed the hardest and longest over Dobby.

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Julia H. - Apr 1, 2008 1:25 pm (#21 of 34)

Yes, Orion, this is indeed a sad moment, too. It is sad whenever well-meaning people who should understand each other do not understand each other but especially so when the consequences are tragic. (JKR is good at writing such things.)

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journeymom - Apr 1, 2008 4:31 pm (#22 of 34)

First and foremost, Hedwig's death. Horrible!

Then Dobby's death. Actually, it wasn't that he died, it was Harry's heartbreak that was so terribly sad.

Like Madam Pince, the rest of them didn't affect me much. There were so many deaths.

4) Harry's walk away from DD's office and into the forest to allow Voldemort to kill him,

and

8 ) Snape giving Harry his memories before he died

Sigh.

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I'm still thinking about this. Hedwig aside, the deaths themselves didn't sadden me as much as Harry's sad response to them did. Parts of DH was so fast paced Harry didn't have time to process the deaths (and we didn't get to see him mourning). If I didn't read about Harry's emotions, I wasn't as sad.

Hedwig's death was just so unfair! It was the end of childhood, the end of his Hogwarts experience! Mean, mean Jo!

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mona amon - Apr 1, 2008 7:41 pm (#23 of 34)

Hmm...I think I'll choose 7) The death of my favourite character Severus Snape. He did not get a chance to die in action. He screams in terror when the snake lunges at him. It was a tragic, piteous, passive death.

Anyway, at least he was not alone when he died. The way he turns to Harry, the boy he was determined to hate, for comfort in his dying moments was also heartrending for me.

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Mrs Brisbee - Apr 2, 2008 9:25 am (#24 of 34)

I have a hard time choosing. Dobby's death didn't choke me up, but his funeral sure did, so I won't pick that one. I think Ron's abandonment of Harry and Hermione was sad, but it's not on the list. It's almost a five way tie of the things on the list. I'll pick two:

1a The Deaths of Lupin and Tonks. At the time I read it, it was more numbing than sad, and there was no time to process it. In retrospect though it does choke me up to think about it. It comes closest to my experience of the violent death of someone known. Last you knew they were alive and well, then in one jarring moment you learn of their death by violence, and it's sort of a feeling of emptiness and unreality. There is no slow-motion death scene, no famous last words, no kneeling by the dying to offer a last moment of comfort. They are just suddenly dead and gone.

5 Harry's walk with his dead loved ones, although it was more than just sad, it was both bittersweet and important.

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Liz Mann - Apr 2, 2008 4:18 pm (#25 of 34)

1) One of the deaths (Fred Weasely)

4) Harry's walk away from DD's office and into the forest to allow Voldemort to kill him

5) Harry's conversation and walk with Sirius, James, Lily and Remus in the Forbidden Forest

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PeskyPixie - Apr 3, 2008 8:50 am (#26 of 34)

Which were the saddest moments in Deathly Hallows?

1) One of the deaths c) Fred Weasely As grief-stricken as I was at the loss of Hedwig, Dobby and the new parents, Fred Weasley's death broke my heart in a way no other death did.

4) Harry's walk away from DD's office and into the forest to allow Voldemort to kill him

8 ) Snape giving Harry his memories before he died (however, it's Snape's "Look ... at ...me ...", death and his story, The Prince's Tale, which make his memory-giving more upsetting.)

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megfox* - Apr 3, 2008 10:31 am (#27 of 34)

Definitely 5 and 1b, in that order. During the walk and conversation with his parents, I was crying so hard I could barely see the page, but I knew how important it was and how close to the end I was that I couldn't stop. And Dobby's burial was the first time I have ever had to put a book down in order to compose myself. <-- Writing that seems so melodramatic, but I was really overcome by both of those moments. And like ______ said, (sorry, I forgot who!) I never expected to have to cry for Dobby.

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wynnleaf - Apr 4, 2008 1:17 pm (#28 of 34)

Hmm. Well, I cried over Harry burying Dobby and that's the only time I ever cried in the books other than when Neville was visiting his parents in OOTP. But I don't consider my tears an indication of what's the most sad part.

