'Clue to his vulnerability' / Harry's powers

[Judy]

Neri said:
> The words of the prophecy are: "and the Dark Lord will mark him as 
> his equal, but he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not". 
> This "but" doesn't sound to me as if the power-the-Dark-Lord-knows-
> not is what makes Harry equal to Voldy. The *mark* is what makes 
> them equal, and the PTDLNN sounds like an extra, something that 
> makes them *different*. 

I see your point, but I have to say that the prophecy is ambiguous.  
(As any good prophecy is!)  Does the prophecy mean Voldemort made 
Harry his equal in evil powers, but Harry also has another power 
(love) that makes him, overall, *superior* in power to Voldemort?  Or 
is it that all of Harry's powers put together (including love) are 
equal to all of Voldemort's powers? 

I like the idea that, even with the power of love, Harry is only 
Voldemort's equal, not his superior, because that means Harry will 
probably need help to finish Voldemort off.  And, given how the story 
is going, at least some of that help will have to come from my 
favorite character, Snape. 

I said:
> > It seems to me that Dumbledore is saying Harry is uniquely  
> > equipped with the *psychological* tools -- not necessarily the 
> > magical tools --  to defeat Voldemort.... 

And Neri replied:
> All this is true, yet psychological tools don't extend very well to 
> cover "uniquely deadly weapons", and having insight into someone's 
> mind isn't usually described as being his "equal".

Well, in the Potterverse, psychological tools may well 
equal "uniquely deadly weapons."  After all, it was Lily's love for 
Harry, not any special magical powers of hers, that tore Voldemort 
from his body in the first place and stopped Quirrelmort.  

Whether having insight into Voldemort's mind will make Harry 
Voldemort's equal depends on just how useful that insight proves to 
be.  If it enables Harry to find the horcruxes, for example, it could 
make Voldemort mortal again.

I understand that you are taking the word "equal" to mean "having 
equal magical abilities" but that isn't necessarily the only 
interpretation.  In the context of the prophecy, "equal" could mean 
instead that Harry and Voldemort each have an equal chance of being 
the victorious one in their battle, taking into consideration Harry's 
ability to love, his understanding of Voldemort, etc. 

> Neri:
> As you say, the last time Voldy tried to recruit Harry was in Book 
> 1, and it doesn't seem probable that he'll try this one again, or  
> if he will, that Harry is in any danger of being tempted by it. So 
> why is Love so crucial now? From what temptations must it guard 
> Harry in Book 7?   

It's possible that Harry's ability to love has already done it's 
work, and won't play an active role.  It's possible that his ability 
to love will allow him to make the ultimate sacrifice (although I 
hope he doesn't have to!) There may be something more prosaic -- like 
rescuing Ginny again.  It could serve a number of roles, really.

I said:
> > He really didn't do well in the fight with Snape 
> > at the end of Book 6. Even before that, Snape described Harry  
> > (with some exaggeration, no doubt) as "mediocre to the last 
> > degree." "He had no extraordinary talent at all.  He has fought 
> > his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination 
> > of luck and more talented friends."
> > I fully expect that, in Book 7, Snape will prove to be one of 
> > those "talented friends" who help Harry out of tight corners...
  
Neri:
> Thus proving Snape's claim that Harry is mediocre to the last 
> degree? I doubt it. Snape was the one who scorned Harry for being 
> unable to use the Unforgivables, while Dumbledore told him that his 
> greatest power comes from never being seduced by the Dark Arts. My 
> bet is on Dumbledore to prove correct in this specific dispute. 

I don't actually think Harry is mediocre  -- I said Snape was 
exaggerating.  (Whether Snape belives Harry is mediocre, or was just 
pretending to for Bella's benefit, is an open question.) But, there 
is no question that Harry seems to have amazing luck, and I expect 
that same "luck" will help him in the final battle. However, I don't 
see it as luck -- it is destiny. 

Sure, Dumbledore is no doubt correct in his statement that Harry's 
greatest power comes from never being seduced by the Dark Arts, but 
what does that mean?  You seem to be saying it means Harry has some 
other, non-Dark power that no one else has.  I tend to think not. 


I wrote:
> > So far, we really haven't seen much evidence of Harry as 
> > uber-wizard.  

and Neri said:
> But of course we haven't. That would indeed make Harry a very 
> boring character, the predictable Superman/Spiderman type, and we 
> would all know what to expect from the final battle. No, these
> powers must 
> remain shrouded in mystery, like Snape's motivations, always hinted 
> at but never explicitly described until the climax. We do know, 
> however, that Harry has a mind connection with an uber-wizard, and 
> he has already demonstrated the ability to use a power of this  
> wizard, and Dumbledore explains in his last talk that this very 
> ability is what makes Harry so dangerous to Voldy, and all this 
> potential must somehow prove itself in the climax of Book 7 or I 
> understand nothing about tension building.

But all along, the books have suggested that magic power isn't really 
what matters.  Dumbledore is far, far more magically powerful than 
Harry, yet he isn't the one who can defeat Voldemort.  The whole idea 
of infant Harry coming out of his first battle with Voldemort intact, 
while Voldemort is ripped from his body, seems to emphasize the idea 
that magical power isn't the most important thing.  If it turns out 
that Harry needs some sort of extreme power to defeat Voldemort, 
something out of proportion to Harry's previous abilities, I'll be 
disappointed.  

It may be that there is nothing in the books to resolve this dispute, 
Neri.  Really, it depends on what sort of hero JKR *wants* Harry to 
be.  We'll just have to wait and see.

-- Judy