Dumbledore's Drunken Dream Part 2

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 151173

the4bodingdawn:
> In the climax of Order of the Phonix, Voldemort fuses himself with
> Harry causing Harry unendurable pain.  Harry ends up hoping
> Dumbledore will kill them both to end the pain. In The Half Blood
> Prince, under the influence of the potion Dumbledore also seems to
> be experiencing unendurable pain . He also cries out for death to
> end the pain.  Voldemort has a history of infiltrating a victims
> entire being. I think the potion was his way of pouring himself
> into his victim.

Jen: Yes! I like this interpretation. I had some thoughts on the 
possession angle for the potion, too (post #140915):

"I noticed a thought on another forum how Riddle was attempting an
early form of possession with the two Muggle children in the cave
and that's why they couldn't remember what happened. This made sense
to me, Voldemort continually uses possession as a weapon and
survival skill throughout the series.

So I started wondering--could the potion in the cave have the
ability to weaken and then possess the person drinking it?
Possession would explain how Voldemort was able to keep the potion-
drinker "alive long enough to find out how they managed to penetrate
so far through his defenses, and most importantly of all, why they
were so intent upon emptying the basin." (chap. 26, p. 569,
Scholastic)

This might also explain some of the things Dumbledore said that
night. For instance: "I want to die! I want to die! Make it stop,
make it stop...KILL ME!" These statements echo Harry at the DOM when
possessed by Voldemort: "Let the pain stop, thought Harry. Let him
kill us...End it, Dumbledore..." (chap. 36, p. 816)

Now a potion being able to possess someone seems farfatched except
we have a precendent for it with the liquid-like substance of
memories found in a Pensieve and the memory in the diary possessing
Ginny.

To get to the point--could there be a possession protection on all
the Horcruxes?" (end of previous post)

Just for the record, one objection made to me was that the potion 
would then be the horcrux since that would be the only way Voldemort 
could possess someone like he did Ginny. I don't think that's a 
major barrier though, JKR just needs to supply the magical device to 
make it so <g>.

the4bodingdawn:
> Could it be that Voldemort knew Dumbledore felt a sense of
> responsiblity for all the evil things innocent people suffered at
> his hands? It was Dumbledore that sought out Tom Riddle and
> brought him into the wizarding world. He taught Tom at Hogwarts
> effectivly giving him all the tools he would need to become the 
> most powerful Dark Wizard. Dumbeldore never warned anyone as to
> what he knew Tom's true dark and sadistic nature to be.

Jen: I didn't get the feeling Dumbledore really blamed himself when 
he talked with Harry about Riddle's Hogwarts years. Despite his 
reservations about Riddle and the feeling he needed to watch him, 
nothing could ever be definitively tied to Riddle and his gang, or 
not enough for Dumbledore to convince all the people Riddle had 
charmed along the way. DD seemed to consider it similar to what he 
told Harry in POA about Pettigrew escaping: "the consequences of our 
actions are always so complicated, so diverse that predicting the 
future is very difficult business indeed." (chap. 22, p. 426, 
Scholastic) He didn't know then who Riddle would become.

the4bodingdawn: 
> Voldemort may have enjoyed the idea of Dumbledore willfully
> choosing to drink cup after cup -allowing himself to be held 
> hostage all or the hope of destroying his horcrux. He probably
> felt sure Dumbledore would never know he had six of them.

Jen: Voldemort was risking his diary by using it as a weapon--I 
wonder if he would risk two that way? Luring Dumbledore would 
definitely appeal to Voldemort, no disagreement there, I'm just 
wondering if that was too high a price even for LV to lose another 
horcrux when he doesn't want anyone to know about his horcruxes to 
begin with? 

the4bodingdawn:  
> I think the potion gave Voldemort full access to Dumbledore's mind
> and worst fears and perhaps made Dumbledore witness all the
> tourchers and murders of the men women and children who are now
> the inferi gaurding the horcrux. The 12 golblets full of potion
> were designed to allow Voldemort to mentally tourcher Dumbledore
> until he cried out for his own death. Voldemort had planned that
> he must drink a thirteenth goblet full of the of the icy water 
> which would call forth the wrath of the army of the dead and his
> own physical death.

Jen: I think the Inferi water was a back-up plan if the potion did 
not incapacitate the drinker to the point of passing out and dying 
before being able to leave the cave. If Harry had not accompanied DD 
and used Ennervate, it didn't look like Dumbledore was going to 
recover on his own. Just speculation there based on DD's comment 
that 'one alone could not have done it'. 

Back to what the potion was doing, though. Much as I love a 
possession potion, I'm leaning now toward the idea Dumbledore was 
remembering a time in his own life when he made a mistake that cost 
him people he loved. That's what it sounded like he was saying when 
pleading, 'it's my fault, hurt me instead!' More food for thought.

Jen R.