Is Harry the Heir of Gryffindor? (Was: Bloodline theory)

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 33735

This post is in reference to several previous threads; I'm sorry that 
I don't remember specific posts that originally raised these issues.

Someone mentioned that Harry might be the "Heir of Gryffindor" and 
therefore the counterpart to Voldemort being Heir of Slytherin.  This 
theory makes a lot of sense to me; it seems that JKR is setting up 
the conflict between the Dark Side and the other (Light?) side as 
essentially a continuation of Salazar Slytherin's conflict with 
Godric Gryffindor.  Not counting turncoats, all of the DE's that we 
know of are Slytherins and the supporters of Dumbledore all seem to 
be Gryffindors.  Harry is the main defense against Voldemort. So, 
Harry is the "Heir" of Gryffindor at least in the sense that he is 
continuing Gryffindor's battle against Slytherin.

But is Harry actually a blood descendent of Godric?  Well, I kind of 
hope he isn't.  I think the series already has too many overtones 
that talent, morality, etc. are genetic.  I really don't want JKR 
putting any more emphasis on the nature side of the nature versus 
nurture debate.

However, *if* Harry was the a blood descendent of Godric Gryffindor, 
that would explain why he got Gryffindor's sword in CoS.  (An aside --
I wonder if the sword had been in the hat for 1000 years?  Or was it 
somewhere in Dumbledore's office?)  And, it would give JKR a reason 
for eliminating the rest of Harry's paternal relatives -- this would 
make Harry the *last* remaining descendent of Gryffindor, as Voldy is 
the last descendent of Slytherin.  It would also give Voldy a motive 
for killing James and Harry -- he was trying to eliminate 
Gryffindor's remaining descendents.  It would also give a reason why 
Voldy didn't feel a need to kill Lily, since she was not a Gryffindor 
descendent. (Of course, Voldy kills people even when he doesn't need 
to, so this isn't a full explanation of why he tried to spare Lily.) 
It might even explain why James had a house in "Godric's Hollow." 

So, given all the above reasons, I predict that Harry will in fact 
turn out to be the last living descendent of Godric Gryffindor, even 
though I don't like the implications that has for the role of 
genetics in the Potterverse. 

By the way, JKR said in an interview that some characters would 
develop in surprising ways, and the most surprising will be *The 
Sorting Hat*.  The Hat has already played a role in the Harry vs. 
Voldemort conflict, when it sided with Harry in CoS.  I predict that 
the Hat will play some sort of decisive role in winning the battle 
against Slytherin's Heir.  The hat belonged to Gryffindor, not 
Slytherin, after all.  Perhaps Gryffindor forsaw the role his hat 
would play, and that's why he suggested using it to sort students in 
the first place? 


On the topic of bloodlines, "evershade1" <cewald at n...> wrote:
> ...What if Tom Riddle's mother actually gave birth 
> to twins, the other child being a girl.  Hence, there were now 
> actually two heirs of Slytherin.  The girl grew up as a muggle, and 
> showed no magical powers.  Later she married a man named Evans, and 
> gave birth to two daughters, Petunia and Lilly...
> What if James Potter was a direct descendent of Gryffindor?  
> Harry Potter would then have the blood of 
> both Gryffindor and Slytherin in his veins
> ...This hypothesis could explain many clues in the story of Harry 
> Potter.  Harry's physical similarity to Lord Voldermort, his 
> ability to speak Parseltongue...

Well, it's an interesting theory, but I don't think Lily can be a 
descendent of Salazar Slytherin, because this would make Harry (and 
Petunia) descended from Slytherin.  Harry was afraid he was a 
descendent of Slytherin and asked Dumbledore about it at the end of 
CoS.  Dumbledore very clearly ruled this out, saying that Voldemort 
was the last descendent of Salazar Slytherin. (Other than that 
Dumbledore said "ancestor" instead of descendent, which presumably 
was a mistake.)  

Harry's ability to speak parseltongue was already explained as a 
result of the failed AK curse. Harry's physical resemblance to Voldy 
could be a coincidence.  And anyway, the features Harry has in common 
with Voldy, such as his black hair, seem to come from his father's 
side, not his mother's side.  So, there is really no reason to think 
that Voldy was related to Lily. 

--Judy