Portkeys - Jesse - Why V wanted...

Amy Z aiz24 at hotmail.com
Sun Mar 11 11:09:34 UTC 2001


No: HPFGUIDX 14092


Courtney asked:

>Here is another problem about the Portkey.  This group might have 
>discussed this already but as I have just joined I wouldn't know.  
>How is it that the Portkey worked when in the beginning of the book 
>Arthur Weasley stated that Portkeys worked at predestined times?  
>Moody couldn't possibly have known the exact time in which Harry and 
>Cedric were to be touching the Cup.

I think Arthur says that so that we know that Portkeys don't stay 
Portkeys indefinitely.  Otherwise it would be very dangerous; what if 
someone decided not to go to the Cup after reserving a Portkey, and 
the boot or popsicle stick or whatnot sat there for months until a 
litter-conscious Muggle picked it up?  So a Portkey only works for a 
particular period of time.  In the case of the QWC, when they're 
trying to coordinate thousands of arrivals, the window is very small. 
 In the case of the Cup (or toothbrush <g>), it can be set for a 
couple of hours.

Susan, your message 14077 got cut off.  Do write more and tell us what 
Jesse said about Harry Powder!

I'm going to chime in a minority opinion on the 
Why-Voldemort-Wanted-to-Kill-the-Potters/Didn't-Have-to-Kill-Lily 
question, and suggest that perhaps he didn't have to kill James 
either.  The text in question (from PS/SS ch17) *implies* that he 
viewed James and Lily differently, but it's not at all a sure thing.

  "How touching..." it hissed.  "I always value bravery...Yes, boy, 
your parents were brave....I killed your father first, and he put up a 
courageous fight...but your mother needn't have died...she was trying 
to protect you....Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have 
died in vain."

So, as far as we can tell from this and PoA, V showed up at the 
Potters' house, and Lily grabbed Harry and tried to run (she never 
even got out of the house).  V encountered James first and killed him, 
then turned on Harry.  But that still leaves open the possibility that 
he killed James only to get to Harry.  He just doesn't say so 
explicitly.  In Lily's case, she was actually holding Harry in her 
arms so the whole issue was much more pointed than with James, who was 
just out in the living room or whatnot on his own.

I also don't think we can read into this scene any particular 
reluctance on V's part to kill Lily.  She didn't need to die in that 
she wasn't his primary target, but that doesn't mean he was trying to 
avoid killing her.  So why didn't he just AK her without an argument 
and go on to Harry?  Perhaps just because she was a powerful witch and 
he didn't want to tangle with her any more than necessary.  (V, being 
clueless about love, would not have known what most people would know 
from the start:  that you can't ask a woman to hand over her son to 
save her own life and expect her to do it.  You may as well just kill 
her from the start and not argue with her...)

Amy Z
up way too early

--------------------------------------------------------
 "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school 
 song!" cried Dumbledore.  Harry noticed that the other 
 teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.
                     -HP and the Philosopher's Stone
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