Harry not a Horcrux

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 161175


> Neri:
<snip>
> I don't remember anyone suggesting something quite like this, and 
I think it could work. But I also think that if JKR wants to make 
Harry carry a Voldy soul bit, she has simpler options.
 
Dungrollin:
Yes, that's true, but if she went with the simplest explanations for 
everything, the end result would be rather disjointed, there ought 
to be a few explanations which give us answers to several questions 
at once. Since I've never found a satisfying (to me) explanation of 
why he didn't just AK lily on the spot, nor for the transferred 
powers (except Harry!crux, of which this is a variant) I like 
combining them both at the same time.


Neri:
> Currently I tend to Snow's version, according to which no Horcrux 
> encasing spell, intended or unintended, took place in GH at all. I 
> think this is probably the simplest solution. According to this 
> version, when Voldemort lost his body, his soul piece that was 
ripped because of Lily's murder simply drifted and entered the body 
of baby Harry via the open gash on his forehead. 

Dungrollin:
Hmmm... (she says unconvincedly)

Neri:
<snip>
This version would also give JKR a 
> complete freedom in plotting Book 7, because she can decide if 
such a soul bit would act as a Horcrux or not, and whether it's 
removable and how, according to what she plans for Harry.

Dungrollin:
She's pretty much got that anyway, given how little (and how late) 
she's told us about Horcruxes. 


Neri:
<snip>
Nobody can tell her that the creation of an unintentional Horcrux 
(or the unintended transfer of a soul bit without an encasing spell) 
could or couldn't happen at GH. If she wants it to happen then it 
happened. So the minor technical difficulties here are not very 
important, although it can be fun (or annoying, depends) to try 
working them out ourselves. 

Dungrollin:
Hear hear!

Neri:
The really important questions about the Horcrux!Harry theory is: Is 
it thematic? Does it explain the current mysteries? Does it make for 
a good story and a good resolution of the series? To all these my 
personal answer is a resounding YES, so I'm not worried about the 
mechanics of it more than I'm worried about the mechanics of the 
Stone in the Mirror of Erised.
> 
Dungrollin:
Is there any other elegant explanation for the transferred powers 
other than horcrux-harry? It's a resounding YES for me too, and 
though I'm prepared to be wrong, I think it would be a shame and a 
waste of a good idea. However, since opponents of the idea seem to 
be hooked on the mechanics of it, insisting that you can't create a 
Horcrux accidentally, when it occurred to me that there might be a 
good reason for not killing Lily hidden in there somewhere (if he 
knew his next victim would create a Horcrux) I thought it was worth 
entering into the minutae.

Neri:
> What I do like about Snow's version is that it suggests that the 
> Voldy soul bit isn't really stuck inside Harry. There was no 
encasing spell. So the soul bit stays inside Harry because it 
*wants* to be there. 

Dungrollin:
Actually, I think that works similarly with my version too, I only 
suppose that you need a spell to make an inanimate object (something 
that's not used to carrying a soul) into a horcrux, a living human 
being like baby!Harry would naturally be 'sticky', and not need any 
glue.

Neri:
<snip>
It would explain why the soul bit doesn't appear to cause Harry any 
harm. On the contrary, it appears to help Harry. It seems to have 
told Harry how to destroy the Diary Horcrux. 
> But the main reason I like it is the thematic reason: it means 
that for Harry the key is to find Tom inside himself.
> 
> Also, remember JKR promised us that we'll find out what was the 
> terrible thing that Dudley remembered when he was attacked by the 
> dementors? My guess is that little Dudley once pushed little Harry 
> too far and was horribly punished by the soul bit. Which is 
probably how Harry is going to find out in Book 7. Or maybe Petunia 
will let out that when Harry was little he had an imaginary friend 
named Tom... 
> 
Dungrollin:
Oooh, I like that! No argument from me there. I'll certainly 
dissapointed if book 7 is lighter in tone than GoF, OotP and HBP, 
(except perhaps the ending - that could be forgiven for being quite 
cheerful) and Harry!crux, in almost any of its flavours would do the 
trick nicely for me.

Dung