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The power The Dark Lord knows not

by David Haber

It all comes down to this. The big difference between Voldemort and Harry. The only difference that's really important. It couldn't be more important to the climax of the Harry Potter Septology Mystery. And the reason we know it's important is because J.K. Rowling went out of her way to tell us about it, right out, in plain language, not couched in a riddle, in the very first Harry Potter book.

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Reader Comments: (Page 17)

Even the greatsest people can sometimes make mistakes and overlook things. and voldy seems to have overlooked Lilly's sacrifice. plus such a guy to consort in dark magic and do such teribble things and ignore the power of L.O.V.E instead of researching it.

Posted by Divi from U.A.E, Dubai on May 3, 2007 06:26 AM

Interesting thought. Harry beats Voldemort by loving him. The more I ponder about it, the more sense it makes. I mean, six books so far have taught me that doing magic isn't easy at all. Even the simplest of spells takes hours of training and study. Harry's only got one year left to beat Voldemort. How much can he learn in one year and that be enough? I mean, he be fighting the most powerful wizard the wizarding world has ever seen. The Dark Lord! Take in consideration the magic Dumbledore had to perform at the end of OOTP. Harry's got no chance whatsoever of beating Voldemort in a head-on battle.

And then there is love.

I had to react on this one, Elizabeth. First reaction on this thread... "Great article, pulling together all these threads about love. I think it may be pushing it to have Harry walk up to Voldemort and love him, but somehow it be Harry's capacity to love and to be loved that destroy Voldemort. After all, Luke Skywalker didn't have to love the Emperor!"

You're right, Luke didn't love the emperor, but it wasn't Luke who defeated the Emperor. It was his father Anakin, who did it out of love for his son. Also, Anakin was lured to the dark side because he loved Amidala and was afraid he might lose her. In the end, his fear of losing her made him her.
So love is a strong theme for both Star Wars and Harry Potter. Everyone expects a battle at the end. I think JK surprise us with an ending that no one saw coming. Love might just be it.

Posted by Teinz from Netherlands on May 3, 2007 06:49 AM

I agree Rafael Garcia, but Voldemort doesnt fear the dark, or he wouldnt be a dark wizard. What he fears is what might come out of the dark, an UNKNOWN force that can destroy him, as he is CONVINCED that Harry cant hurt him, which is why he wanted to keep him alive at the end of part 6 (Snape says Harry belongs to the Dark Lord).

But why does he fear corpses? A clever man such as Voldy MUST know that a corpse cant hurt him, and a fear is usually justified, like Harry's fear of Dementors, which can suck you're soul out through you're mouth, or can drain youre happiness.

Then again, it could be just how scary it looks. harry does say he was disturbed by the way the Dementors move, or take long, rattling breaths, and Ron says he doesnt like the way spiders move. Not to mention he had a bad experience with spiders when he was young.

Wait maybe thats it! Maybe Voldemort had a bad experience with corpses or the Dark when he was young! But what could that be?

So many possibilities...

Posted by Dante on May 3, 2007 08:00 AM

That is true. They are so many possibities, that we are all certainly wrong. But Im sure about one thing and I have to disagree with you: Voldemort is not convinced that Harry cant hurt him.
First, he knows Harry is protected by love.
Second, and as Dumbledore says:

"Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely ly weapons!"

Now, Voldemort's knows that there is only one guy that can defeat him. Harry is the one who can "rise against him and strike back".
And as far as he knows that,I think that Harry's is the most important thing to make him survive.

And one more thing, and a Very important clue that I found that supports my dumby theory.
When Dumbledore was talking to Harry about the prophecy, he said one very funny thing:

"Harry, Harry, only because Voldemort made a grave error, and acted on Professor Trelawney's words! If Voldemort had never ed your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate?"

If he had not FORCED your mother to for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate?

I wonder if Dumbledore had the intention to say that in the way I think he did...

