"I Must Not Tell Lies"

[pcaehill2]

No: HPFGUIDX 109264

mcmaxslb wrote:
 [snip]
> First the words are not legible. In OofP when Dobby tells Harry
> about the Room of Requirement,Harry looks at the back of his hand 
> and sees a web of thin,white scars.

pcaehill:

Well spotted, mcmax!  I was going by this previous quote:

"But Ron had grabbed Harry's forearm and pulled the back of Harry's 
hand up level with his eyes. There was a pause, during which he 
stared at the words carved into the skin, then, looking sick, he 
released Harry" (OotP, ch. 13, Detention with Dolores)

You're right, there is the distinct possibility that the words no 
longer show up as words as the scars heal.

mcmaxslb continued:
> And both pcaehill2 and DuffyPoo have forgotten that Harry was 
> not being punished for lying, he was being punished for telling
> the truth. The truth about Voldemort and the murder of Cedric
> Diggory. He was being tortured by a vicious evil woman under the
> orders of an idiot to keep him from telling the truth. 

pcaehill responds:

Nope, never forgot that Harry was being punished for telling the 
truth.  All I was trying to suggest was that the scar might pop up 
later as a plot device (if the words haven't completely healed over, 
as you suggest).  Then they might "come in handy" OR work against 
Harry, depending on the circumstances in which he reads them--or how 
someone else might read and interpret (or misinterpret) them.

For instance, I could see Harry in some situation (say, with 
Dumbledore again, from whom he has "withheld info" several times 
over the years), and while he is pondering what to say, glances at 
his hand and (in spite of the horrible original circumstances of the 
scar's infliction) realizing that this is a situation in which he 
must not now lie.  OR, some enemy (or creature who hasn't chosen 
sides, such as a goblin) seeing the words on his hand, and 
interpreting them to mean either that H. is sworn to tell the truth 
or has been previously branded as a liar.

Seems a possibility, given the wondrous way JKR has of weaving 
various strands together from past books.

Pam