Voldemort: Between Life and Death?

[alshainofthenorth]

No: HPFGUIDX 110146

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "inkling108" <inkling108 at y...> 
wrote:

<snipping most part of excellent post>

> Why Harry? Because whatever happened at Godric's Hollow created a 
> reaction (possibly alchemical?) that bonded the two together in a 
> circle no one else can enter?  How will Harry pass between life and 
> death?  Here's an intriguing question.  It may have to do with his 
> parents, already beyond the veil, and what happened when Sirius 
> passed through the veil.  I think the mirror(s) (Sirius's and 
> Erised) will come into play as well.
> 

Alshain:
Just adding a thought: What kind of powers did Voldemort transfer to 
Harry, besides the ability to speak Parseltongue?

My thoughts went in the direction of the folklore, when I read your 
pot about mirrors. Don't people say that there are nasty consequences 
of the soul-losing variety if you get between two mirrors -- for 
example, the pair of mirrors Sirius and James used, or one of them 
plus the Mirror of Erised? Is that what is going to make Harry 
Voldemort's equal or is there some other way he can do it while 
preserving his humanity? 
*shudders and snips some more*

Inkling:
> 
> If it is virtually or literally the same body, that could mean that 
> Voldemort had ceased to be fully human even before the curse that 
> failed (Remember what Hagrid said in PS/SS about Voldy not being 
> human enough to die).  Which could mean that he lost his soul or 
> spirit even before encountering Harry, which is problematic for the 
> Changeling Hypothesis.
> 
> Or maybe he didn't lose his soul, but exchanged it, like Faust, for 
> superhuman power?  Whatever he did to prevent himself from dying a 
> human death clearly came at a cost, a cost that was revealed (or 
> activated?)when he encountered Harry and was blasted by his own 
> spell.  And now "neither can live while the other survives."  His 
> rebirthing ceremony could only take him so far -- not far enough to 
> be truly alive, and not far enough to override whatever happened at 
> Godric's Hollow. 
> 

Alshain:
I like both your theories. When I read the transcript of the 
Edinburgh session I started musing about the unicorn blood from PS, 
and I wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort has taken it before. Or do 
phoenixes come into it somehow?

Going off on a tangent: Whatever Ancient Magic that Voldemort used to 
become what he became, I fervently hope it's different in kind from 
the life debts and Dumbledore's and Lily's Ancient Magic that was 
used for Harry's protection -- I've always found it irritating to see 
all of those things lumped together. The former is about using magic 
for selfish purposes to enhance yourself with extra powers -- trying 
to set yourself apart from the rest of humanity. The latter is about 
the things that instead make you *more* human (and which Voldemort 
would detest because he sees humanity as weakness) -- love, self-
sacrifice, mercy etc. More valuable and fundamental, but at the same 
time more unpredictable and non-quantifiable than disciplines like 
Charms and Transfiguration, and not something you can study in class 
or find in books.

Huh, I'm waxing philosophical. Better stop.

Alshain, hoping that Harry becomes an Unspeakable if he doesn't get 
an O in Potions