Comments | kate_nepveu: A random HP thought

kate_nepveu

A random HP thought

Jul 17, 2005 10:29

This is appallingly spoilery; be warned.

( minor thought on a major spoiler )

harry potter, books, sff

Comments 33

cheshyre July 17 2005, 14:44:50 UTC

If Harry is a Horcrux (doesn't that sound almost Suessian) then why would Voldermort now want him dead/destroyed?

kate_nepveu July 17 2005, 14:54:39 UTC

Because of #2 & #3: V doesn't know he's a Horcrux.

cheshyre July 17 2005, 15:00:21 UTC

How does that make sense with the prophesy?
"Neither can live while the other survives"

What happens when a horcrux is destroyed? Is that bit of soul lost forever, diminishing Lord V? Or is it returned to V, meaning that by the end Harry could be facing a very human Tom once more?

kate_nepveu July 17 2005, 15:04:28 UTC

Page 503: "That seventh piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to kill Voldemort must attack--the piece that lives in his body."

Page 507: "'Does V. know when a Horcrux is destroyed, sir? Can he feel it?' Harry asked . . . ."
"A very interesting question, Harry. I believe not. I believe that V. is now so immersed in evil, and these crucial parts of himself have been detached for so long, he does not feel as we do."

Page 507-08: "Without his Horcruxes, V. will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul."

Thread 6

richboye July 17 2005, 14:46:25 UTC

I'll admit that I thought the exact same thing, but decided against it, because that would mean that in killing Harry, as Voldemort desries to do, he'd be destroying part of his own soul.

Also, I doubt one can create one accidentally.

I've been hashing out the etymology of the word - 'crux,' I get, but what allusion is she striving for with the 'hor' prefix?

richboye July 17 2005, 14:51:33 UTC

Re: the "hor" prefix. Perhaps "outside of" as in the French "hors de combat"? A soul fragment outside of one's self? Just a thought.

MA

corruptedjasper July 17 2005, 14:54:22 UTC

Hora, hour/time? Horae, the goddesses of the seasons? Horrendus/horribilis/other variations?

Ah, this one sounds promising: Horreum, warehouse/storage place.

I don't have a greek dictionary, but I think that one nails it. Although it's kind of weird to use 'crux' as bit-of-a-soul.

richboye July 17 2005, 15:01:11 UTC

'Horreum' seems to defintively be the source. 'Crux,' I think, is being used not because of any religious tones pertaining to the soul, more along the original origin as a 'necessary support' or 'essential' - crucial, for example.

Thread 8

corruptedjasper July 17 2005, 14:48:53 UTC

Neither can live while the other survives, though. If this theory was correct, it'd be closer to say Neither can live while the other dies.

On the other hand, since we haven't had any Voldemort point of views, we *don't know* that Voldemort knows this or not, so only your point 1 remains. I'll note that Draco was sent to kill Dumbledore, not Harry, and Snape apparently wasn't instructed to kill Harry off either, at least not as a priority.

kate_nepveu July 17 2005, 14:55:43 UTC

In books 4 & 5 V clearly tries to kill Harry, which means he must not know.

corruptedjasper July 17 2005, 15:03:25 UTC

Or he considers the risk acceptable, after all, he's got 5 others. And I'm not sure if you're supposed to be able to get your piece of soul back from a horcrux, but maybe when the horcrux is destroyed it just flutters in the air waiting to be shoved back into either its regular body or a new horcrux, and only dissipated if you don't do that. If that was the case, he might want Harry killed only when he is present himself, so he can recapture the bit of soul.

kate_nepveu July 17 2005, 15:06:44 UTC

I grant that nothing we know rules this out; it seems metaphysically inelegant to me, but that's not a substantive argument.

(I still think V. doesn't know.)

Thread 6

Also, and But... richboye July 17 2005, 15:04:10 UTC

I through this in over in rasfwrj, but I'll add it here as well.

"Voldemort's mother, who "betrayed" her pure legacy by marrying a muggle
was named Merope. As per the Encyclopedia Mythica, Merope was -

"A Greek mythological figure, Merope is one of the seven Pleiades,
daughters of Atlas and Pleione. The Pleiades were virgin companions of
Artemis. Merope lived on Chios, and was often pursued by Orion. Merope
did not love Orion and married a mortal, Sisyphus."
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/merope.html

That last sentence is a neat allusion, huh?"

sienamystic July 17 2005, 15:11:35 UTC

Part of the theory I've seen kicked around is that if Harry is a Horcrux, he's the Griffindor object. Which might throw the math off, or not work with the "accident" idea about him becoming one, but that's what I've seen in a few places.

kate_nepveu July 17 2005, 18:39:36 UTC

Yes, I can't see him deliberately being the Gryffindor object for the reasons I've stated here.

Harry being a horcrux sienamystic July 31 2005, 15:48:27 UTC

I think Harry being a horcrux is a verrryy possible theory. Either V. didn't know he put his horcrux, or he did it on purpose. I think he did it on purpose. Because then it would make him invincible to the prophecy. The prophecy that Harry would kill him. Harry can't kill V. until all the horcruxes are destroyed. So basically, Voldemort put a peice of himself in the person that was supposed to kill him. And he wouldn't care about killing Harry/horcrux, cause wouldn't he rather end the prophecy with one horcrux less. And who said he can't make new ones either. Maybe he'd rather lose one horcrux, after all, Dumbledore says V can't even feel it when he loses a horcrux ( ... )