Comparisons

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 89764

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Barry Arrowsmith 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:

Kneasy:
> It seems to me that Tom was performing a 
> public service. True, the unfortunate demise of Myrtle must be seen 
as 
> a grave error, but an objective examination of the event does make 
it 
> less cut and dried. Tom did not breed or nurture  the Basilisk, 
that is 
> down to S. Slytherin. It  was a fait accompli that had been lying 
in 
> wait for anyone that accessed the Chamber of Secrets for the past 
> thousand years. To argue that it is all Tom's fault is to believe 
that  
> he knew in advance what  the Chamber contained and had the ability 
to 
> fully control it from the first moment of contact. Is there any 
> evidence to support that contention?


Geoff:
Yes, but /why/ did he want to get into the Chamber of Secrets?

"'I thought someone must realise that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the 
heir of Slytherin. It had taken /me/ five whole years to find out 
everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the 
secret entrance....'"  

(COS "The Heir of Slytherin" p.230 UK edition)

So he'd been digging around since his First Year ot thereabouts. 
Sounds a very dedicated investigator... 

Back to my question above....


Kneasy: 
> Godrics Hollow has been the subject of much discussion, but do we 
> really know what  happened? I don't think we do. A Tom much changed 
by 
> his travels and experiences calls  on the Potters. Then what? James 
> dies, Lily dies (although we know that Tom did not attack Lily on 
> sight, but asked her to move, for what reason hasn't been revealed) 
and 
> Harry gets a scar. But what actually happened? We *don't* know. We 
have 
> to take the word of Dumbledore who wasn't even  there and who  has 
> produced no witnesses. So where did his tale come from? It all 
seems a 
> bit fishy to me.


Geoff:
Yes we do. We hear it from Voldemort himself.

"'You know of course that they have called this boy my downfall?' 
Voldemort said softly, his red eyes on Harry, whose scar began to 
burn so fiercely that he almost screamed in agony.'You all know that 
on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His 
mother died in the attempt to save him - and unwittingly provided him 
with a protection I admit I had not foreseen... I could not touch the 
boy.'

Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close 
to Harry's cheek. 'His mother left upon him the traces of her 
sacrifice... this is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was 
foolish to overlook it... but no matter, I can touch him now.'

Harry felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch him and 
thought his head would burst with the pain.

Voldemort laughed softly in his ear, then took the finger away and 
continued addressing the Death Eaters. 'I miscalculated, my friends, 
I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice 
and it rebounded on me. aaah... pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing 
could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less 
than spirit, less than the meanest ghost... but still, I was alive.'"

(GOF "The Death Eaters" p.566 UK edition)

There you go; straight from the horse's mouth.


Kneasy: 
> Later events are also open to reinterpretation; Quirrell died 
through 
> the actions of Harry, 


Geoff:
Ah, let's go back to the horse's mouth...

"'A wizard - young, foolish and gullible - wandered across my path in 
the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had 
been dreaming of... for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school.... 
he was easy to bend to my will... he brought me back to this country 
and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him 
closely as he carried out my orders. but my plan failed. I did not 
manage to steal the Philosopher's Stone. I was not to be assured 
immortal life. I was thwarted... thwarted, once again, by Harry 
Potter.'........

'The servant died when I left his body and I was left as weak as I 
had ever been...'"

(GOF "The Death Eaters" p.567 UK edition)

Hmm. Self-confessed by the big V himself methinks.