Dumbledore Heir theories (Re: More thoughts on the Cloak)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 158763

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
> I think the Gryffindor relic {LV}was after is the Sword of
> Gryffindor, which could only be obtained by killing Dumbledore. 
> (We know that James is not descended from Godric gryffindor, but
> JKR has said that we ought to be looking at Dumbledore's family,
> which, along with his owning Fawkes, leads me to believe that 
> *he's* the Heir of Gryffindor--and the owner of the cottage in
> Godric's Hollow.)

Jen: I agree that Dumbledore and Aberforth are the heirs of 
Gryffindor and that DD urged the Potters to go into hiding at his 
ancestral home, Godric's Hollow. For one thing, Fudge states in POA 
that LV could "search the village where James and Lily were staying 
for years and never find them."  He doesn't say where they were 
living, but staying. That indicates they were at a place other than 
their own home while using the Fidelius. Since Dumbledore had a hand 
in their protection, and wanted to be Secret Keeper, I find that to 
be compelling evidence he also recommended the place they should 
hide. 

Then, like you said, DD is in posession of the sword and the crimson-
and-gold Fawkes. Plus the griffin on the headmaster's door! There's 
no definitive canon that the objects belong to Dumbledore rather 
than the headmaster's office, but the clues start adding up. Another 
possible clue is that Dumbledore is the only one Voldemort ever 
feared. After HBP it's clear part of the reason is that Dumbledore 
knows who he *is*. Riddle can't hide behind Voldemort with DD. But I 
could also see the last heir of Slytherin feeling some disquiet 
around the last heir of Gryffindor since Godric came out on top the 
first time around.

But it won't matter if the Dumbledore brothers are the heirs unless 
it has Meaning for the story. So I'd say something magical will 
happen once the last Gryffindor heir and the last Slytherin heir are 
gone (bye-bye Aberforth, we hardly knew ya'). Maybe it won't be 
magic per se, not like in a fairy tale anyway, but more symbolic in 
the sense that the WW can start to heal the wound of the initial 
split between Godric and Salazar. A modern-day take on the legend of 
the grail and the Fisher King in a way? I wouldn't mind seeing the 
house elves enchantment be lifted as a result, either. Heh. 

I think we're in a minority though, Carol. Most people seem to think 
JKR squashed all the Gryffindor Heir theories in the TLC/MN 
interview, when after detailing Harry's extended family, Melissa 
said: "That sort of shuts down Heir of Gryffindor [theories], as 
well." And JKR responded: [Pause.] "Yeah. Well - yeah."

A pause and a "Well--yeah"? That's not good enough for me! You can 
almost hear her saying, "yeah. Well, for Harry, yeah." That's what I 
hear anyway. :)

Jen R., who will continue to speculate happily right up until the 
time her favorite theories are dispelled by Book 7.