Horcruxes: Groundrules and Theories

[ongj87]

No: HPFGUIDX 136335

> John K:
> I could see Voldemort thinking this way, except... his actions 
made 
> it clear that he wasn't.  If he wanted to let Lily live, why did 
he 
> kill her?  If he wanted Harry to be his heir, why did he attack 
him?

Voldemort had to let Lily live because Lily wouldn't stand just 
standing by while letting Harry be turned into a horcrux.  She was 
gonna stop Voldemort or die trying.  So Voldemort had to get her out 
of the way, despite the fact the it wasn't really what he wanted.  
He idealized having an item from each of the founders, but of course 
he couldn't get that.  Sometimes even the Dark Lord can't get what 
he wants.  But oh well, he's good at compromising.

I don't think he ever really intended to kill Harry that fateful 
night.  It might have been interpreted as such by everyone who 
didn't know otherwise.  I think Dumbledore, James, and Lily might 
have been the only ones to know Voldemort's true intentions.  

As for why Voldemort continually tries to kill Harry, although I am 
not certain, I have a theory:

In the fifth book, Dumbledore used a little silver instrument that 
produced smoke in chapter 22.  As he was reading the smoke tendrils, 
he murmured, "But in essence divided?"

I believe that when Voldemort set out to make Harry one of his 
horcuxes, he believed that the portion of his soul he was instilling 
into Harry would merge with Harry.  

But what Dumbledore gathered from the smoke tendrils is that the 
soul piece in Harry is divided from Harry's soul.  And we all know 
that Harry, though he has his similarities, is very different at 
heart from Voldemort (as Dumbledore has pointed out a million and 
one times, as Harry has the ability 'to love').  

And so I think Voldemort has been trying to kill Harry with the 
intention of recovering the horcrux in Harry.  I don't know if this 
is possible, but it doesn't seem to unfeasible to me.

> John K:
> Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow, because of the prophecy, to 
kill 
> Harry.  It doesn't make sense for him to store his soul in Harry 
for 
> safekeeping, then to promptly kill him.  And the books are pretty 
> clear that Voldemort did try to kill Harry.  I would be pretty 
> alarmed if JKR said "ha ha!  I know I told you repeatedly that the 
> failed curse was Avada Kedavra, but it wasn't!"  I don't see it.

True, I think because of the prophecy he was driven to pay a visit 
to Godric's Hollow.  But as I said before, it was not to kill 
Harry.  I think Voldemort did his research on the two children that 
qualified to be his arch rival in the prophecy (Harry and Neville) 
and found a very long line of wizards behind each of them.  I think, 
putting the rivalry of Slytherin and Gryffindor together with the 
prophecy together, he concluded that the one to be his equal and 
rival would obviously be the heir to Gryffindor.  I think he either 
confirmed or at least thought that Harry was the one (since he does 
come from Godric's Hollow), and went after him.  As the prophecy 
said, it was said that this child would have the power to vanquish 
the dark lord.  By making this child one of his own at birth, he 
would have:

1. Ended the Gryffindor line, and won a point for Slytherin in the 
process.
2. Earned himself an heir.
3. Gotten rid of his rival
4. Gained a powerful weapon, one who had the power to vanquish 
himself and yet was completely under his control.  As Dumbledore 
said, Nagini is very much under the control of Voldemort because she 
is one of his horcruxes.

> Besides, we know the last chapter, already written, summarizes the 
> future lives of the characters.  Why write such a thing in a book 
> about Harry Potter if he dies?

You and I may be one of few people who think Harry won't die.  I 
wholly agree that Harry will not die.  I think it is perfectly 
possible that if he does have a horcrux in him, he can remove it 
without killing himself.  And I think Dumbledore has planned this, 
the clues possibly in that mysterious pensieve of his.

Happy to debate this further with you and anyone else.

ongj87