[HPforGrownups] The Gleam of Something Like Triumph (WAS: HP and LV die together?)

[Troels Forchhammer]

No: HPFGUIDX 55408

At 17:48 15-04-03 +0000, erisedstraeh2002 wrote:


<snip>

>And also - it's the use of Harry's blood that triggers the gleam.
>While it's not explicitly stated in GoF, presumably Harry informed
>Dumbledore of Wormtail cutting his hand off for the potion before he
>got to the part about Wormtail piercing his arm.  So it's not the use
>of human flesh or human blood that triggers the gleam, IMO - it's the
>use of *Harry's* blood.

I read that passage just slightly differently.

Let me quote the passage in question:
   "  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. But next second,
    Harry was sure he had imagined it, for when Dumbledore had
    returned to his seat behind the desk, he looked as old and
    weary as Harry had ever seen him.
      'Very well,' he said, sitting down again. 'Voldemort has
    overcome that particular barrier. Harry, continue, please.' "

Harry tells about Wormtail piercing his arm and Dumbledore then
examines the cut. After that Harry continues by explaining /why/
Voldemort wanted to use Harry's blood. It seems that it must
have been completely obviouse to Dumbledore already when he
examines Harry's arm that Harry's blood had been used for the
ritual - possibly Dumbledore even knows the ritual (and both
its strengths and weaknesses).

The gleam is described immediately after Harry tells that
Voldemort could touch him, and I think that it is /that/
piece of information that triggers the gleam. Not the use of
Harry's blood per se, but the fact that it made Voldemort
capable of overcoming Harry's protection - or perhaps rather
(using Voldemort's own words) that "the lingering protection
his mother once gave him would then reside in [Voldemort's]
veins too".

We know a few things about the protection Lily left in
Harry. According to Dumbledore (in PS):
   "  'Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing
    Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise
    that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own
    mark. Not a scar, no visible sign ... to have been loved so
    deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give
    us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell,
    full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with
    Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony
    to touch a person marked by something so good.' "

Voldemort cannot understand love. The protection (which now
also resides in his veins) is, basically, an expression of
love (combined with the sacrifice): I think this accounts for
why Voldemort has overlooked some side effect of this, which
Dumbledore (who obviously does understand love) is quick to
realise.

What exactly this side effect might be, I cannot guess, but I
am sure that it will be related to Harry's protection specifically
and not his blood in general.

Troels