Currently Listening Good Monsters By Jars of Clay Even Angels Cry see related

Harry, the Former Horcrux and the Graveyard

I submitted the following essay to a very famous Harry Potter website, but they asked me to reanalyze and edit it.  I'm looking for any suggestions or comments: 

“But then, through the mist in front of him, he saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron....Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake’s with slits for nostrils…Lord Voldemort had risen again.”[1]

“But, how?”  That was my reaction during a reread of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  What was this spell that allowed Voldemort to rise again?  Is there anything in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that might shed light on this event?  Most of all, why was J.K. Rowling so vague when describing this event?  From past experience, it is not J.K. Rowling’s modus operandi to use spells without telling us what they are.  So why is J.K. Rowling vague here?

After rereading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and then Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I continued on to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  The idea of the horcrux intrigued me, but here again J.K. Rowling was being vague—arguably purposely vague.  The details that we learn about what a horcrux is and how to create it are really very few.  We know that a horcrux is an object in which a piece of soul is hidden.  We also know that a murder is involved with the making of a horcrux.  When a murder occurs, the murderer’s soul is split and then the murderer can use that piece of soul to create a horcrux.  The horcrux then keeps a piece of the murderer’s soul earthbound so he or she cannot die.[2]

But what happens after that?  What do you do with a horcrux?  Just hide it, protect it and hope it isn’t found?  What if a horcrux is destroyed?  Is the soul always destroyed with it?  (The answer seems to be “yes”, at least with the Diary, but there is still ambiguity there).  Can a piece of soul ever be released from the horcrux once it is made?  Can it ever rejoin the original piece of soul?  These last two questions could be the answer to the vagueness in the graveyard scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Let us suppose that Harry, or his scar, if you prefer, is indeed a horcrux.  I do not wish to recite all the evidence for and against this here.  That has already been explicated time and time again.  I would like to add one more piece of evidence to the argument, though.  From Voldemort’s point of view, it makes sense for him to make Harry a horcrux.  The only part of the Prophecy that Voldemort knows is the part that says “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…”[3]  The perfect way for Voldemort to ensure his victory would be to make the one who could vanquish him, in other words Harry, into a horcrux.  That way, in order for Harry to vanquish Voldemort, he would have to sacrifice himself.  Voldemort, of course, would overlook the idea that anyone could love others enough to sacrifice oneself for them.

So if we think about the graveyard scene in light of Harry being a horcrux, then how is Voldemort rising again?  Perhaps the piece of soul that was put inside Harry is rejoining with Voldemort’s soul and this is what makes Voldemort rise again.  This would explain why J.K. Rowling was vague about exactly what spell was allowing Voldemort to come back to life.  Otherwise, this detail seems to be a very odd one to leave out.  Voldemort comes back to life and nobody wonders how it happened?  It seems fishy, unless there is something more going on.  Indeed, the “something more” is that J.K. Rowling had not yet introduced horcruxes and so could not explain that it was the rejoining of Voldemort’s soul in Harry with the rest of Voldemort’s soul.

This turn of events could also explain the infamous gleam of triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes.  If Dumbledore had any suspicion at all that Harry might be a horcrux, then perhaps Dumbledore understood what really went on at the graveyard.  Up until this point, Dumbledore could have believed that Harry would indeed have to sacrifice himself in order to fully get rid of Voldemort.  Because Harry is no longer a horcrux, though, that will not be necessary, thus the gleam in Dumbledore’s eye.

Rebuttal

One very major argument against the idea that Harry is a horcrux is that Voldemort tries to kill Harry throughout the series.  Why would Voldemort try to kill Harry if he is a horcrux?  With the given theory, one would only have to consider the times Voldemort tries to kill Harry before the graveyard scene, because after the graveyard scene Harry is no longer a horcrux.

What are the times before the graveyard scene where Voldemort tries to kill Harry?  Quirrel and/or Voldemort tries to kill Harry at the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.  Does this make sense if Harry is a horcrux?  I would argue that yes, it does indeed.  If Voldemort was successful in killing Harry, he would have the Philosopher’s Stone and no longer need a horcrux.  Thus, the sacrifice of one horcrux to gain the Philosopher’s Stone makes sense.

The next time Voldemort tries to kill Harry is in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  Technically, this is not modern day Voldemort, but the Tom Riddle of the Diary that is trying to kill Harry.  How does this make sense if Harry is a horcrux?  Again, using the same logic as above, if Voldemort/Tom Riddle is successful in killing Harry, the Diary horcrux would be saved.  Either way, Voldemort would have lost a horcrux—either the Harry horcrux or the Diary horcrux.  It makes more sense for Voldemort to save the Diary and kill Harry, even though it means losing a horcrux, than for Voldemort to allow Harry to remain alive and destroy the Diary horcrux.

