Chamber of Horcruxes

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 162954

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kenneth Clark" <kennclark at ...> wrote:
>
> > Carol earlier:
> > > > [Dumbledore couldn't understand Parseltongue] much less speak it
> > or he'd have been able to find and open the chamber. Not being
> > Slytherin's true Heir, he couldn't do it.
> > > > <snip>
> > >
> > > Mike:
> > > OK, I can't resist <eg> If only Slytherin's heir can open the
> > > chamber, how did Harry do it? Ginny could do it because she had a
> > > piece of Riddle's soul possessing her, meaning the soul of Riddle
> > > identified him as the heir of Slytherin. Did Harry have something
> in
> > > him that would also identify him as the heir of Slytherin,
> thereby
> > > allowing him to open the chamber?>
> 
> Ken says:
> 
> Surely the simplest answer and probably the most obvious is that
> Harry IS Slytherin's heir!  We have spent a lot of time and effort
> trying to justify his ability to open the Chamber of Secrets on the
> basis of his assimilation of some of Voldemort's powers.  But the
> Chamber is a seriously magical "thing".  No one or nothing else has
> confused Voldemort with Harry so why should the Chamber have done
> so?  No, it is more likely that Harry is indeed an heir - perhaps
> THIS is why Voldemort identified the infant Harry as his nemesis
> instead of  Neville?
> 
> Kenneth Clark

Geoff:
The following quote is from JKR's website. I would interpret this as a 
negation of Kenneth's suggestion....

<quote>
Section: Rumours

Voldemort is Harry's real father/grandfather/close relative of some 
description

No, no, no, no, no. You lot have been watching much too much Star Wars. James is 
DEFINITELY Harry's father. Doesn't everybody Harry meets say 'you look just like your 
father'? And hasn't Dumbledore already told Harry that Voldemort is the last surviving 
descendent of Salazar Slytherin? Just to clarify - this means that Harry is NOT a 
descendent of Salazar Slytherin.
</quote>