[HPforGrownups] Look of triumph in Dumbledore's eye

[Peggy Wilkins]

No: HPFGUIDX 155015

On 7/4/06, felix_quinn <felix_quinn at yahoo.com> wrote:
felix_quinn:
> Is there any popular theory regarding the look of triumph in
> Dumbledore's eyes at the end of GOF? <snip>
> I know most readers
> have noticed it, at the very least, and sometimes it is brought up
> for discussion, but isn't it possible that it might be absurdly
> important to the story, and we're overlooking a huge clue? I know
> that personally, when I read GOF for the first time, this bit was one
> that struck me, and bothered me for a long time after. I was
> terrified that somehow this meant that Dumbledore might be batting
> for the other team, so to speak, but luckily common sense prevailed,
> and with more revelations in OoTP, it's quite clear this wasn't even
> an option. So then, what does it mean?

Peggy W:
I have an interpretation that is boring but reasonable (so probably
not popular :) ... I think that when Dumbledore found out that
Voldemort had used Harry's blood in recreating his body--expecting
this to allow him to touch Harry--and (more importantly) that it had
succeeded, it was a sign to him of two important things:

-- That the experiment succeeded means that Voldemort correctly
understood what happened between himself and Harry at Godric's Hollow.

-- It confirmed Dumbledore's own ideas of what happened.

I think that the "happening" that it confirmed is that the failed
curse that never completed got "caught" between Harry and Voldemort.
This failed curse is energy that connects the two of them, making them
into a kind of two-point network.  When they touch, the circuit is
completed and this energy flows from Harry to Voldemort, destroying
Voldemort's body (as it originally did a Godric's Hollow, and as it
did when Harry touched Quirrellmort in PS/SS).  This energy is still
there; it is still active.  Voldemort was able to stop it from
destroying his body at Harry's touch by incorporating Harry's own
blood into his body (perhaps his body is now "recognized" as being
related to Harry's).  However, the energy itself remains, and they are
still connected.  Will there be a way to make it flow again, after
Voldemort is again mortal?  If so, the rebounded curse may eventually
complete its job.

Also, that Voldemort could touch Harry could mean that the prophecy is
closer to being fulfilled.  The prophecy says "one must die at the
hand of the other" and if that is read literally, then Harry and
Voldemort must engage one another physically.  (We already know they
can't engage one another with their current wands due to the Priori
Incantatem effect.)  If Voldemort can't touch Harry, as was the case
pre-GOF, then he would both avoid and immediately flee Harry's touch.
Now that he can touch Harry, he and Harry can have prolonged physical
contact, thus making possible one dying "at the hand" of the
other--however that is accomplished.

So to me, Dumbledore's triumphant gleam was about having his theories
confirmed, and realizing the way to a final confrontation is clear.

-- 
Peggy Wilkins
enlil65 at gmail.com