There is no attack on Harry in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and any attack after the graveyard makes sense because Harry is no longer a horcrux.  So, in short, when Voldemort attacks Harry while he is still a horcrux, it is only in order to save another pathway to immortality.

Summary

In short, the theory is that either Harry or his scar is a horcrux.  What we have in the graveyard scene, then, is Voldemort using the Harry horcrux to come fully back to life, making Harry no longer a horcrux.  This could tie up some vague points in the books as was shown above, and could perhaps explain the gleam of triumph in Dumbledore’s eye.

Will Harry ever find out that he was a horcrux?  What does this mean for the future?  Only time--and J.K. Rowling--will tell.

I know, it's been way too long, but school's out for the summer, so I will be posting much more regularly. 

I want to take a break from Book 6 and talk about Book 2.  I have joined a reading group that is rereading Book 2 at www.the-leaky-cauldron.org and I will be sharing more thoughts about it in the days to come.

Obviously, the discussion about Book 6 will still be relevant because of the obvious connection between the two--the Diary.

More to come soon!

Chapter Ten: The House of Gaunt

Harry continues to follow the hand-written directions in the textbook with positive results.  Hermione gets more frustrated, because the Prince’s directions are better than the “official ones in the textbook.

Harry begins to wonder who the Half-Blood Prince could be.  He notices that as well as helpful clarifications on spells already in the book, there appears to be original spells inside that the Prince made up himself.  “Or herself”, corrects Hermione.  Of course, the obvious question would be “Can a female be a Prince?”  Either way, from the point that Hermione corrects him by saying “Or herself”, I was convinced throughout the rest of the book that the Prince was Lily.

Harry leaves, as it is time for his first lesson with Dumbledore.  On his way to the lesson, he passes Trelawney who is muttering something about “an ill omen…violence…a dark young man, possibly troubled, one who dislikes the questioner…”  Some have looked into this to try to make it align to other events in the book—Personally, I think that’s too much!  J

Dumbledore tells Harry that it is time to learn some more information.  Everything from here on out, though, Dumbledore makes clear that this info is only memory and “wildest guesswork”.  Dumbledore tells Harry that we will be in the memory of Bob Ogden, a former employee of the Department of magical Law Enforcement.  “He died some time ago”, but before this Dumbledore was able to get this memory from him. 

(A question I’ve had after reading HBP—When did Dumbledore get this info?  Is it before the series begins?  Is it during the series?  Do we know?)

Inside the Pensieve:

We follow Ogden to a building covered in trees, with a dead snake nailed to the door.  A man in rags drops out of the trees, telling Ogden that he’s not welcome.  Ogden doesn’t understand, but Harry realizes he is speaking Parseltongue.  As the man approaches Ogden with a knife, an elderly short man yells “Morfin!”  This man is Mr. Gaunt. 

As Ogden and Mr. Gaunt talk, Gaunt reveals his hatred for Muggles, and speaks in Parseltongue to Morfin.  Ogden says that he is here about Mr. Gaunt’s son, who used magic in front of a Muggle.  In the process of conversing, Merope, Mr. Gaunt’s daughter, drops a pot.  Gaunt “bellows” at her to pick it up.  Instead of using magic to get it, Merope bends over to get it, and Gaunt yells at her again for this, comparing her to a Muggle.  Merope drops it again, tries to use a spell to pick it up this time, and sends it flying across the room, where it strikes a wall and cracks in two.  However, Ogden mends it before Merope has a chance to.  Gaunt calls her a squib.

Ogden continues trying to talk to Mr. Gaunt about Morfin, and it all seems for naught.  Mr. Gaunt boasts about his family connections, showing Ogden an ugly, ring with a black stone he was wearing, and also grabbing the locket around Merope’s neck, dragging her across the floor in order to show it to Ogden.  The locket, we are told, was Salazar Slytherin’s. 

Mr. Gaunt continues, saying that family ties have nothing to do with it.  As things are getting loud, we hear a young man and young woman’s voice outside.  The young woman refers to the young man as “Tom”.  Merope shows interest in the young man, but he is with a girl.  Morfin tells Gaunt that Merope enjoys looking at the Muggle, and this only infuriates Gaunt more.  No Muggle is good enough for his pure-blooded descendant of Slytherin daughter Merope, and the idea that Merope would even want a Muggle further infuriates Gaunt.

Gaunt becomes so angry that he tries to strangle Merope.  (Of course through this whole process, the reader feels more and more pity for Merope). Ogden stops him, but then has to flee for fear of his life.  After this, Harry and Dumbledore leave the Penseive.

