Harry living or dying at the end ( again) WAS: Re: Harrycrux and possession

[lucianam73]

No: HPFGUIDX 142550

Sherry:
> I don't have access to my braille books now, so I can't find the 
reference,
> but doesn't the first book say that Harry's name has been written 
down since
> he was born?  Aren't we told that whenever a magical child is 
born, it's
> name gets written in a special book in Hogwarts?  If I'm right, 
then it's
> obvious that Harry was born with magic, that not all of his powers 
come from
> his connection with Voldemort.  In fact, I believe Dumbledore says 
that
> *some* of Harry's powers come from Voldemort.
> 

Yes, I remember the special book (parchment) too. JKR mentioned it 
in a interview:

'In Hogwarts there's a magical quill which detects the birth of a 
magical child, and writes his or her name down in a large parchment 
book. Every year Professor McGonagall checks the book, and sends 
owls to the people who are turning 11.' 

But I suppose the quill, being a magical object, would behave just 
like the Goblet of Fire. The goblet wasn't able to reason or 
remember there were only 3 schools competing, and that allowed Barty 
Jr. to fool him. Well, the quill's job is to detect the birth of a 
magical child. That quill being at Hogwarts, I don't suppose it has 
access to delivery rooms all over Britain so it could see if the 
baby is magical; it's more likely the quill's been bewitched to 
sense a new magical person 'showing up' in the world. Similarly to 
underage magic performed in a household: nobody actually goes there 
and see who's done it, the magic is 'sensed' and they know there's 
an underage wizard there, so they add two and two.

What I mean is the quill could have been fooled when Voldemort gave 
Harry powers. Supposing Harry was born a squib (ouch!!), he had not 
been detected by the quill until then; but when he got his scar the 
quill automatically sensed a magical baby had 'shown up' and wrote 
his name down. Of course there's a major problem with this idea 
(besides Harry being a squib): why did Harry get his letter when he 
was 11 and not when he was 12, then, if his register happened 
approximately one year after his birth? Unfortunately (I don't like 
a squib!Harry scenario) I can think a possibility.

The quill's to blame again: upon detecting Harry as a magical baby, 
by default it could have done exactly what it was supposed to do: it 
registered his birth. So the quill didn't write down Harry's name as 
being born on the night Voldemort attacked, but a few lines up in 
that big roll of parchment, on Harry's real birthday. Obviously the 
difference between the dates would have made sense to a person, but 
perhaps it didn't matter to quill.

In her website JKR also said, in the FAQ section, that every child 
who shows signs of magic before the age of 11 automatically gains a 
place at Hogwarts. I don't know why she didn't mention the quill 
again (that inteview was given in 2000). Maybe it's a flint? Or is 
she allowing for the possibility of the quill no being infallible?

Lucianam