Harry'sStrongPoints/ Magical protection/ the Gleam

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 45054

Quotes from Richelle with comments from BBoy_mn:

 The exact quote from GoF is:
 
 When Harry told of Wormtail piercing his arm with the dagger,
however, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up
so quickly that Harry started.  Dumbledore walked around the desk and
told Harry to stretch out his arm.  Harry showed them both the place
where his robes were torn and the cut beneath them.  "He said my blood
would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Harry told
Dumbledore.  "He said the protection my--my mother left in me--he'd
have it too.  And he was right--he could touch me without hurting
himself, he touched my face."  For a fleeting instant, Harry thought
he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes.
 
 This, of course, could mean a number of things. I'm in a talkative
mood, so I'll ramble on about my favorites.
 
1) This is the one I hate most of all, and really don't believe, but
I'll  get it out of the way.  If Dumbledore is really a bad guy in a
very good  disguise, the triumphant gleam would mean, aha, Voldemort
will triumph.  Pathetic, that one, if you ask me, since Harry just got
away again!  However, I thought I'd throw it in and disregard it
before someone else  brings it up. :)

bboy_mn comment:
Sorry, I'm not buying the evil Dumbledore theory either. Evil is
inherently corrupt; it is self-defeating. You could say that Evil is
the architect of it's own doom. Or at least, I could say that.

Why would Dumbledore need to be evil? He can already be Minister of
Magic, the highest office in the land. He is already Order of Merlin -
First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, and a
prominent member of the International Confederation of Wizards, so he
already has international recognition, respect, and power. Certainly
with his skill and power, he could be as rich and powerful as he
desired without being evil. He is not feared in the sense that
Voldemort is, but he is certain recognized as the most powerful wizard
alive, and people would certainly be afraid of getting on the angry
side of that power. He is truly respected by a vast majority of the
wizard world, so he has no need to force people to submit to him and
show him respect as Voldemort does. 

Then there is Voldemort's theory that there is no good and evil only
power and those who seek it. I say that true power is not making
people to bend to your will, but making people willing to bend.
Dumbledore certainly has that power.

Even Voldemort himself could be the most politically powerful as well
as magically powerful wizard in the wizard world, he could be rich
beyond anyone's measure if he applied his talent, he could be truly
respected by the wizard world; the only thing stopping him is that he
is a totally insane irrational evil megalomaniac.

Short version - Dumbledore can already have everything that being evil
could possibly bring him, so what's the point of being evil? Certainly
it's better to be loved by all and have everything than to be hated by
all and have everything.
-End Comment bboy_mn-

 
2) The fact that Dumbledore stands up so *quickly* as to startle Harry
when he's just about to be referred to as old and tired, is
interesting.  Then  walks around the desk and asks to see Harry's arm.
 Which implies that the  location of the taking of blood is important.  
...edited...

bboy_mn comments:
Dumbledore jumps to his feet and Sirius lets out a forceful and
intense expression of emotion (vehement) when they discover Voldie has
taken Harry's blood. I think that is because the use of a persons
blood is the darkest, most evil, and powerful of all dark magic. In
movies, in other stories, that darkest most evil magic usually
involves someone's blood. To take the very essence of physical life
from a person and make magic with that, is powerful nasty magic. At
this point all they know is that Voldemort took Harry's blood, only
after this do they look at the location and method, and discover the
consequences, so they are reacting to the use of blood alone.

Next the location and method, I agree, this has some importance; an
importance that is certainly not clear at this point. I have to
believe that magic hospitals are not so crude as to go around sticking
needles into people, certainly small amounts of blood can be magicked
out of a person. So Voldemort/Wormtail could have easily taken Harry's
blood by magical means. It still would have been forcefully take in
that it was taken against his will. But they chose to take it
violently, they chose to take it in the most crude, basic, and
non-magical way. The skin was pierced by a dagger. Why not pierced by
a wand or a charm? So, while I certainly don't understand it, I tend
to agree that their could be some significants to the method they
used. Some significants that will work against them. That's probably
not the explanation for everything that happening, but I think it's
significant. 
-end comment bboy_mn

 
 3) Now, back to the point Kara was making, that Dumbledore's
triumphant  gleam occurs at the exact time that Harry has just
explained that Voldemort was able to and did touch him.  Yet Harry is
safe and sound in Dumbledore's  office.  He lived.  Again.  So there
may be perhaps another protection over  him besides the one his mother
left.  Which brings up the theory of some  sort of experimental work
James and Lily (and Harry) may have been involved  in.  Something to
do with the Sorcerer's Stone and the Elixir of Life.  

...edited...
 
 Richelle

bboy_mn comments:
Two things I like here. 

First, the gleam was in Dumbledore's eye because Harry had lost his
protection and he still survived another encounter with Voldemort. No
fanciful theories, no farfetched speculation; all very logical,
straight forward, and well within the realm of reason. It's probably
the simplest and most obvious explanation I've heard so far.

Next, the possibility that there are protections in place that even
Dumbledore doesn't know about or understand. While it is a little
farfetched, I like the theory about experiments with the Philosopher's
Stone. We know that the protection of the Stone is temporary; you have
to keep taking it to stay immortal. And, it would seem that the time
between doses is long, probably measured in years.

If Dumbledore, Lily, and James knew that Harry truly was the chosen
one, the 'Christ child' of the wizard world, savior of them all as
foretold by the star and other signs; they would have certainly gone
to great extremes to protect him. Even to the extreme of using the
Elixir of Life or some component or experimental aspect of it. I
suspect (totally unfounded) that they were trying to create some type
of very short term shield for Harry. Much shorter than the time
between doses of the Elixir of Life. And it may or may not have been
an on-going experiment. They may have had the substance, and because
it was experimental, only used it in the event of an extreme emergency.

Nicolas Flamel and the Philosopher's Stone are just too big in this
story to have their part over and done with. I think they will come
back. I even think we will get to meet Nicolas Flamel, and he will be
instrumental in helping Harry defeat Voldemort. Although Harry may not
know about it until after the fact. This ties in with my death and
resurrection theory.

Of course, I believe that Nicolas Flamel is alive and well. To a
nearly 700 year old man, 'getting your affairs in order' could take 10
or 20 years, maybe more.

This could even be part of the residual protection that Harry carries.
It may not make him invulnerable, but it may give him the strength to
resist assaults that would cause lesser men to crumble.

Finally, Harry's strengths- Harry has one strength that is above and
beyond all others; he is a hero. He has a hero's heart, a hero's mind,
a hero's old soul, and most of all, he has a hero's luck. The courage
and determination of a hero are what pulled Harry through every
adventure, they are truly his greatest strength. He is brave,
courageous, stubborn and fiercely determined, has moral fiber, and a
deep sense of selflessness. He does what has to be done for no other
reason than it is the right thing to do. He puts the welfare of other
over his own. He does not accept defeat even in the face of defeat.
Harry Potter is a hero, and that has served him well.

bboy_mn