Dumbledore’s Conversation/Revelations

Dumbledore tells Harry that Ogden returned with reinforcements and arrested Morfin and his father, Marvolo.  Harry recognizes the name immediately, and we learn that Marvolo is Voldemort’s grandfather, making Merope his mother and Morfin his uncle. 

The Muggle Merope showed a liking for was none other than Tom Riddle Sr.  The two ended up married.  Harry speculates that either a love potion or the Imperius Curse must have been involved.  Dumbledore confirms that he tends to believe it was a love spell.  (Perhaps Amortentia that we learned about in the last chapter?)

Tom Riddle came back to the house without his wife, saying that he had been “hoodwinked” and “taken in”.  The villagers assumed that Merope lied to Tom saying that she was pregnant with his son in order to get Tom to marry her.  Dumbledore further speculates that Merope stopped giving Tom the love potion because she believed he would stay in order to help with his son.   Unfortunately, he left, never to return.

Harry gets permission to share the info from their private lessons with Ron and Hermione, as long as no one else is told.  On his way out Harry notices the ring with the black stone on a table, only now the stone is cracked.  This is the same ring that Dumbledore was wearing on the night they visited Slughorn, and also the very same ring Marvolo had in the pensieve.

Dumbledore reveals that he got it a few days before he came to Harry’s aunt and uncle.  Harry asks how, but alas, it is too late, and Harry must leave.  Though Dumbledore does say that he will hear the story another time.

Prediction for Book 7

I think that in the first third of the book, Harry will learn how Dumbledore got this ring through either Dumbledore’s Portrait or his Pensieve.  This will help Harry in that it will explain Dumbledore’s blackened hand, and show Harry what he needs to do.

Currently Listening Chaotic Resolve By Plumb Manic see related

Chapter Nine—The Half-Blood Prince

This chapter begins the next morning with Harry and Ron meeting Hermione in the common room.  They talk about a number of things, including Draco, and the fact that none of them are taking Hagrid’s class at the N.E.W.T. level.

After breakfast the students receive their schedules from Professor McGonnagall.  Hermione is cleared for Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Potions.  Neville gets Herbology, DADA, but not Transfiguration.  Neville admits that he only wanted to continue with it because his grandmother wanted him to.  McGonnagall tells him his grandmother needs to learn to be “proud of the grandson she’s got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have”.  Instead of Transfiguration, Neville tries for a N.E.W.T. in Charms.  Harry continues with Charms, DADA, Herbology, Transfiguration, and McGonnagall wonders why he hasn’t tried to continue with Potions.  Harry learns that with Slughorn now teaching Potions, Harry can continue, and thus be preparing himself to eventually be an Auror.

The first DADA class takes place next.  Snape makes a number of comments that can be taken as glorifying the Dark Arts.  He also refers to Voldemort as the Dark Lord.  I personally think Snape is simply warning them about the reality of the Dark Arts.  He then goes on to tell them about nonverbal spells, and has the students practice this. 

It occurs to me here that if Snape is indeed evil, why would he teach the students about nonverbal spells on the same day?  Nonverbal spells seem to be very important and powerful, because since they are nonverbal, your enemy doesn’t have the chance to react before the spell takes effect.  I wonder if Snape would choose to teach them about Nonverbals on the first day unless he was truly hoping to give them a useful defense against the Dark Arts.  This points to the “Snape is Good” theory…

In the process of practice, Snape seeks to use Harry as an example, and when he turns his wand on Harry, Harry produces a Protego (shield charm) so strong it knocks Snape around a bit.  Unfortunately, Harry used a verbal spell, so Snape gives him a detention, saying that he takes cheek from no one, “not even ‘the Chosen One’”. 

Harry shares with Hermione and Ron that he thinks Snape was talking to highly of the Dark Arts, but Hermione reminded him that Harry sounded the same when he was teaching Dumledore’s Army.

Harry gets a hand-delivered note from Dumbledore telling him to meet him for their private lessons this Saturday.  Harry is excited he will be able to skip Snape’s detention. 

I wonder again at the reason for the hand-delivering of letters.  Perhaps they are afraid the Owl Post is being read, so letters are being hand-delivered for security purposes?

Next is Slughorn’s class.  Harry receives all the things he needs from Slughorn since he was added at the last minute, including an old copy of the textbook.  Slughorn has the students identify some potions--Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion, and Amortentia (a love potion which smells differently according to what attracts the user).

