Why were the sacrifices different? (was: A moral theory of Magic )

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 95365

> > Jen wrote: <snip> Harry was born with the "power to vanquish the
> Dark Lord" regardless of whether his parents died or not. <snip>
 
> Carol responds:
> I don't think he was born with the power to vanquish LV or Lily's
> sacrifice would not have been necessary. Nor would "mark him as his
> equal" make any sense. Ironically, it's only when Harry is struck 
by
> the AK and it backfires that Harry becomes the only one who can 
defeat
> Voldemort. Until that point, that portion of the Prophecy was
> unfulfilled, and it could have been Neville--or no one. In trying 
to
> defeat the portion of the Prophecy that he had heard, LV caused it 
to
> come about (shades of Oedipus and anyone else in Greek tragedy who
> tries to prevent a prophecy from being fulfilled). 

Jen: Hmmmm...I've been pondering why I believe Harry was "born with 
the power" and why it wasn't just Lily's sacrifice and/or charm 
work. 

On one hand, I like your interpretation, Carol. It fits with what 
Tom Riddle told Harry in COS: "So. Your mother died to save you. 
Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now...there is 
nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see." (US, 
chap. 17, p. 317) That agrees with what you say, that it could have 
been Harry, Neville or no one at all. 

OTOH, right before Tom Riddle's comment, Harry tells Riddle 
this: "No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me. 
But I know why you couldn't *kill* me. Because my mother died to 
save me." 

So Lily's sacrifice, and this is consistent with how Dumbledore 
later explains the Prophecy, keeps Harry alive. But here we are 
waiting for Book 6 and we still don't know why LV lost his powers 
and transferred some of his powers to Harry. I understand you to say 
that Lily's charm caused the AK to mark Harry, rebound on LV, thus 
draining him of his power and giving Harry the Power to Vanquish. 

I think the key is in how the two uses of the word 'power' are 
interpreted. I interpret the first power, the Power to Vanquish, as 
an inherent power Harry was born with that no one else, even 
Neville, was born with. No one knows who the Prophecy refers to 
though, until LV chooses Harry. That's when the Power to Vanquish is 
activated & strengthened by a series of events that take place: 
Lily's sacrifice, perhaps her own charm, Voldemort's AK--these 
events interact to save Harry, & give Harry the additional blood 
protection. 

The "mark him as his equal" part of the Prophecy still makes sense 
to me with this interpretation. In attempting to kill Harry, LV 
actually confers on him additional powers, including some of his 
own. Had he chosen Neville instead, Neville might still be saved by 
Alice's sacrifice, but the curse would not cause LV to lose his 
powers nor would Neville gain additional powers.

Jen, going off to find some Advil for her Prophecy-induced headache.