Repost of KITTENS & RAINBOWS, part II

[mightymaus75]

No: HPFGUIDX 128477

And then there is Voldemort. Voldemort does not understand love. 
Voldemort himself does not feel love. And when Voldemort experiences 
the love of others he actually feels physical pain. As demonstrated 
in PS/SS when Quirrellmort could not touch Harry. And again in OotP 
when Voldemort could not bear to be inside Harry's body. Voldemort in 
his quest for everlasting life has lost the most important part of 
being alive. Without the ability to feel love I don't think Voldemort 
can be truly alive.

In this second post I will try to show that Voldemort is not truly 
alive. For that we have to go back to the end of PS/SS.


*Not being truly alive, he cannot be killed* 
We know that Voldemort was not truly alive at the end of PS/SS 
because Dumbledore told Harry Voldemort was not truly alive:

"He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to 
share... not being truly alive, he cannot be killed." – [PS/SS]

Dumbledore could have been referring to three things. Dumbledore 
could have been referring to Voldemort's vapor state. But then it was 
because he couldn't be killed that Voldemort became a vapor in the 
first place, not the other way around. Dumbledore could have been 
referring to Voldemort's state of cursed half-life caused by drinking 
unicorn blood. Unicorn blood however doesn't seem to keep you 
permanently from dying. It certainly didn't prevent Professor 
Quirrell from dying. So perhaps what Dumbledore was referring to were 
the steps Voldemort had taken long ago to guard himself against 
death. These steps then have made it impossible to kill Voldemort by 
making Voldemort no longer truly alive. And these steps have made 
Voldemort no longer truly alive by making Voldemort lose the most 
important part of being alive. This would mean Voldemort already was 
not truly alive the night he showed up in Godric's Hollow, and he 
still is not truly alive at the end of OotP.


*For neither can live while the other survives*
This has some interesting consequences, especially if we consider the 
prophecy which states: 

"... for neither can live while the other survives." – [OotP] 

Harry seems to think this means one of them will have to kill the 
other. When he asks Dumbledore if that is what it means Dumbledore 
simply answers 'yes'. Dumbledore as always is right of course - In 
part that is what it means, but that is not all it means. Bear with 
me while I indulge in a bit of sentence deconstruction. 

'Neither' meaning 'not one and not the other', this bit of sentence 
can be broken down into: 

Voldemort cannot live while Harry survives 

                   AND 

Harry cannot live while Voldemort survives.

It's important to note that both statements have to be true. Now the 
tricky part; the meaning of the word 'while'. In this context 'while' 
can either mean 'when on the other hand' or 'as long as', giving us 
the following possible combinations: 

A) Voldemort cannot live when on the other hand Harry survives 

                   AND 

Harry cannot live when on the other hand Voldemort survives.

B) Voldemort cannot live as long as Harry survives 

                   AND 

Harry cannot live as long as Voldemort survives.

C) Voldemort cannot live when on the other hand Harry survives 

                   AND 

Harry cannot live as long as Voldemort survives.

D) Voldemort cannot live as long as Harry survives 

                   AND 

Harry cannot live when on the other hand Voldemort survives.

The first combination seems to be nonsensical, it would mean that 
both Harry and Voldemort cannot live and both Harry and Voldemort 
survive, all at the same time. Which leaves combinations B, C and D. 
At least one of them and perhaps even both cannot live 'as long as' 
the other survives. Since both Harry and Voldemort at present clearly 
seem to be surviving, this would mean that at least one of them is 
not truly alive at the moment.(4)

So is the prophecy referring to the fact that Voldemort literally is 
not truly alive? If it is then it is only when Voldemort kills Harry 
that he can become truly alive again, and at the same time can be 
killed again.


*Summary*
Dumbledore is saying Voldemort cannot be killed until he becomes 
truly alive. The prophecy is saying Voldemort cannot become truly 
alive until Harry dies. There can only be one possible outcome: 
Voldemort will kill Harry. 

-Maus





(4) Of course this could also mean that at least one of them is 
figuratively not truly alive. Harry certainly has reason to 
figuratively not be truly alive. While Voldemort is out there killing 
the ones he loves and threatening to take over Harry's mind, Harry 
will never be able to live a normal life. Voldemort however does not 
seem to have any reason to figuratively not be truly alive. Nothing 
is stopping him from abandoning this whole world 
domination/immortality thing, moving to a nice warm tropical island, 
and making loads of money of a best selling autobiography 
entitled 'How I became the Dark Lord'. He could certainly use the 
tan.