I Corinthians 13--random thoughts

[D.G.]

No: HPFGUIDX 69240

terryjames wrote:

There seems to be a consensus among the posters here that the 
mysterious power that Dumbledore referred to, that Harry has so much 
of, is love.  

Me:

Well -- yes and no, Terry.  In his conversation with Harry at the end 
of OoP, Dumbledore makes it clear that love, in and of itself, would 
have been neither sufficient NOR insufficient to imbue Harry with the 
power that he has.  Yes, he tells Harry that his "heart" has saved 
him thus far.  But then...

"She doesn't love me," Harry says about Petunia, wondering how 
placing him in her "care" could have kept Dumlbedore's protective 
charm alive.  Dumbledore answers, "But she took you... and in so 
doing, sealed the charm I placed upon you [i.e., she was still his 
mother's sister].  Your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the 
strongest shield I could give you.... While you can still call home 
the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be 
touched or harmed by Voldemort..."

I take this to mean that it was the sacrifice of his mother, who gave 
her life for him, not merely the love she felt for him or the love he 
has in his heart, that sealed this powerful charm.  The same family 
blood that runs in his mother's veins runs in Petunia's, whether 
Petunia likes it or not.  Blood is thicker than dislike, in this 
case, and --at least arguably-- it's even stronger than "love," since 
it doesn't seem to need ongoing "love" to keep the charm sealed.

To keep the charm sealed, three elements were needed: yes, love 
[Harry's mother's, initially, and then later his];  but also his 
mother's own blood relationship to him [there is no indication that 
if a non-blood caretaker --such as a nanny an adoptive mother, a non-
blood-related but beloved parent-surrogate, such as Sirius-- had 
given her life for him, the charm would have been sealed so 
strongly]; and her own sacrifice of her life for him [but not, 
interestingly enough, his father's equally courageous and loving 
sacrifice].  

So -- love ain't all you need, apparently.  There has to be a family 
bloodline involved, and there also has to be an actual giving up of 
one's own life for another.

Whether or not JKR intends it, there's a rather pointed irony in the 
fact that "blood" relationships seem to be just as important to the 
anti-Voldemort (and, let's say for the sake of argument, anti-
Slytherin) contingent as they are for the Dark Lord and his legion of 
Pureblood racists.  No less tribal, no less primal, in a way -- 
just "nicer," at least by modern-day standards.

Moses, on the other hand, was an orphan...

D.G. ("JazzmanChgo")