Did Lavender die?

[birdsofshore]

This has been puzzling me lately.

In Deathly Hallows it says:

"Two bodies fell from the balcony overhead as they reached the ground a grey blur that Harry took for an animal sped four-legged across the hall to sink its teeth into one of the fallen. "NO!" shrieked Hermione, and with a deafening blast from her wand, Fenrir Greyback was thrown backward from the feebly stirring body of Lavender Brown. He hit the marble banisters and struggled to return to his feet. Then, with a bright white flash and a crack, a crystal ball fell on top of his head, and he crumpled to the ground and did not move."

So, "feebly stirring" to me, meant that she was injured, perhaps seriously injured, but not dead. When I read it, I expected her to get medical treatment after the Battle was over, and that she would survive.

Then, when I saw the film version of Deathly Hallows, I noticed that it looks as if Lavender is killed by Greyback during the attack. You could argue she is unconscious, or paralysed, but she does look dead. However I just passed it off as either a) making her look more seriously injured to be dramatic, or b) one of those things where the films differ from the books. I don't count film canon as superceding book canon, in any case.

However, when I went to Harry Potter Wiki to check something, (yes, yes, I know it's not exactly the most pre-eminent source, but where else do I look?) they are quite certain that Lav is dead:

"Immediately after the attack, she was seen feebly stirring, but later died from her injuries."

They cite Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey as the source for this. I do actually own this book, and it's lovely, but it's freaking massive and I am not trawling through it at the moment to see on whose say-so Lavender allegedly died.

Now, I've seen Lavender alive and kicking in several fanfics lately. I don't want her to be dead. For one thing, I really quite like her, and also, I want to put her in my fic. I know it doesn't matter what Harry Potter Wiki says. If Snape can be resurrected in fic, I am sure Lavender can. But it's annoying me. Hands up who thinks Lavender is still alive at the end of Deathly Hallows? I mean, if you think that's what JKR intended, not just your own personal head canon.

Also, if she's alive, then she's a werewolf, I presume? Or did I get that wrong? Where are all the Were!Lav fics? Probably in those dark and scary comms I never go to. Or is being a werewolf now just one of those annoying little things that we don't mention in polite company, like having a verruca or something?

Come and tell me all the things about Lavender, I beg you!

Comments

[torino10154]

Dude. I don't think Snape died :D

I knew I liked you. *vbg* Actually Accio and I were just discussing Snape. It's pointed out she's moving a bit while Snape has stopped moving (though, as you say, there is wiggle room for even him).

[writcraft]

:D

He was living with a gigantic snake for a relatively long time. He is written as a highly capable dark wizard with skills beyond his years, creating his own advanced spells as a teenager, easily brewing potions of significant complexity and learning how to fly, ffs. I don't see his portrait or his body in the Great Hall in book canon, and hence I cling to my belief that he lives. Secondary canon on that, be damned.

[writcraft]

Apologies for the spam, but to get a bit more meta about secondary canon and Snape, I think it's much easier for those of us who choose to write him as living than say...writing Harry as a chef immediately post war. I had a really fun discussion with melusinahp on a post at the HP Darkarts comm about secondary canon and characterisation, in the context of a broader discussion on Harry. It made me revisit a lot of my own 'death of the author' views, and I entirely understood Mel's rationale about how JKR interviews regarding Harry going on to be an Auror and so on, could be useful and important when writing Harry in fic.

What I think we have with Snape as far as secondary canon goes is a blank canvas. Because he's dead, isn't he? Yet canon never gives us the finality of seeing his body stretched out next to Remus, Tonks, Fred and all of the others. It doesn't give us the 'falling through the veil' scene. He is bitten by a snake, we believe fatally, because he stops moving completely. Harry dashes off to continue fighting the good fight and that's the last we see of Severus. As far as Epilogue compliant writing goes, Harry talks about Severus as if he is deceased just as Dumbledore is deceased, but we never see that final confirmation. For me, Severus living can be canon compliant without messing about with JKRs written words.

To avoid hijacking Birds post, the same is true of Lavender. We don't see her in the Great Hall. We don't have anything which acknowledges she has been killed, as opposed to maimed. Hence for me, she lives.

[nathalieweasley.livejournal.com]

I like your take on secondary canon. For me, the books are the books are canon. Period. JK's statements are more like "This is how I imagine things turn out. Play with it as you will." When writing, I tend to stick to canon, or veer from a specific point, all while keeping this particular view of canon in my head. There is just so much wiggle room to play in; it's wonderful. For Lavender, her death is ambiguous and I feel like it's a "Do with this as you will situation." Severus...I'm mixed. His 'death' is something I just literally cannot accept, so even less-plausibly-drawn-out scenarios will get my OK. But he just fucking lives.

Edited to make my quotations match.