Hagrid, Eggs, and TT!Voldemort

[Unspeakable]

No: HPFGUIDX 165087

Hey Celia,

Just wanted to thank you for an intriguing and enjoyable post! It *is*
a wacky idea but inventive, plausible & difficult to disprove, IMHO.
(I'm also a fan of time turners, as you'll see from my site. In fact,
I believe there's a good chance that Voldemort acquired one during the
Battle of the Department of Mysteries if he had not done so earlier.)

Celia: I can give you a number of reasons why I think this will be
important- read the cited post above for my original theory, but in
short: it is a very strange word to select- "traveler"- which
indicates that this fact about the person was significant to both
Hagrid and Aragog's (it is Aragog who calls him/her a traveler- he
must have learned that from Hagrid). The word is in the book and the
movie (weird).

Cassy: Interesting ... here's the quote from the COS film: 

Aragog: The monster was born in the castle. I came from a distant
land, in the pocket of a traveler. 

To compare with the book:

 "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler
gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg." (COS15) 

I suppose it could just be filler ... but I agree it does feel like it
might be significant. On the one hand, JKR tells us more than we need
to know (couldn't Aragog have arrived in a crate of bananas or been
purchased from the pet shop?!) .... on the other, she refuses to
provide a full explanation  ("traveler" is mysterious in a way that
"merchant" is not, for example). It's also worth noting that
Acromantula eggs are defined as Class A Non-Tradeable Goods by the
Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, meaning
that severe penalties are attached to their importation or sale (FB).
So increasing the possibility that Hagrid's  'traveler' was a dark
wizard...

Celia: We know VM is thought to have been a world "traveler" during
his missing years. And Quirrell!Mort tries the same technique to get
Hagrid in trouble again in SS/PS, using a dragon egg to get info from
him instead (so had he done it before?). 

Cassy: That's a very good point, IMHO ... Harry has good reason to be
suspicious in PS/SS16. "Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry
without slowing down, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else
is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg
in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's
against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why
didn't I see it before?" Yet we are spun the same line in COS, without
the suggestion of foul play. Coincidence: or not?

Celia: Therefore, I propose that during the missing years of Tom's
transformation into VM, he time-turned into the past and WAS the
"traveler" who came to Hogwarts and gave Hagrid the egg, to help his
young self. 

Cassy: I like the fact that VM (like Shakespeare) had 'missing years'!
Also, this puts me in mind of Voldemort's words in GOF33: "I, who have
gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality.
You know my goal – to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it
appeared that one or more of my experiments worked ..." So the
Horcruxes weren't the only experiment, methinks? And a wizard who is
interested in immortality might well have considered time travel. 

Celia: I like the idea as well that an older and more corrupted VM
existed alongside the younger version of himself for a number of
years, possibly able to advise and guide his younger self towards
darker and darker magic (from behind a big hood or something <g>). 

Cassy: Ooh ... I find this very tempting. We're all interested in the
idea of Voldemort's possible mentor (I know Grindelwald is often cast
in this role) but Dumbledore tells us that VM has never had a friend,
nor has he ever wanted one. And this puts a different complexion on
the idea of 'self-taught'(!)... (btw, didn't JKR also describe
Dumbledore as mostly self-taught?).

You've made me want to re-read the books looking for more evidence of
TimeTurned!Voldemort.:-)

Cassy V.
(book7.co.uk: evidence-based synopsis)