The Stone and the Diary

[Barry Arrowsmith]

Surfacing briefly - the last 4 days having been spent mesmerised by
the 2nd Ashes Test and the 3rd starts on Thursday. All out of
fingernails, too - chewed down to the knuckles - and Old Trafford
is usually a spinner's dream - could get hairy.

I'm not very impressed with DD in the Horcrux chapter. Some of his  
explanations leave a lot to be desired - particularly regarding the  
Stone and the Diary. Now, is Jo getting clunky or is this a bit of  
obfuscation?

Stone first.
Voldy is immortal, or as near as makes no odds. He wouldn't rely on  
the Stone, according to DD,  something about hating having to rely on  
something/somebody apart from himself - hence his squirreling away of  
bits of himself in various knick-knacks. Yet when blasted he has  
enormous difficulty forming a body, he's lost most of his powers -  
despite his cunning plan of soul-splitting for safety. Yet the Stone  
wouldn't give him a body, nor would it increase his powers, he'd  
still be stuck in Quirrell. All that guff about "I see myself  
presenting the Stone to my Master" is just that - guff. Voldy would  
be no better off, it'd only extend his existence as it already is,  
unless it has effects we haven't been told about. Further, he was  
supping at unicorn fluids to keep alive, but isn't that the purpose  
of these Haircuts scattered hither and yon? Why not direct Quirrell  
to Malfoy Towers and get a refresher from the Diary or visit the old  
homestead and root the ring out? He didn't, so what's going on?

Possible explanations:

1. The splitting occurred post PS/SS - which conflicts with canon.

2. Each Hearsekiss is capable of independent development into a new  
Voldy, but not capable of resurrecting another soul fragment, nor the  
Voldy original if it gets zapped. If so, then the fragments are  
probably permanently separated. Immortality by cloning. The events in  
CoS tend to support this hypothesis.

3. The Horsecuts don't contain any powers apart from the tamper- 
proofing spells, just bits of soul. If this is the case they don't  
really need to be destroyed. Slinging 'em through the Veil should be  
quite enough.

4. His magic (or research) is over-rated.

5. DD is lying or up to his old tricks of indulging in mushroom  
management techniques.

6. Jo has dropped a bollock.


The Diary.
Notable for not being surrounded by a  Dark Magic obstacle course.
And why? According to DD it's so Voldy can boast about being the  
Heir. Don't see the point, myself. All he has to do is announce it  
and it becomes an ineluctable truth for the DEs, the wizard in the  
street isn't going to argue and a few like DD know it anyway. More to  
the point - Diary!Tom would make his appearance. What would Voldy do  
about that? All  those press interviews, explaining that "Yes, I am  
Tom and Tom is me but younger and waddya mean, can I prove it?"
All very tedious.

No; DD  slipped in a possibly very important observation during his  
whitterings re: the Diary: it can be used to open the Chamber. That  
seems to be its main function.  And we know from Jo that the Chamber  
will feature again before the end.

Only the Heir can open the Chamber - 'cept Harry, of course, just  
whisper a few Parseltongue phrases and he's in like Flynn. Mind you,  
if Harry's a Whorscrocks then he's got soul. Voldy's. Sitting  
somewhere between his ears. That'd do it.

A minor aside.
The Cave.
All together now. Give me an A, George.
"Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside,
Oh, I do like to be beside the sea,
Oh, I do like to stroll along the prom, prom, prom,
Where the brass band plays tiddly om pom pom."

Where is this Cave? 'Cos I seem to remember that the original draft  
of PS chap. 1 had GH exploding on an island off-shore. Still  
relevant, do you think? 'Cos if it is - could the locket have been  
dumped in the bird-bath by an associate after Voldy was discommoded  
by his Nemesis in nappies? That the whole set-up was intended for a  
Hossclox very different from the locket?

Kneasy