[HPforGrownups] LV's survival

[Anita Hillin]

No: HPFGUIDX 112064



dcgmck <dolis5657 at yahoo.com> wrote:
akh: Perhaps DD is saying LV knows about this 
specific magic; in other words, his mother deliberately did not save her own life, thereby saving her son's.  LV may have a version of the same "ancient magic," and his mother's sacrifice is what has kept him 
alive.  

dcgmck:
Wow!  So you're suggesting that TR's mother laid a similar protective charm on her young son's life before she died?  But doesn't that mean that someone must have intentionally taken her life as well?  

[snip] 

I note that you say " a version" of the same ancient magic, but it does seem that sacrifice is an integral ingredient.  Please explain further.

akh in response: My theory is that she would choose to die, rather than return to her family and the wizarding world.  This choice to die could trigger the ancient magic, a related but somewhat different spell; for this one, it's not essential that she suffer a violent death, only an avoidable one.  We know the wizarding world has much more sophisticated means of healing, so staying in a muggle hospital would verge on suicidal.  Then again, suicide might be a part of this; many cultures accept either altruistic suicide, or suicide that preserves one's family's name.

I was thinking that Mrs. Riddle, being a descendant of Slytherin, would know better than to take her half-blood child back to her family.  They would not be supportive; in fact, they might "cleanse" the family of this embarrassment.  (Remember, their patriarch saw fit to breed a basilisk to eliminate the "lesser" elements at Hogwarts.)  However, she might be unwilling to launch her son into the MW unprotected, so she creates a protection around her that will be activated by her preventable death.

That's the plain vanilla version.  The chocolate swirls are that she might then leave a note, a la Dumbledore, explaining her sacrifice and the actions Tom needs to complete the protection (recall that Lily's sacrificial charm is complete only when Harry is taken in to dwell in the house of his mother's blood).  The orphanage, having no agenda as the Dursleys do, dutifully hand over the letter when Tom turns 11, and he discovers his heritage as well as the next steps to secure his protection.  This might be where he diverges; he discovers much more powerful magic at Hogwarts, and he eschews the ancient magic of his mother's protection.  Without the full protection, he is more vulnerable to AK than Harry, but he still carries his mother's sacrifice.

I realize only a smidgen of this can be backed with canon, but I do think it's no accident that Dumbledore tells Harry that LV knows ancient magic.

 

akh, who's very pleased with herself that she found a place to use "eschew"  


		
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