Mind-linked!Snape (Part III)

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 116371


(Continued from post 116370. Numbers in square brackets refer to notes
and canon points in the end of the post)


With DD's help, Snape embarked on the extremely delicate and dangerous
mission of spying on Voldemort through the mind link [1]. It involved
temporarily lowering the mind block he had assembled and peeking into
Voldemort's mind while staying extremely silent and controlled. A
single thought or emotion could betray him to his immediate end. He
probably couldn't learn a lot while taking so many precautions, but
every bit could be critical. It is likely that he was the one who got
the clue about Voldemort going after the Potters [2]. As we know,
however, the Potters were betrayed by their secret keeper, and in
October 31, 1981 Voldemort appeared at Godric's Hollow.

Getting rid of the parents was predictably easy (perhaps too easy,
since he had missed that trick with the Ancient Magic thing). Now he
sat to work on the baby in the cradle. First, he created the mind link
with the baby the way he learned from Snape and transferred his powers
to him.    



*************TBAY mode ON *************

"Tsk, tsk," said Faith. 

"I know what your problem is," said Neri quickly. "The echo of the
mind-link magic didn't appear in the Priori Incantantem in the
graveyard scene in GoF. There are two optional explanations for this:
First, the echo might not appear for the same reason the echo of the
AK didn't – because it was never completed successfully and Voldemort
never transferred all his powers to Harry, only the Parseltounge and
perhaps several others."

"Not very elegant," said Faith. "But the whole business of the missing
AK echo is pretty problematic anyway, so I might let you get away with
this one." 

"Thank you," said Neri. "Personally, however, I prefer to think that
Voldemort did transfer all his powers to Harry, because it would fit
with the prophecy words `mark him as his equal' and because it would
be BANGier. This is possible if we assume that the mind-link magic
isn't done with a wand, so its echo won't show up in the Priori
Incantantem. We have canon for several kinds of powerful magic that
don't require a wand, including Animagus transformations,
dissaparation/apparation and (of course) possession. Or, if it was
indeed Snape who discovered the mind link magic, it might be done with
a potion."

"And JKR wouldn't want to betray too early that another magic had
taken place in GH", commented Faith thoughtfully.

"Exactly," said Neri. "May I continue?" he double-tapped his wand to
deactivate TBAY mode. 

*************TBAY mode OFF *************



Voldemort transferring his powers to Harry's mind didn't activate the
Ancient Magic protection, apparently because it wasn't physical touch
and it wasn't an attack [3]. Once Voldemort had finished with the
process, however, and tried to possess the baby, he had a very
unpleasant surprise. He could not make himself reside in a body so
full of something he did not understand. In extreme pain and
frustration he went back to his own body. There was nothing to it but
exterminating the baby who now had all his powers. In his anger he
didn't stop to think. Pointing his wand to the baby's brow he shouted:
"Avada Kedavra!"

Oops...

The incident in GH fulfilled one part of the prophecy – "and he would
mark him as his equal". But DD knew about Voldemort's immortality from
Snape, and he couldn't see how Harry will vanquish an immortal being
[4]. All he could do was preparing for Voldemort's return the best he
could and hope that a solution will somehow present itself.

In the meantime DD has arranged for an official pardon and a teacher
position for Snape in order to keep an eye on him. We know from
Harry's experience that when Voldy was vapor the mind link was much
weaker, and active only when Voldy was very near and extremely
emotional (as an aside, this theory also explains the minor mystery of
how DD knew what had transpired in GH and that Voldemort indeed lost
his body and powers: Snape felt Voldemort's presence was weakening on
the other side of the link, and maybe he had even received before that
some impression of what had happened). Since Snape would find it very
difficult to get any information from the link in such a situation,
and there was always the off chance that he might let slip a thought
and betray his presence to Voldemort, it is probable that he blocked
the link completely during these years. However, he probably has never
completely recovered from the mind abuse and remained a cold, lonely
and slightly sadistic person. He never liked much being a teacher
(except when he got the chance to torment the little idiots a bit),
but like DD he knew well that Voldemort will be back sooner or later,
and then Snape's only hope would be with DD. And he especially hated
Harry Potter, not just for being James' son, but mainly because Harry,
while winning all the glory, had escaped the terrible fate that Snape
had to endure, all thanks to a protection that Harry had done nothing
to earn and that Snape himself wasn't lucky to have.

In the meantime, Vapormort continued scheming. The debacle with the
Philosopher Stone had proved to him again (as if the rebounded AK
hadn't made this point obvious enough) that the power that the
prophecy foretold was the protection that young Potter got from his
mother's Ancient Magic. He also realized that the only way to get his
own powers back would be to return to his old body and, for the time
being, become mortal again [5]. But he was ready to degrade himself
that much only if by doing this he would also gain that power of the
Ancient Magic protection in Harry's blood [6]. He would then be
mortal, but at least he would be protected from being killed by an AK
curse or by physical touch. In the graveyard he indeed achieved this
objective, but (as usual) he had overlooked one critical detail: if
Harry's blood in his veins has made Harry vulnerable to him (as he
indeed proved in the graveyard [7]), then by the same logic it also
makes him vulnerable to Harry. They both share the same blood and thus
are vulnerable to each other. And so Voldemort again fulfilled the
prophecy by his own actions: He is now mortal again, and only Harry
can kill him. Realizing this, Dumbledore could not hide the gleam of
triumph in his eyes. The situation was indeed dire, but for the first
time since that cold and wet night fifteen years ago, Dumbledore could
clearly see how the prophecy will come to pass.      



*************TBAY mode ON *************

"I think I get the basic theme," said Faith. "Voldemort repeatedly
tries to thwart the prophecy, and by his actions he actually fulfills
it. But if Harry is now vulnerable to Voldemort, how did he stop
Voldemort from possessing him at the MoM?"  