Slughorn then tells them to make the best Draught of Living Death potion, and whoever does will receive some Felix Felicis.  This is a potion that allows the person who uses it to be lucky.  One must be careful not to take too much though, because that could cause dangerous overconfidence.  It is mentioned in passing that if made wrong it is disastrous.  Makes me wonder who will make it wrong, and what the consequences will be….

In order to make the Draught of Living Death, Harry follows the directions in the book.  Harry notices that there are hand-written directions in the margins.  Harry follows them, and consequently wins the Felix Felicis.  Slughorn comments that Harry obviously got Lily’s talent in Potions. 

Harry tells Ron, Hermione and Ginny about the directions written in the margin of the book.  Ginny is concerned, presumably because of her “incident” with Tom Riddle’s diary.  After applying a spell to the book, Hermione says it does indeed look like just a textbook.

Harry mistakenly drops the book.  In the back cover, Harry notices something scribbled in the same handwriting.  It reads “This book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince.”

Of course, at this point, the question is, “Who is the Half-Blood Prince?”  Of course, now we know, but my thought at the time was “Lily”.  It had to be.  She was good at Potions.  It would be perfect if Harry got his mother’s old textbook.  It has to be Lily…

Currently Reading The Book of Atrus (Myst, Book 1) By Rand Miller see related

In an attempt to get Half-Blood Prince done before Book 7 comes out  I'm going to try to go quicker with the chapter summaries and to emphasize the high-points in order to get more chapters out more quickly.  So without further ado...

Chapter Eight: Snape Victorious

When we left Harry he was under a spell, under his Invisibility Cloak hidden on the Hogwarts Express.  Tonks finds Harry and fixes his nose, though Harry is somewhat nervous about it.  They jump from the Express as it is already leaving, and watch it until it is out of sight.  Tonks sends a Patronus up to the school to let them know that Harry is safe, thus confirming that the Order can use a Patronus as a means of communication.

Harry asks what Tonks was doing here, and she replies that she is stationed in Hogsmeade along with 3 other people.  When they get to the gates, they are chained shut.  Harry tries "Alohamora", but Tonks says that won't work because Dumbledore bewitched the gates himself.  Harry says that he could just climb the wall, but Tonks again says that security has been "tightened a hundredfold" since the summer.  Here we have the security of the School emphasized once again, foreshadowing the ideas that either someone will try to break into Hogwarts or someone will indeed succeed in breaking into Hogwarts.

Who should show up to pick Harry up but none other than Severus Snape.  Snape is his usual self, throwing around insults.  Tonks apologetically says to Harry that she meant Hagrid to get the Patronus, but Snape says that Hagrid was late to the start of term feast.  Wonder what Hagrid is doing?

Snape also tells us that Tonks Patronus has changed, and he thinks it looks "weak".  This is fascinating to me.  What can make a Patronus change?  Would having someone close to you die cause it to change?  Or perhaps any strong emotional change could cause the Patronus to change shape.  And why does Snape think it looks weak?  Is it simply because of its shape?

Harry's "hatred" for Snape is re-emphasized during the walk up to Hogwarts.  Snape takes points away from Gryffindor and embarrasses Harry by making him walk into the Great Hall without his Invisibility Cloak. 

Ron mentions that the Sorting Hat once again was "advising us all to unite in the face of our enemies..."

Harry fills Ron and Hermione in on what Slughorn wanted at the Party.  Hermione also notices Dumbledore's blackened hand.  Harry expresses wonder at the fact that neither he nor Madam Pomfrey have cured it yet.

Dumbledore announces that any items from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are banned.

Then the bomb drops.  Dumbledore announces that Slughorn will be the new Potions teacher.  Potions teacher?  Well, who will teach Defense Against The Dark Arts, then?  None other than Professor Snape.  But why would Dumbledore make Snape the DADA teacher?  Harry thinks to himself "Hadn't it been widely known for years that Dumbledore did not trust him to do it?"  Have we been taking this mistrust for granted, though?  And if the mistrust really was there, what made it change? 

Some would say this decision is so out of character that it should be added to the list of evidence that Dumbledore is not himself.  Others would say something must have happened to make Dumbledore trust Snape. 

Once we get further in the book, I want to talk about the parallels between this event and another certain Someone who also wanted to teach at Hogwarts but who Dumbledore never gave permission.

Harry points out that at least Snape will be gone by the end of the year as no DADA teacher has lasted longer than a year because "That job's jinxed...Personally, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for another death..."  Unfortunately, that death may not be who Harry wishes...

Once again Dumbledore emphasizes that it is dangerous and that the school's security has been hightened, again possibly foreshadowing that even though security has hightened, someone will break in.

After Hagrid explains that the reason he was late was that he was with Grawp, the students leave for their dorms.