[HPforGrownups] LV can self-destruct (was Killing != Murder)

[Lenore]

No: HPFGUIDX 170926


Lenore here, emerging from deep lurkdom to respond to this thread,
as I think it may be the most crucial dilemma yet to be resolved.  I'm
still subject to being monitored by the elfses, so this post may be delayed
a bit...


>SSSusan:
> > "(I'm kidding of course, but there are folks who are so
> > adamant that Harry "can't" become a murderer, that this really
> > would be a fun way to avoid that little dilemma of how to kill
> > Moldy without someone intentionally murdering him.)"
>
>BAW:
> > For at least the ten thousandth time *not all killing is murder*.
>[snip]
>
>SSSusan:
>[snip]
>I feel similarly about Harry facing Voldemort.  While it would be
>*preferable* to me that Harry not have to kill the guy [I'd rather
>like him to self-destruct somehow],   [snip]


Lenore:
There is definitely a way in which Voldemort could self-destruct,
within the confines of the hints we have been given so far, and
one in which there is no dilemma whatever about having to kill.
I won't go into the so-called morality of killing here, since I cannot
see that as being at all relevant to the resolution.

We have the hint that love will be the key to ending Voldemort's
terror reign.  But we'll have to make much greater strides towards
understanding what this 'love' is all about (and it has nothing remotely
to do with boxes of chocolate et al) !!   Obviously, I do not know what
JKR has in mind, and I'm looking forward as much as anyone to the
denouement.

In genuine transformational alchemy, Love is an absolute; it has no
opposite in truth. Nothing can oppose it.  So what is it that allows
so many ills and conflicts in our so-called real world as well as in
the wizard world?  (Believe me, I am *not* interested in bringing up
religious beliefs in this thread.  I am speaking purely in terms of
how alchemical transformations can result.)

If you bring a bright light into a dark closet, there is no "battle"
between the light and the dark.  They are not true opposites.
The light does not kill or murder the darkness. The dark is overcome
simply because of what the nature of light IS.  The light and the dark
cannot coexist in the same place.  And that is the crux of it-- what we
perceive as opposites must be brought together in the same place.

Of course, the power of Love works with precisely the same
logic.  Perhaps the Room of Love is a "place" where only
Love exists, and Harry finally understands how to bring his own
greatest fear and hate (Voldemort) into that "place".  (I've put
that in quotes because the place is really a state of awareness,
not a spatial thing.)

Bart:
Harry's ALREADY killed Morty once, by destroying the diary.

Lenore:
He killed the memory-- the thought-- left of Morty Tom.  As a personal
example, in my DADA work in my everyday life, I have done something
similar.  For many years, I thought my mother was the most 'evil' person
I knew... now, all I can think of is appreciation for her courage and
strength and the good parts of her example.  I'm not saying this is what
Harry did with the diary.  I am saying it is possible to completely
expunge and release memories engendered by fears and hate.

SSSusan:
[snip] because it would be sort of like taking that one last bit of
innocence away from Harry.  I found that a very poignant statement.
Yeah.  It's going to be hard if it happens.

Lenore:
IMO, there is nothing more powerful than innocence, but in order
to use it one has to know one has it.  Hopefully, Harry will come
to know his innocence; and from there, the use of Love to overcome
will be 'a piece of cake'.  Up to this point, we have seen Harry stuck
in varying degrees of dualistic thinking and projection.  He hardly
ever distrusts his perceptions, even though they have let him down
numerous times (as has been pointed out, thanks Carol and others).

Lenore (hoping this approach to Voldemort's defeat will not seem
as far-fetched and esoteric to the list as she fears it may)