What does the sentence "it's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side!" mean, especially its last part?

Question

"SO WHAT" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

_{Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone (1997)}

What does turning to the Dark Side have to do with him dying before being sent to the Dursleys?

Answer 1

Harry is pointing out that the others are worried about the wrong consequence of their actions, expulsion. To his way of thinking, if he doesn't succeed in getting ahold of the Stone, there are two outcomes:

• If he's still at Hogwarts when Voldemort conquers it, he will either die fighting back, or die when he refuses Voldemort's offer to join the Death Eaters*.
• On the other hand, if he's been expelled, Voldemort will presumably have to track him down, but the outcome is the same: if he isn't killed out of hand, Voldemort will kill him for refusing to join.

At this point, his friends are still stuck in the mindset that expulsion is the difference between life as a normal civilized Wizard and life as a second-class citizen like Hagrid. Harry is pointing out that this isn't a normal situation at all, and the practical difference between being expelled and not expelled is minor compared to the certainty that Voldemort will kill them either way.

*At the time of writing, of course, the Death Eaters hadn't been named yet, hence Harry's reference to a generic "dark side".

Answer 2

What does turning to the Dark Side have to do with him dying before being sent to the Dursleys?

He's saying that if he refuses to join Voldemort, then Voldemort will kill him. He's not saying that this will result in him dying before being sent to the Dursleys, he's saying that whether he dies before or after being sent to the Dursleys isn't all that important, because he'll die either way. At this point, he doesn't know of the protection spell, so he sees expulsion as just delaying his death slightly. He's saying

(get stone)
or
(
    (join Voldemort)
    or
    (
        (die in Hogwarts)
        or
        (die at Dursleys)
    )
 )

The he's saying that joining Voldemort isn't an option, and there's no significant difference between dying at Hogwarts versus at the Dursleys, so it collapses down to just "get stone or die".

Answer 3

It's pretty straightforward. Potter believes he might live if he agreed to serve Voldemort, but believes he is very likely to die if he takes any other path. He figures he can ignore the problem with the Stone, Voldemort wins, then he goes back to the Dursley's where Voldemort finds and kills him. Or Potter suggests he should fight now, at any cost. Which means he might be expelled, but more likely killed. So he can die now or in a few weeks.

When Harry says "I'm never going over to the Dark Side", he imagined that there is a path where he might live, but it involves Voldemort saying something like "Join me, and we can rule the galaxy". It's a common trope, and the good guy never takes it.