"Because Voldemort is wrong again," said Neri, "and the Ancient Magic
protection is NOT the-power-that-the-Dark-Lord-knows-not. Or rather, I
suspect that it IS the same power, only not from the same source. The
Ancient Magic protection came from Lily's sacrifice, but the power
that Harry found in the MoM is something that comes from himself, from
his risking his life for Sirius and for his friends, and from his
willingness to die if he takes Voldemort with him" 

"So do you think that the Ancient Magic protection is still active,
and Voldemort is now protected against anyone but Harry?" Asked Faith.

"I'm not sure if this is indeed so, but I think that DD at least
believes it, since he didn't try to kill Voldy in the MoM."

"Hmm," said Faith doubtfully.

"What? WHAT?" asked Neri. "It all fits."

"Well, it does seem to," admitted Faith, "but it also suggests that in
the end Harry will have to kill Voldemort with an AK or something,
because none other can do it, and since Voldy is now mortal again. The
problem is that, being the goody-goody girl that I am, I strongly
believe that JKR won't make Harry a killer."

"Oh, THAT one," said Neri in a carefully nonchalant tone. "I have a
solution for that too".

"You DO?"

Neri smiled mysteriously and deactivated TBAY mode with a double-tap
on his wand.  

*************TBAY mode OFF *************
          


My theory does not necessarily predict that Harry will have to off
Voldemort with an AK or a sniper rifle. The theory asserts that
sharing blood indeed makes Voldemort and Harry vulnerable to each
other. But there's another person that Voldemort shares blood with,
and therefore is vulnerable to. I strongly suspect that Voldemort was
never a fan of muggle theater, or he would be familiar with a certain
play named "The Merchant of Venice", and remember that a pound of
flesh, such as a severed hand, contains more than several drops of
blood. I thus won't be surprised at all if at the Moment Of Truth in
Book 7, when Harry's life will be hanged by a thread, Wormtail will
step forward, wrap his silver hand around Voldemort's neck, and
squeeze. After all, the classic stab-in-the-back IS an occupational
hazard of being an evil overlord.



*************TBAY mode ON *************

"Not bad at all," said Faith appreciatively. "A bit FEATHERBOA-style
there, but it does have a certain simplicity to it. But you don't
suggest that Peter is `the one', do you?" 

"No, but I agree with many members who think he might be `the hand',"
said Neri. "He might be the one to deliver the coup de grâce, but he
certainly doesn't have the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. This will
be Harry, and he'll need all the help he can get."

Neri double-tapped his wand again... 

*************TBAY mode OFF ************* 



According to this theory, when DD said to Snape at the end of GoF "you
know what I must ask of you... if you are prepared?" and Snape
answered "I am" and swept out of the room, he didn't went to Lucius or
Voldemort. He went to his office, locked the door, and for the first
time after fourteen years opened his mind to the mind of the Dark
Lord. He must have discovered something during the next several weeks,
because he had made several reports to the Order by the time Harry
arrived to 12GP. And of course, DD choosing Snape, of all people, to
teach Harry Occlumency seems much less crazy in this light. Snape had
indeed proven his ability to block a mind link to Voldemort. Still, I
think that this idea was DD's grave mistake. He should have realized
that Harry would never adjust to Snape's style of dealing with the
link. Harry needed to learn how to repel Voldemort with his heart, not
with his mind. 

But Harry might get some help from an unexpected direction. What comes
next is pure speculation and I don't have any canon to support it, but
if there are indeed two people with a mind link to the Dark Lord
around, well then, why not THREE? After all, when JKR sprang the
unregistered Animagi on us she also did it in quantities. Now lets
see: Several months after GH, Bellatrix et al had attacked the
Longbottoms. Why? Bella's story that they were trying to locate Voldy
has always sounded fishy to me. Why would the Longbottoms know where
Voldy is? Could this attack be Voldemort trying a desperate, last
minute save? Since he couldn't reach the first child anymore, why not
try the second? He could not perform the mind link spell now, since he
was vapor, but perhaps he could possess Bella and teach her to do it
for him. But again, something must have happened to foil the plan.
Perhaps the Aurors have arrived before the actual possessing could
take place. So maybe Neville too has a mind link to Voldemort, but as
a baby he received a very powerful treatment in order to block it, a
treatment that also had messed up his memory. Could this be the secret
that his parents are trying to convey to him? As I've wrote, this is
pure speculation, but I find the idea of Harry, Snape and Neville
having to cooperate in launching a three-prong mind attack on
Voldemort in Book 7 quite attractive. 
    
**************TO BE CONTINUED***************


Notes and canon
---------------

[1] (GoF, Ch. 30):
Dumbledore had gotten to his feet.
"I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly.
"Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side
before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at great
personal risk" 

[2] PoA CH. 10:
Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not
many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after
them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against
You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him
off, and he alerted James and Lily at once"

[3] This must be true in any theory. Voldemort powers did get into
Harry's mind despite the protection. It appears the protection is only
activated by a direct attack. 

[4](SS/PS, Ch. 17)
"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back,
isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"
"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps
looking for another body to share 
 not being truly alive, he cannot
be killed.

I always thought he can't be killed because he's vapor, but after
JKR's two quqestions it seems he can't be killed because he's immortal.

[5] GoF. Ch. 33: "But I was willing to embrace mortal life again,
before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower
 I would settle for
my old body back again, and my old strength."

[6] GoF. Ch. 33:  "But the blood of a foe
 Wormtail would have had me
use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me

as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was
to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I
wanted Harry Potters blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had
stripped me of power thirteen years ago
 for the lingering protection
his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too
"

[7] GoF. Ch. 33:  "His mother left upon him the traces other
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.