Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

selflessly, Harry becomes the “true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from
Death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far worse things in the living world than
dying” (720-1). Harry survives because the Elder Wand will not kill its own master and because, as Master
of Death, he “trusts, obeys, and believes in greater realities than himself – sufficiently enough to die
sacrificially for them” (DH 744; Granger 78).
While in between life and death, Harry also receives answers about Dumbledore’s past, specifically
the meaning behind the biblical quote on his mother’s grave: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also” (DH 325). In his quest to master the Hallows, Dumbledore “allowed his heart to stray away from
his family to a quest for world domination” (Neal 223). Although his desire for the Hallows was all “for the
greater good,” Dumbledore longed to master death just as Voldemort did which led to the death of his
helpless sister (DH 716). The verse gracing his mother’s and sister’s tombstone was Dumbledore’s way of
“[commemorating] that his mother’s [heart] had been in the right place” as well as his “first act of contrition
for violating this verse’s command” (Neal 223). Though he does discover all three Hallows, Dumbledore is
“fit only to possess the meanest of them, the least extraordinary… the Elder Wand,” while the Stone leads
to the death of his hand when he selfishly attempts to bring back his family (DH 720). His selfish desire for
power keeps Dumbledore from becoming the true Master of Death. Harry, on the other hand, handles
power better than most because he has never sought it and has had “leadership thrust upon [him], and [took]
up the mantle because [he] must” (718). Through Dumbledore’s back story and the biblical quote he
chooses for his family’s grave, Rowling sets up a comparison between Dumbledore’s struggle with power
and Harry’s humble acceptance of it, which illustrates another reason why Harry is the worthy Master of
Death.
During their discussion, Dumbledore asks Harry where he believes they are. Fittingly, Harry
believes his time in limbo takes place at King’s Cross station, the same station from which he travels to
Hogwarts. Rowling explains her location choice simply: “The name works rather well, it has been
278