The Gleam - Joy/Pain of Love - was(...ways of destroying a man . . )

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 126154


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" <drednort at a...>
wrote:

> Shaun:
> 
> Actually, the 'gleam' has always seemed rather straightforward ...
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> Voldemort seeks to take Harry's protection - and he succeeds. But
> because ...that protection was love, and ... Voldemort could not 
> ... 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 


bboyminn:

We have a strange combination of paradox and irony brewing here. Love
in and of itself, independant of this particular story, is a strangely
 twisted emotion. Nothing has the power to bring you joy, and nothing
has the power to bring you pain, like love; no greater joy, no greater
pain. 

As so neatly works into Shaun idea, love is both a protection and a
vulnerability, both in general, and specifically and especially
relative to this story. To dare to love makes you vulnerable, and to
realize love, brings you a sense of safety and security, if not in
reality, then at least the feelings.

I agree with Shaun to some extent. Voldemort is/was/can_be a little
shortsighted. He saw only power and protection in Harry's blood. But
in taking that blood, he has introduced a vulnerability. I'm with you
up to that point, but what that vulnerability can be I think is still
a great mystery. An even greater mystery is how it will all play out
in the story.

You say that because Voldemort now has Harry's /loving/ blood in him
he unwittingly has the capability to comprehend or understand love. I
think it is more likely that he can't or doesn't understand it any
better now than he ever did nor will he ever, BUT he now has the
capability to experience it.

Many great intellects, great thinkers and philosophers have the
capability to ponder the nature of love and come to an intellectual
understanding of it. Yet sadly many of them don't have the capability
to experience it. They live in their minds, not their hearts. It is in
experiencing love that you come to see the magnitude of it's power.
The extent of it's ability to create and destroy; the great giver of
joy and/or pain.

So, the only ammendment to what you said that I would make, is that
Voldemort's downfall will not come from an understanding of love, but
somehow from experiencing it. Ironically, for Voldemort, that will
probably not be a pleasant experience with a pleasant outcome.

So, I think the solution will come in the heart, not the mind. But
what that resolution will be, how it will play out, I don't have a
clue. The heartwrenching sight of a fallen comrade? Sudden compassion
for a worthy adversary? A sudden realization of the horrible emotional
emptiness his life and choices have created? The sudden swelling of
emotion upon expriencing the compassion and mercy extended by an
enemy? Sudden compassion for all his victims? ...???

Only time, God, and JKR know for sure.

I think Voldemort's /gleam/ followed by great weariness, reflect the
very conflict we are all having. He realized that Voldemort has
introduced into himself both a protection and an unforeseen
vulnerability. I think that much is clear, and we, or most, can agree
on that. But, much like myself, Dumbledore realizes what a complex
emotion love is, and is just as baffled as we are in trying to figure
out how this vulnerability will manifest itself, or how he can use it
to his advantage. 

Also, more as a side note, notice that both Sirius and Dumbledore
react in the extreme as soon as they hear Voldemort used Harry's
blood. This is before Harry has had a chance to explain why his blood
was taken. So, there has to be some great significant to just the use
of blood itself. 

The information about the transferred protection, the /gleam/, and
realization of vulnerability all come after the initial strong
reaction to blood being used. In that sense, we are really seeing two
reactions here, one initially to the general use of blood, and a later
one to the specific use of Harry's blood for a specific purpose.
Although, I have no idea as to what the initial general reaction
meant. Perhaps it is no more than a general reaction based in knowing
that human blood is only used in the darkest of magic.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn