[HPforGrownups] Re: "other ways of destroying a man . . ." / The Gleam

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 126101

On 15 Mar 2005 at 12:44, dungrollin wrote:

> How about simply (and, alas, boringly) that: 
> Harry is protected when he is where his mother's blood dwells. 
> Harry, Petunia and Dudley are the only living people who share this 
> blood.  

Shaun:

Actually, the 'gleam' has always seemed rather straightforward to me - I don't know if I'm 
right, but I've never really had any doubt about what it meant.

"'Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is 
love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own 
mark. Not a scar, no visible sign... to have been loved so deeply, even though the 
person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. 
Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not 
touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so  
good.'" (PS, p.216).

It's quite clear and straightforward - Voldemort *cannot* understand love. And so it is 
agony for him to touch Harry.

"'He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's,' Harry 
told Dumbledore. "He said the protection my - my mother left in me - he'd have it too. 
And he was right - he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face.'  

For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in 
Dumbledore's eyes. But next second. Harry was sure he had imagined it, for when 
Dumbledore had returned to his seat behind the desk, he looked as old and weary as 
Harry had ever seen him.  

'Very well,' he said, sitting down again. 'Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. 
Harry, continue, please.'" (GoF - no page number as I am going off quote list).

Voldemort seeks to take Harry's protection - and he succeeds. But because we know 
that that protection was love, and we know the Voldemort could not stand to touch Harry 
because love flowed through his veins - it seems to me obvious that Voldemort has 
taken on more than he expected. Voldemort is now capable of comprehending love. 
He's probably not aware of it - and I'm sure he would disdain it. But now he understands 
it - and that means that it can be used to fight him.

And that is the reason for the gleam - because Dumbledore now knows that something 
about Voldemort has changed.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia