The Sword of Gryffindor

[Annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 182611

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Heather Rivera <tubazrcool at ...> 
wrote:
>
> Mike:
> <snip> And if DD suspected Harry!Crux, he would also know that 
Basilisk venom would destroy a 
> Horcrux. <snip>
> 
> tubazrcool responds:
> 
> Question (might have already been answered): If Basilisk venom 
destroys Horcruxes, correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the Horcrux 
inside Harry have been destroyed when the Basilisk fang penetrated 
his arm? He was awfully near death when Fawkes wept. Maybe DD had a 
suspicion about this and that's why he sent Fawkes and the Hat. That 
way if Harry was attacked, Fawkes would be able cure him and carry 
the persons in the CoS back up through the pipes (how else would they 
get back?). Ginny never went into the Chamber, the Basilisk just 
slithered up and down the pipes on its own. All this brings me to 
another point: If JKR knew that the Basilisk venom destroyed the 
Horcruxes, but allowed Harry to be wounded by a Basilisk via fang 
(=venom) and so destroy the one inside him, how far along had she 
thought about the Horcrux being the reason for Harry's connection and 
not just the scar?
> 
> tubazrcool, wondering whether JKR had fully thought out this 
scenario
>


Annemehr:

I didn't get into this in my last post (where it may have fit into 
the discussion of what if Harry had died before getting to the 
crucial moment of sacrifice in DH) because it leads off into tangents 
that weren't germane to my point, but there are several possibilities.

First of all, the Hx wasn't *inside* Harry, it *was* Harry.  So the 
simple answer is that the venom didn't destroy the Hx because 
Fawkes's healing tears stopped it.  I do note your point that Harry 
was "near death" at that moment, but it was clearly not meant to be 
the same type of Near Death Experience that he had in DH which 
actually did the job.

A corollary to Harry himself being a true Hx would be that he could 
only be destroyed (read "killed") by something powerful enough to 
destroy a Hx.  This might mean that Harry was never really in any 
danger except in the presence of the basilisk, Gryffindor's sword, 
and the fiendfyre.  And after all, JKR carefully arranged for Nagini 
to die by the right sword (though Harry didn't tell Neville anything 
but "kill the snake").

However, if we are to believe the Kings Cross scene in DH, Harry 
could have chosen to "go on" at that point, meaning that LV's *AK* 
could have killed him then.

This might lend credence to the viewpoint (which I believe Carol 
still espouses) that Harry was not technically a regular Hx, because 
no one ever did the spell to make him one.  Instead, he is some other 
undefined repository for a soul-bit which acts as a Hx, but can be 
destroyed by any means of death.

Or, one might argue that an AK *is* powerful enough to destroy a Hx, 
provided that the Hx is a living creature.  There's no way of knowing.

People's points of view on this will vary, I'm sure.  I don't think 
the details really matter, because in any event, the basilisk venom 
would have done the job in CoS, had Fawkes not intervened.

Annemehr