If Harry is NOT a Horcrux...

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 136615

Cindy wrote:
> Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard that ever lived, tells Harry
that the reason he is drinking the potion instead of Harry is that
Harry is MUCH more valuable.  
> 
> Yes, Voldemort transfered powers to Harry.  So far they have shown
up in experiencing Voldemort's thoughts & feelings; speaking 
> parseltongue; the ability to fight the Imperious Curse--I might be 
> missing a few other things but there doesn't seem to be anything
HUGE that makes Harry so valuable in defeating Voldemort. <snip>

> So what IS it that is so unique and VALUABLE about Harry? I just hate 
> to think that at the end of book 7, the OOTP, Ron, Hermione and Ginny 
> are all pointing their wands at Harry and Voldemort's final 
> confrontation, all with tears in their eyes as they have to destroy 
> Harry the Horcrux and then Voldemort.

Carol responds:
I'm equally puzzled by the idea that Harry's capacity to love exceeds
Dumbledore's. And I'm not in the least persuaded by the idea that
Harry could be an accidental Horcrux. As numerous posters have pointed
out (only to be ignored), a Horcrux is a deliberately chosen object
(preferably durable, valuable, and powerfully magical) into which a
dark wizard pours part of his soul through complex Dark magic that
involves much more than the soul-splitting caused by committing
murder. Murder is common in the WW. Horcruxes are not. Nor would
voldemort have wished the child he was trying to kill, his potential
rival, to be a Horcrux. He wanted Harry dead. Period.

What I don't think has been pointed out, however (and of course I
haven't read all 12 million posts), is that Harry's scar was not
caused by anything entering his body. The AK would have entered him as
it did his mother and father and every other AK victim, but thanks to
the ancient magic activated by Lily's sacrifice (which I hope was more
complex than it appears so far), the Avada Kedavra Curse burst OUT of
him. That's what caused the scar, which is still an open wound when
baby Harry is placed on the Dursleys' doorstep. The rebounding curse
hits Voldemort, ripping his soul from his body, with a resulting
explosion that destroys the house. Voldemort--and this is a crucial
point--retains what remains of his soul or he could not have survived
the encounter. But somehow in the destruction of his *body* some of
his powers (Parseltongue, a limited and unique version of Legilimency)
are passed to Harry. I like the analogy to shrapnel proposed by
another poster. Some of the shrapnel--let's say the ability to cast an
Unforgiveable Curse or create a Horcrux--falls harmlessly away from
Harry. But a few powers are passed to Harry, possibly through the
opening in his forehead, and enter his brain/mind--not his soul. 

Voldemort tells his Death Eaters in GoF that only one power remained
to him, that of possession, but this is not quite correct. His other
powers remained suspended because they required the use of a wand, but
they were not actually lost. And one other power that did not require
the use of a wand, Parseltongue, remained to him. This power, we know,
was transferred to Harry without being lost to Voldemort. Is it
possible that Harry also has the power of possession?

I can't see Harry using an Unforgiveable Curse, the weapon of the
Death Eaters, to kill Voldemort. We know (okay, we assume), that he
will (with help from other wizards) "kill" the remaining four
Horcruxes (Nagini, perhaps, using the Sword of Gryffindor). But what
if he destroys Voldemort, who could not endure to possess Harry in
OoP, by possessing him, literally killing him with Love?

What the consequences would be for Harry, I can't guess. But I
certainly like the idea better than "Harry the Horcrux," Harry the
cursed and evil object. That's unpalateable and, as far as I can see,
contrary to the canonical evidence we have so far on the nature of
Horcruxes.

Carol, who can't seem to get a response to any of her Snape posts and
hopes she'll have better luck with a different thread