Snape's death is the most sad to me, because it was the most tragic due to all of the things Julia mentioned. So many years of struggle and sacrifice and willingness to go through so much just to be faithful to his love for Lily and protect Harry, and then he dies thinking Harry will die and that he's roundly hated by all, including all those he's worked to protect, and that his death is probably pointless. No other character dies like that. Sirius is fighting with friends who care for him and he knows Harry is being rescued. Dobby knows that Harry has escaped. Dumbledore knows Snape will protect Harry from the bad scene on the tower and carry out his orders. Even Lupin and Tonks know they're fighting in a battle with some solidarity with many others and that their child is protected by his grandmother.

And I can't see any place for Snape in JKR's version of afterlife. Who met him at Kings Cross? All Dumbledore has to say is "poor Severus." I can't imagine Lily meeting Severus - what sort of meeting would that be? It seems like he's leaving a horrendous situation and going nowhere for what seems pointless reasons.

I just didn't see Harry's walk as sad. It was pretty clear to me he was going to survive somehow -- there was too much of the book left, if nothing else.

So 1. Snape's death 2. Dobby's death

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katrira - Apr 5, 2008 5:08 pm (#29 of 34)

1B- Even after all this time and numerous readings, I still tear up at Dobby's funeral. I never saw Harry's trip to the forest (passing Ginny or walking with his family) as anything but a triumph of courage and will. Remus' & Tonks' deaths hit me hard because 1)I was hoping Remus would live and 2)being "off-screen" it came as a jolt but I was glad they went together at least. Without Tonks, Remus would have been devastated. All the deaths, even Hedwig's, seemed "logical" to me.

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Nicholas Schouten - Apr 5, 2008 8:55 pm (#30 of 34)

1(b)--Dobby's death (and funeral)(as an immediate impact) and 8 --Snape giving Harry his memories before he died (upon a little more reflection.

-Nick

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I Am Used Vlad - Apr 6, 2008 1:32 pm (#31 of 34)

1.b and 1.e: Colin

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haymoni - Apr 6, 2008 4:07 pm (#32 of 34)

1 B and 1 D

I don't know - there was just something about Hedwig dying that made me feel awful.

Dobby's death - heart breaking.

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Good Evans - Apr 7, 2008 4:33 am (#33 of 34)

1b for me - I will never get over it! JKR has had her detractors about her pure writing abilities, but an author that can make you cry buckets at that point has created a character you care about so much..... all errors, inconsistencies etc etc are forgiven in the pen strokes of those few lines!!!

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freshwater - Apr 13, 2008 1:07 pm (#34 of 34)

Here are the results of the poll for the saddest moments in Deathly Hallows:

1a: Deaths of Remus & Tonks........................7.4%

1b: Death of Dobby................................28%

1c: Death of Fred Weasley..........................7.4%

1d: Death of Hedwig................................3%

1e: death of someone else: Colin Creevy............1.5%

2: Harry visits his parents' graves................1.5%

3: the murder of James/Lily seem by LV.........no votes

4: Harry's walk from DD's office to the forest....13%

5: Harry's talk w/James/Lily/Sirius/Remus.........13%

6: Harry passing by Ginny to the forest....no votes

7: Severus Snape killed by LV/Nagini...............7.4%

8: Severus Snape giving his memories to Harry.....12%

9: others: 5 suggestions were made: Harry seeing Fred, Remus, Tonks and Colin lying dead in the Great Hall; finishing the book and realizing the story was over; Aberforth's version of Arrianna's story and keeping her portrait; the last conversation between Snape an McGonagall and their tragic misunderstanding; Ron leaving Harry and Hermione......these five "write-in votes" ,together, got 7.4% of the votes.

To summarize, the top vote-getters were....

The death of Dobby.............28%

Harry's walk to the Forest.....13%

Harry's talk w/J/L/S/R.........13%

Snape giving memories to HP....12%

Thank you to everyone who participated in this poll!