The resurrection stone




Well we are in the middle of the last Harry Potter book. That is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry and his friends have just discovered what the Deathly Hallows are.  They are three 'gifts' so to speak given to three brothers by death himself. One is an invisibility cloak, that Can hide you from anything. Two is an unbeatable wand. Three is a resurrection stone; a stone that can bring back the dead.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione (I appreciate that Hermione is a word in spell check) are trying to decide if these artifacts really do exist and which one is the best. Hermione says obviously the best one is the invisibility cloak. Ron says the best one is the unbeatable wand. Harry says the best one is the resurrection stone. I tend to agree with Harry. A stone that could bring back the dead, I get it Harry what you wouldn't give to see your parents again. What I wouldn't give to see Dan again. Yup I would take that resurrection stone.

Hermione is being very Hermione ish and is telling Harry that the dead can't really come back, it's not the same thing as an alive person. Harry knows this, I know this, but still. Then they had this little conversation:

"But she, the girl in the tale, didn't really come back did she? The story says that once people are dead, they belong with the dead, but the second brother still got to see her and talk to her, didn't he? He even lived with her for awhile..."

He saw concern and something less easily definable in Hermione's expression. The as he glanced at Ron, Harry realized that it was fear: He had scared her with his talk of living with dead people.

So like all good grievers Harry abruptly changed the subject. He could see it was making them uneasy. He could tell that they weren't able to go there. They have never had such an intense longing for someone, that they would be willing to live with that person even though they were dead. Ron and Hermione are Harry's best friends, but they have never experienced grief, until they do they will never quite get it.

I paused after reading that section because I was thinking about two things: one; would I do it? would I bring Dan back with the resurrection stone, even if it wasn't fully him, even if he could only stay awhile, just to talk to him again. My immediate response is yes, yes I would. The second thought was; yup I know that look, the look Hermione is giving Harry right now. The look where death scares them, where talking about death scares them. yup I have gotten that look before.

I had only paused for a few seconds just long enough to have those two thoughts, I was about to continue when Baby Girl pipes up "I don't get it mommy" "you don't get what Baby Girl?" "Why was Hermione afraid?"  I think maybe this is not the typical question a ten year old would ask. I think a more typical question would be something like "why would Harry want to live with dead people?" I think most children would be on Hermione's side on this one, they would get fear in their eyes, they would be scared.  Did I ever tell you my child isn't like most children. My child gets regular talks about death. My child probably thinks about death every day, I know I do. And because she doesn't get it we are going to have a little talk about death right now.

I reply "Well Baby Girl, people who haven't had somebody they love die can't really understand it. And most people are scared of things they don't understand"  "Well thats stupid"  Yup I agree. Or as Dan liked to say, that will preach Baby Girl, that will preach.

P.S. In the next chapter Dobby dies. Thats going to be another hard one.

I wrote a book about my grief, you can read it here: Carry on Castle

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