G.o.i.

ah....
Sometimes we are faced with problems that no one can help us with. That no one can actually guide us. I know that JKR had lost a number of people prior to and during the writing of the Harry Potter series.

I think the death of Dumbledore was to show the resilience of Harry, Ron & Hermione. That with a good friendship you can get through the most heart-breaking circumstances. Even when there seemed to be no other way out.

My father died a few years ago. It deeply affected me. In life we don't often get the choice of multiple alternate father figures to fill that role.

While I was absolutely heartbroken when Dumbledore died. I cried. I even got angry that there was no one left to show Harry the way, to really guide him and assist him... I do think that the Deathly Hallows wouldn't have been what it was had Dumbledore lived.

The camping out in a tent stuff wouldn't have been so lost or bewildering if we had the safety net of knowing that Dumbledore is still living.

Wow. That is so, so TRUE. People keep saying the epilogue wasn't good because it was to nice. Well, that's what the whole BOOK would have been if Dumbledore lived. Hypocrites. (I'm not talking about the members of DA.)

Of course you're not. Now, lie down and have a nice rest.

They are called homonyms. They can be tricky.
"there" = a place
"their" = possession by more than one person
"they're" = a contraction for "they are"

Worse than that is your abuse of the singular "they."
This is my all-time, number-one pet peeve.
"They" is plural.
"They" cannot have a (one) siggy.
"He, or in this case, "she" (meaning yours truly) owns the siggy.
I am a discrete individual. One person. Not a herd of sheep.

Another pet peeve of mine, though not quite so near the top of the list, is
people who have long, boring, pointless signatures.

psst - 'herd' of sheep.

Psyduck... (hedwig is 12 years old....) ease up a bit.

homonyms are cool - thanks for the reminder!!!! it's great to learn

Oops.
I didn't know that. Are you sure? Now I'm impressed.

We once had an optional spot in the profile for the member's age.
Does anyone know why that was removed?

Yep. I'm 12. And a half, technically.
But I have a college reading level.
If my signature is really driving you crazy, I can shorten it some.
You know, there's a way to ask people to ask people to edit nicely.
Gingobibble, who told you I was 12? I've only told 2 people...

That's my point tho, I didn't want DH to be what it was! As I said, the trio did need to believe that DD was dead in order to complete their goal. However, this does not mean that he acually had to BE dead - just appear to be.
And I also thought the tent stuff was boring, so anything to liven it up woulda been welcome.

And Hedwig, I didn't want the book to be nicey nicey, and just because DD faked his own death, it doesn't mean the book woulda been that way! The reason I hated the epilogue is because it contradicted J.K's usual style and dismissed the deaths of major characters!

This is another annoying part of DH -- The worst of both worlds.

The old theory suggests that we have only two possiblities:
Dumbledore is dead and Harry gets no help; or
Dumbledore is alive and Harry gets lots of help.

The fact is, we have two other possibilities.

JKR chose the worst: Dumbledore dead and Harry gets lots of help.
(Dumbledore had long chats with Hermione, sent Snape on errands and delivering messages, and had a major session with Harry in King's Cross. If you insist on that old theory, it defeats the whole purpose of Dumbledore's death.)

Becca (and I) were hoping for the best: Dumbledore alive but hidden and Harry gets minimal help.

I was also hoping for a plot that made sense. The main plot of the Deathly Hallows made no sense. It was contrived, self-contradictory, lame; it just ruined the whole series.

I saw it somewhere... perhaps you were telling someone in the chat area... I cannot recall exactly - but I've seen it.