"Incalculable power"

[justcarol67]

zanooda wrote:
> > Here is one more question, what does "incalculable power" mean in a sentence: "Dumbledore had at least taught Harry something about certain kinds of magic, of incalculable power of certain acts". It's when Harry tries to convince Ron that he is supposed to use the sword, p.373-374 or p.304 ("The Silver Doe"). 
> > 
> > Does the word "incalculable" mean here "uncertain, unpredictable", or does it mean something like "immense"? The dictionaries give these two meanings, but they both seem to fit. Or do I misunderstand something :-)? What do you guys think? Thanks,
> 
Kemper responded:
> Hmm... when I first read it, my thought was more 'immeasurable' or 'insurmountable' within the context which is guess is more 'immense' than 'uncertain' which I disagree with because that sounds like 'questionable' within the context.
> 
> Though as I think about it right now, I can't really think of what 'certain acts' he has learned besides Lily's sacrifice.  Maybe Faux coming to him in CoS.  I'm sure others can come with better examples. 

Carol responds:

My original thought on the definition is "so great as to be incalculable," but that does seem to make the magic a little too godlike. Maybe "immensely powerful" with an element of unpredictability? Obviously, he has Lily's sacrifice in mind, but Dumbledore has also mentioned the possible consequences of Harry's act of mercy toward Wormtail, and we've seen what happened when Harry expressed loyalty to Dumbledore (Fawkes came to Harry with the Sorting Hat, not to mention Fawkes's usefulness in other ways) and the Sword coming out of the Sorting Hat for Harry under conditions of need and valor (also connected, possibly, with "help will always come at Hogwarts to those who ask for it). There's even the power of loving thoughts to drive out Voldemort when he's trying to possess Harry. I don't know which of those incidents Harry has in mind, but all of them have had or will later have unexpected magical consequences.

At any rate, it's clear that Harry understands the magic of the Sword of Gryffindor: Ron, not Harry, has earned the right to use it on the Horcrux--not that Harry lacked the necessary criteria of need and valor or that he wouldn't have earned the right to use the sword if the Horcrux hadn't nearly strangled him, but selflessly leaping into an icy pond to save a friend trumps jumping into the same pond to retrieve a sword (in part, I suppose, because of the added Gryffindorean element of chivalry, which Harry thinks of before he jumps in.)

I think he's simply saying that Ron's selfless and uncalculated action in saving Harry is one of those acts of "incalculable power" that Dumbledore was talking about. I'm not sure, of course, because Dumbledore likes to seem mysterious and wiser than everyone else, but "thass Dumbledore, innit?"

Carol, who now thinks that both meanings ("very great" and "unpredictable") are included in the meaning