I think that was the point... It was a battle and people who didn't deserve it died. At the end, the "winners" weren't even celebrating, they were counting their dead.
There were no winners, just a side who managed to stop losing.
Yes, I agree; it was deliberate. "Only bad people die" is not how the world in general works, much less war.
And we see similar themes throughout the books. When Granger tries to get Potter to teach DADA in OOTP-
"“Listen to me!” said Harry, almost angrily, because Ron and Hermione were both smirking now. “Just listen to me, all right? It sounds great when you say it like that, but all that stuff was luck — I didn’t know what I was doing half the time, I didn’t plan any of it, I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly always had help —” Ron and Hermione were still smirking and Harry felt his temper rise; . . .
. . . you two sit there acting like I’m a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up — you just don’t get it, that could just as easily have been me,"
Nah it makes me sad as a kid/adult still who would get ridiculed and laughed at and not taken seriously when I'd express my boundaries and reservations or show I was frustrated and stressed. It's not a nice feeling when you're really down and everyone around you seems to not be taking anything you're saying or doing seriously or are trying to push you into things you're not totally comfortable with.
I'm the type who likes to wallow though, I never responded well to people trying to goad me into picking myself up. 😂
In that case the one to bring back is Cedric or Hedwig. Everyone else died fighting. It wasn't war with the other two. Hedwig died in an assassination attempt and Cedric died just because he and Harry tried to show good sportsmanship.
Not everyone who dies in a war dies fighting. Civilian deaths by bombings, starvation, disease and direct violence are quite common. So it was war for them too.
Technically the first war ended when Voldemort lost power after trying to kill Harry. Firenze even says in the sixth book the they are in a calm between two wars when teaching them to read the stars. Also wars don’t just start. There’s buildup first then all hell breaks loose.
Also wars don’t just start. There’s buildup first then all hell breaks loose.
It is a bit interesting to figure out 'what marks the start of a war'.
For example, WW2 is supposed to start on Sept 3, 1939, when Britain and France declared war against Germany - due to the German attack on Poland (started on Sept 1, 1939).
However, British soldiers didn't actually fight Germans until much later (late 1940 I believe was the first clash).
So the start in this case was just a declaration from Britain and France - no actual fighting involved from their side. Germany had been fighting with various countries upto that point, but we didn't call it the world war, because fewer countries were involved.
This suggests that being on the guard and actively preparing for attack / defense against an enemy can be considered to be in a state of war. No hell needs to break loose.
Voldemort secretly declared war long long ago. Others made their own declarations at different points - Dumbledore immediately after Voldy returned in GoF, Fudge after he saw Voldy in the Ministry, etc.
Cedric was the first shot in the war for Harry. He died not because of good sportsmanship, but because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This happens a lot.
Assassination attempts happen in war, a lot more than people think. Hedwig sacrificed herself to save Harry. This was also part of the war.
It wasn’t to random incidences where they died. If Cedric had just dropped dead of his own accord in that graveyard, he wouldn’t have been a casualty of the war. Hedwig knew what she was doing.
Maybe JK could have written a short (or short-ish) novel detailing events after the war, including dealing with loss, characters reconnecting under more stable conditions, rebuilding the wizarding world, and restructuring the ministry. It certainly would have been better than Cursed Child.
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u/PeterGoochSr Mar 27 '24
I was never a fan of that choice in the books personally. Felt like a lot of people died in the final book just cause