The Ring and the Hand - The Living and the Dead

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 142387

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kiricat4001" <zarleycat at s...>
wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at y...
> wrote:
> >
> > For a long time now I've been thinking that somehow the final 
> > battle ... would revolve around that Veiled Arch of Death in 
> > the Dept of Mysteries. ... for the final battle. 
> > 
> > <snip>
> 
> Steve:
> > .... Starting with Dumbledore and his 'dead' hand. ... the
> > Slytherin/Gaunt Ring. Now he has to release its soul-piece 
> > ... he takes it to the Dept of Mysteries, puts the ring on 
> > his hand, and sticks it thought the Veiled Archway. That
> > releases the soul-piece into the 'great beyond' ...
> 
> 
> Marianne:
> 
> Ummm.  Who gets the honor of putting the locket around their 
> neck and sticking their head beyond the veil? Couldn't the 
> actual horcrux simply be tossed through the veil?  ...
> 
> Marianne
>

bboyminn:

Well, I hadn't worked that part out when I posted, but I've given it
more thought and here is your answer.

Remember in the Dept of Mysteries when they first encounter the Veiled
Archway? Ron walks around it; it's an arch with a curtain in the front
and it's an arch with a curtain in the back. As Hermione points out
there is no 'in there' in there. No matter how you look at it, it's
never more than just an arch and a curtian. 

But, we know that when a living being passes through the Arch, they do
not simply come out on the other side; they pass into the 'great
beyond', into the spiritual realm. So, I speculate that the Veiled
Archway makes a distinction between inanimate objects and living things. 

For example, if Dumbledore had tossed the Ring into the Veil, it would
have simply fallen to the floor on the otherside. True the Ring does
contain a soul-piece, but the Ring itself is not alive. Only living
things can make the connection to the 'great beyond'. Common material
objects, on the other hand, don't make that connection.

So, the only way Dumbledore could make the connection to the spiritual
'great beyond' aspect of the Archway, and thereby release the trapped
soul-piece, was if the Ring passed into the Veil as part of a living
thing. 

Perhaps Dumbledore knew, guess, suspected, hoped that there was a
slight time delay that would give him the opportunity to pass his
living hand into the Veil, drop the Ring, and snatch his hand back
before the 'realm beyond the Veil' claimed him too. This could tie in
nicely with comments about Dumbledore's reactions times and reflexes
not being what they once were. If Dumbledore has been a young man, he
may have been able to respond faster, or being naturally farther from
death as a young man, the Veil would not have been able to do the
damage it did to the old and closer-to-death Dumbledore.

Now if Harry is the last remaining Horcrux, then the only way to make
Voldemort completely mortal is if Harry takes all the material
Horcruxes through the Veil with him. He'll sacrifice himself, by
passing through the Veil with the Horcruxes. 

If Harry is not a Horcrux, then perhaps he will just push Voldemort
through the Veil while Voldemort possesses the Horcruxes. Although,
even if Harry is not a Horcrux, he could sacrifice himself by dragging
Voldemort and his Horcruxes through the Veil with him.

To the central point, only a living thing can access the spritual
realm aspect of the Veiled Archway. To all inanimate objects, it
nothing but a common arch and a curtain; any object thrown in, simply
fall to the floor on the other side. 

HEY! IT COULD HAPPEN!

...or not.

Steve/bboyminn