Voldemort's choice of Harry

[Wanda Sherratt]

No: HPFGUIDX 77103

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jim Ferer" <jferer at y...> 
wrote:
> Don't forget that part of Tom Riddle, d/b/a Lord Voldemort, is now
> part of Harry.  The bond exists already - and perhaps a shadow of
> memory as well.

Wanda: I agree - the "recognition" Harry feels at his name is due to 
the transferrence of some of Voldemort's personality to Harry.  But, 
as we discussed before, it's interesting that he did not feel this 
recognition when he first heard the name "Voldemort", only "Riddle", 
and it was a strange feeling of familiarity, almost like he was 
hearing of a lost friend.
> 
> 
Jim: > I always prefer the simplest explanation to anything.

Wanda: In real life, I do too, but in a Rowling novel, it doesn't 
always work that way! :)

Jim: If Voldemort
> had succeeded in killing baby Harry, kept his body and his powers, 
he
> wouldn't have considered his night's work done without visiting the
> Longbottom household and taking care of business there.  It's the 
King
> Herod, kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out system, but right up
> Voldemort's alley.

Wanda: I'm not so sure of that.  Even the King Herod story is a 
little more complicated.  If you recall, Herod first tried to get 
specific information about the new King of Kings - from the Magi.  
He told them to come back and tell him where to find the baby.  When 
that plan failed, he went on to his next solution: kill ALL the 
children, in the hopes of getting the one he wanted.  He went that 
route because he didn't know which child was the dangerous one, but 
that wasn't his first choice.  In the case of Voldemort, his task is 
considerably easier:  he only has a choice of two babies.  He went 
after the Potters.  At the moment, we don't know exactly what his 
thinking was at the time.  Was it just the first of two planned 
killings?  Or did he go for them because he thought he knew which 
baby was the right one?  The fact that he went in person to do the 
killing, which was not a typical occurrence, seems to me to indicate 
that he considered the Potters a special case.  I think Voldemort 
thought that he had the right kid - if he'd succeeded in killing 
Harry, as he expected to, maybe he would have then killed Neville, 
maybe not.  It couldn't hurt, as far as Voldemort was concerned, but 
it also wouldn't be as important - only ONE child was a threat to 
him, not both.  If he wasn't sure, he'd kill them both; if he WAS 
sure, he'd kill one for certain, and maybe two, but not 
necessarily.  If he got the right one, and was SURE he had the right 
one, then Neville would just be an ordinary baby.  I'm hoping that 
we'll hear more about what Voldemort was thinking on the day he 
killed the Potters.  Maybe Wormtail will provide some information - 
he was the one who made the killing possible, maybe Voldemort said 
something when he got the news of where to find the Potters, and 
we'll find out if he really had zeroed in on them as the prophecied 
danger.

Wanda