What were the corridor dreams ?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 116967


Del:
> 2. They were dreams LV was deliberately implanting in Harry's 
mind.
> I doubt it, because :
> - LV wasn't apparently aware of the connection between him 
and Harry until the Snake Dream.
> - Why would LV want to inform Harry so early of the existence of 
a potential weapon against him (against LV, I mean) ? LV first 
did what seemed obvious : he tried to get people who had 
normal access to the Prophecy to steal it for him. It's only when 
he learned that only he and Harry could take the Prophecy that he 
conceived the much more hazardous plan of tricking Harry into 
taking the Prophecy.<

Pippin:

According to Dumbledore, the dreams prior to the snake vision 
were inadvertent on Voldemort's part. "Voldemort, of course, had 
been obsessed with the possibility of hearing the prophecy ever 
since he regained his body, and as he dwelled on the door, so 
did you, though you did not know what it meant."

After the snake vision, Voldemort seems to have taken control of 
the dreams, which leads to an interesting question...how did he 
know Harry was having them? Apparently he sensed that from 
Harry's mind itself, since Harry hadn't yet told anyone about the 
dreams.

There's a noteworthy increase in Harry's desire to get behind the 
door after the snake vision -- "Something he wanted with all his 
heart lay beyond....A prize beyond his dreams....If only his scar 
would stop prickling..then he would be able to think more 
clearly...."-OOPch 23. 

Voldemort seems to have been hoping that Harry would try to 
find his way past the door, but of course Harry didn't know how. 
That  seems to have led Voldemort to spring Rookwood, former 
head of the Department of Mysteries, from Azkaban. After that, 
Harry begins to dream of what lies beyond the door. 

We can't say for sure that Voldemort himself was never in the 
corridor outside the Department of Mysteries. He doesn't seem 
to have been an outlaw at first -- remember the Black parents 
thought their son was a hero for joining him. He might have 
visited the Ministry openly earlier in his career.

The other possibility is that the information came via legilimency 
from those who had been there, like Malfoy. I think I like that one 
better, because it also explains how Voldemort could bring Harry 
the further visions of what lay beyond the door. Once Rookwood 
was returned to his service, Voldemort was able to probe his 
mind for details of the Hall of Prophecy and how to get to it. 

I think the Rookwood vision was deliberate -- Voldemort knew 
Harry was inside his head and went over to look at the mirror 
deliberately to frighten him.

(Spy in the order stuff -- those who are convinced that all current 
order members are saints can stop reading now <g>)

Voldemort makes a big point of announcing that he's been on 
the wrong track and he is now taking a new tack. Why does he 
want Harry to know this? I suspect it's because Voldemort has 
already found out what he isn't supposed to know...that only he 
or Harry can take the prophecy. 

Assuming the directed dreams start immediately after the snake 
vision, that can only mean that Voldemort had already conceived 
the idea of getting Harry to take the prophecy for him -- and that 
means that someone inside the Order had already given him the 
information. It could have been Kreacher, but surely Kreacher 
would have been forbidden to repeat this?

Pippin