The Darkness Within

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 119248


> > Neri responded:
> <snip>
> >Briefly, I suggest that LV agreed to become mortal again only if he'd
> also gain Harry's protection. With the blood trick he indeed managed
> to get this protection for himself, but by sharing blood with Harry,
> he is now vulnerable to Harry, exactly in the same way that Harry is
> vulnerable to him. So LV is now mortal, but protected against
> everybody except Harry. This explains DD's gleam of triumph: he
> realized that LV again made the prophecy come true by his own actions.
> This also explains why DD didn't try to kill LV in the MoM – he
> believes that LV is protected against anybody except Harry. <snip>

> 
> Carol again:
> But LV states specifically that he's mortal.

Neri:
I think he IS mortal, but well protected. There's a difference between
being immortal and well protected. 

> Carol:
> He also seems to think
> that Dumbledore could have killed him in the MoM (whether he could
> have or not, I don't know, but I don't think he could have).

Neri:
I'm not sure what LV thinks when he says "you do not seek to kill me,
Dumbledore. Above such brutality?" It could be that he thinks DD can
kill him and wonders why he doesn't try, or he thinks DD can't kill
him (which fits with his bravado manner during the battle) but wonders
if DD has realized this.

> Carol: 
> So I don't think that Voldemort is deliberately making himself
> killable only by Harry, whether that's the effect of the "blood trick"
> or not. 

Neri:
Assuming my theory is correct, I'm not sure if LV has realized at all
that he made himself
killable only by Harry. It could be that he never understood that part
of the blood magic. It is also possible that he understood it even
before his resurrection, but thought that he is going to kill Harry in
the graveyard anyway, so there's nothing to worry about.

> Carol: 
> For one thing, he still doesn't know the details of the
> Prophecy, either at this time or later. But he does know enough to
> suspect that Harry is "the one with the power," and it makes no sense
> at all (to me) that he would deliberately make himself vulnerable to
> the one person who can kill or destroy him.

Neri:
We know that LV knows that Harry is "the one with the power to
vanquish the Dark Lord", but he doesn't know the parts about "mark him
as equal" and "and either must die by the hand of the other". As I
wrote, we can assume that LV doesn't understand he made himself
vulnerable to Harry, or that he does but he planed to kill Harry
immediately after using his blood. Either possibility answers your
question.

It is precisely the prophecy that makes me think I'm right in this. If
I'm right, then this would be the second time that LV fulfilled the
prophecy by his own attempt to thwart it. I suspect this is a nice
theme that JKR uses to handle the paradox between fate and free will.
This also explains why DD is so adamant about preventing LV from
getting the rest of the prophecy.

> Carol: 
> Also, as I read the GoF scene, the first step is to get his body back;
> the next step is to pursue immortality *again* by taking whatever
> steps he took before to become sufficiently immortal to survive an AK.
> Maybe nightly mini-doses of Nagini venom or something?

Neri:
>From LV words it is not clear if he is going to "pursue immortality
again" tomorrow morning or in two years, once he clears his desk of
this unfinished business of taking over the WW. I read "I would settle
for my body and powers" more like the second option.

> 
> Carol, who thinks she understands how he became "immortal" in the
> first place but is confused because he seems to think he has lost that
> power (despite having survived the AK) and openly admits as much to
> the DEs. 

Neri:
He says he had lost all his powers except for the ability to possess
others. But he WAS still immortal. This is also what makes me think
that the power to possess and his immortality are almost the same
thing. In any case, both he and DD said that as Vapormort he was
immortal, so I think we can trust this part.

> Carol: 
> If he's mortal, can't a
> renegade DE kill him? And why trust his untrustworthy disciples with
> that knowledge?

Neri:
This is another evidence that he believes he is now very well protected.

> Carol: 
> The only thing I can think of is that a DE or Dumbledore (if he'd
> lower himself to use an AK) could destroy Voldemort's current body,
> just as the first one was destroyed, but only Harry can permanently
> vanquish and destroy his spirit? If so, I don't think *Voldemort*
> knows this, but Dumbledore might. Which would certainly answer the
> question JKR asked her fans about why Dumbledore didn't try to kill
> Voldemort at the MoM. 

Neri:
This theory doesn't fit very well with what happened in the graveyard.
LV said he was ready to become mortal again, and he used Harry's
blood, which according to the gleam in DD's eyes was some kind of a
blunder. All these suggest that it is now both LV's body and spirit
that are killable.   

> 
> Carol, who did go back and review Neri's elaborate theory, but thinks
> that a simpler answer is needed here.

Neri:
I'd love to find a simpler theory, but it would not be easy,
considering all the many things that must be explained. However, I
don't think my theory is THAT elaborate. The original, admittedly long
post was mostly devoted to the possible link between LV and Snape.
However,the prophecy/mortality/protection part was explained in just a
few paragraphs. This is not too much considering we are talking about
the heart of the main mystery. 

I think it was Einstein who said something like "one should strive to
make things as simple as possible, but not simpler than that."

Neri