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Perhaps it's because I read so many Hermione/Lucius fics, so many of which are set in post-Hogwarts days to put the characters on an equal footing, but I'm struck by the common assumption that the HP series will culminate in a big showdown, often involving a large battle in which the Death Eaters and Order members face off directly.
Now, I'm not discounting this as a possibility - we do know that Voldemort and Harry are locked in a fatal struggle - but I'm intrigued about why it always seems to take this form. Voldemort, after all, does not have a history of engaging in open battles; Death Eater raids seem to be more a matter of picking off targets when they're vulnerable. I can see that 'the War' or 'the Final Battle' is a useful shorthand to explain the gap between canon and a post-Hogwart's fic, where the exact nature of the Harry/Voldemort showdown isn't too relevant to the fic in question, but other than that:
Why should the showdown happen in the midst of a mass battle? Is it just that it leaves a fanfic's other characters too minor a role, or are there signs in canon pointing to this?
And more fundamentally, why should Harry's triumph be won by (magical) force, by fighting violence with more violence - especially as the end of OotP seems to indicate that Harry will triumph through love.
Is it just that such a plot would seem less dramatic (though it could evoke plenty of tension through psychological conflict)? Or is it that we live in a culture that is so quick to see violence as a solution that it's too difficult to escape that paradigm? Though I suppose the two questions are linked, and link back to the post I made six months ago that touched on whether the need for conflict to maintain tension in fiction stems from a belief that peace is boring and that love is weak?
Now, I'm not discounting this as a possibility - we do know that Voldemort and Harry are locked in a fatal struggle - but I'm intrigued about why it always seems to take this form. Voldemort, after all, does not have a history of engaging in open battles; Death Eater raids seem to be more a matter of picking off targets when they're vulnerable. I can see that 'the War' or 'the Final Battle' is a useful shorthand to explain the gap between canon and a post-Hogwart's fic, where the exact nature of the Harry/Voldemort showdown isn't too relevant to the fic in question, but other than that:
Why should the showdown happen in the midst of a mass battle? Is it just that it leaves a fanfic's other characters too minor a role, or are there signs in canon pointing to this?
And more fundamentally, why should Harry's triumph be won by (magical) force, by fighting violence with more violence - especially as the end of OotP seems to indicate that Harry will triumph through love.
Is it just that such a plot would seem less dramatic (though it could evoke plenty of tension through psychological conflict)? Or is it that we live in a culture that is so quick to see violence as a solution that it's too difficult to escape that paradigm? Though I suppose the two questions are linked, and link back to the post I made six months ago that touched on whether the need for conflict to maintain tension in fiction stems from a belief that peace is boring and that love is weak?
