Harry w/Tom (was Question re "little hint" in Bk 2 and Long Lived)

[boyd_smythe]

No: HPFGUIDX 100821

> Caius Marcius wrote:
> "And while Harry was sure he had never heard the name T. M. Riddle 
before, it still seemed to mean something to him, almost as though 
Riddle was a friend he'd had when he was very small, and had 
half-forgotten. But this was absurd. He'd never had friends before 
Hogwarts, Dudley had made sure of that."
> Why is Harry's initial reaction to Tom Riddle's name so powerfully 
positive? We have not yet been vouchsafed the slightest clue - was 
Voldemort in contact with Harry somehow *before* attempting to 
murder him? This seems to hint at the mysterious mental link between 
Harry and Voldemort that becomes so prominent in OOP. <

Boyd:
Interesting one! There's also a discussion going on right now between 
Kneasy and Jo (sorry if I've left someone out here) about whether 
Voldemort is some kind of long-lived spirit that possesses its 
host--in this case, Tom Riddle. (the Long Lived and Vapour!Mort 
threads)

And they've pointed out that during the failed AK of baby Harry, some 
of LV may have been somehow deflected into Harry, thus creating the 
mental bond we see in OoP.

That train of thought plus yours, Marcius, makes me wonder if....

Suppose Tom were not ESE until possessed by LV in the COS. Perhaps a 
castoff due to his background and power, perhaps anti-authority like 
many such children from rough-and-tumble homes, and never shown any 
love. In a teenage fit of despair/anger, he let in LV, who then 
possessed him. But NotESE!Tom.

Fast forward to Godric's Hollow, where Lily's protection wreaks havoc 
on PossessedByLV!Tom's AK, causing part of TOM to go into Harry.

So what? Well.... 1. Now LV can't kill Harry without killing his 
current/most recent host (Tom), which would be bad for LV if he needs 
a host to live through. 2. Now Harry has a part of NotESE!Tom that
has been part of him since he was a child--thus the feeling of 
childhood friendship. 3. DD calls LV Tom to remind Tom that he could 
defeat LV from within. 4. DD has that gleam in his eye because now 
part of Harry is also in LV, and together Tom and Harry could 
overthrow LV from within. 5. But to do so, Harry will need to 
Legilimens into LV to convince NotESE!Tom that the world (and Tom 
himself) are worthy of saving. Thus the focus on
Occlumency/Legilimens in OoP.

Of course, we could then go on to explain how LV will attempt to take 
over Harry, and Harry will willingly walk through the veil or
somesuch to sacrifice himself for the good of others in a very 
biblical way. But this feels like just one of the many ways JKR could 
have this play out.

Boyd
So many possible clues, so little real information.