Snape's greatest fear; Our Man Snape

[Brooks R]

No: HPFGUIDX 1146

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "Brian  Dorband" <dorband at u...> 
wrote:
> 
>  Dumbledore confronted a weakened Voldemort (with 
Quirrel), 
> and the only explanation is that V. got away and the Stone was 
> destroyed.  It seems that with V., in as weak a condition as he's
> ever 
> been, Dumbledore woulda, coulda, shoulda done something more.  We 
> don't even know what little happened between them as JKR doesn't 
> reveal much (intentionally).  But what a scene it could have been...


Yeah, but this is fairly easily explained - Voldy dropped his 
possession of Quirrel and essentially reverted to pure (evil) spirit
- and given everyone's astonishment at Nearly Headless Nick's 
paralysis by the basilisk, it is highly probable that wizards don't 
have a whole lot they can do against ghosts or other disembodied 
spirits, granting the exception of what Lupin did to Peeves with the 
gum (but of course Peeves isn't strictly a ghost, they also take
pains to say).  In fact i suspect that when Voldy perceived that his 
'host' was under physical attack by AD, he dispossessed Quirrel right 
there (& Q. probably expired within moments of that) precisely
because he knew that while connected to Quirrel he could be hurt by
AD but as a disembodied form, he was immune.

-Brooks