[HPforGrownups] Harry and the riddle of Riddle

[girl from mars]

No: HPFGUIDX 39504

Ali said:
> > I have read a theory that Voldie had a 
> > sister, because of Dobby's reaction to Harry asking if Voldie had a 
> > brother:
> > "Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever" p 18 COS.
> > It was argued that the eyes widening were hinting to Harry that he 
> > close ie a sister not a brother.  

and Eloise replied:
> That would be entirely consistent with Dobby's method of communicating.  

I certainly agree that the wide eyes signify that Harry's guess is close
in some way.  But directly before that, Dobby has just rejected Harry's
guess that the warning has something to do with Voldemort:

	Slowly, Dobby shook his head.

	"Not--not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir--"

	But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give
	Harry a hint.
	
	[p17, CoS]

We learn at the end that Dobby *was* trying to give a clue, pointing out
that "the Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named."
I would assume that as Harry stays in the same line of guessing
(focusing on people *related* to Voldemort even after finding out that
it isn't Voldemort himself), Dobby believes that his clue led Harry on
the right track.

I think we should trust Dumbledore if he says Voldemort is Slytherin's
last remaining decendant, as Dumbledore does not seem prone to spewing
facts which he doesn't have very good reason to believe to be true.  And
I think we should trust the publishers in the statement that the
"ancestor" line was a typo, as it would be very screwy of them to go
around making statements about things which could so drastically alter
the plot.

--marilyn