Posted by Rafael Garcia from Oporto, Portugal on May 3, 2007 10:59 AM

I still thinking snape in some way loved lily. JKR has said he was loved, she won't tell who by. JKR has said snape was not under the invisibility cloak when the potter's were ed, she has not said, however, that snape was not there. Perhaps this is why she was offered a chance to live, maybe the choice was snape or harry. It would certainly explain some of the reason why harry is hated. In GOF V. refers to 3 of his servants, although we can only guess until book 7, I think snape is the one voldemort feared he'd lost. Why would he loose snape? Is it simply because, like the malfoys etc. he got on with life, or is there a lot more to the Potter's we don't know about? If snape is good, I think his love for lily somehow help harry.

Posted by mmc from sa on May 3, 2007 5:49 PM

Although I'm not an advocate of the "Snape loves Lily" theory, reading mmc's comment made a click go off.

"Stand aside, silly girl..."

Do we really know if this is Voldemort saying this? If Severus WAS there, perhaps it was HE who had tried to save he life, not Voldemort trying to spare it.

Posted by Monkeeshrines from Orlando, fl on May 4, 2007 09:36 AM

Voldemort thought he lost snape because snape was a big buddy of Dumbledore after his fall. (Maybe he really was, maybe not)
And I dont think Harry survived to the Avada Kedavra curse thanks to Snape. Moreover, I think that is already proved that it was Voldemort who tried to Harry.

Posted by Rafael Garcia from Oporto, Portugal on May 4, 2007 10:58 AM

I have been thinking of why Voldemort would have spared Lily, and after reading the most recent posts, I wonder if Snape and Lily were working together as spies. We discovered some unlikely attributes of James' character from Harry's sojourn into Snape's memory in the pensieve. We could just as easily learn more about Lily in book 7. James teased Snape, and was concerned with being popular, but when Snape was in true danger he put it all aside to save his life. To my understanding, Sirius was the instigator so James was not involved in the "prank" to send Snape after Lupin. James was not just saving himself when he saved Snape. I think a mature James and Lily could work with another member of the Order of the Phoenix, even if they disliked him. If Snape loved Lily while conspiring with her against Voldemort, so much the better for him. It would explain his still-standing resentment of James.
If Lily was posing as a Eater, I could see why Voldemort would not her as quickly as he ed James. I could even comprehend him discounting a mother's love for her child, remembering his lack of experience with such love.

Posted by Patty from Quincy MA on May 5, 2007 10:35 AM

Maybe Harry doesn't need to exactly love Voldemort...maybe he only needs to forgive him?

Posted by Andrea from Syracuse, NY on May 5, 2007 9:23 PM

mm, only if there is an argument that we are not aware of.
Dumbledore told Harry that he is very special because all he has been through, he can still love. And Dumbledore proves that saying that Harry hasnt become a dark wizard, but he hated it, as well as Voldemort, that showed Harry more than anybody its power.

"In the end, all that matters is love..."

Im getting tired of hear this phrase on series and movies, and everytime I hear this, I feel that it is somehow an answer to this history too, but I just cant prove how exactly.

Harry has the power to love, but in this history, who does he need to love to Voldemort?

Posted by Rafael Garcia from Oporto, Portugal on May 6, 2007 3:32 PM

As you all say, Voldemort is afraid of what is unknown to him. What is the most powerful thing that is unknown to him? , most probably. That is why Voldemort is so eager to be immortal, while Dumbledore accepts .

Now, I have a theory that explains why Voldemort wanted to spare Lily.

Remember that Voldemort wants to be immortal and as powerful as possible. For that, he needs a living soul and a living body, both bound to earth and connected. How does Voldemort's body look? Pretty old and damaged. In GoF, does he get a younger body, like Riddle's one in CoS? No, he recovers his old damaged body.

So, while his Horcruxes maintain his soul bound to earth, nothing prevent his body from getting older and older, weaker and weaker.

Voldemort is pretty much aware of that. He has no access to the sorcerer's stone and long-life elixir. His only chance of getting younger is to use someone else's body, transfer his soul, memories, and power inside this body, then go on living as someone else (cf The world of non-A by AE Van Vogt). In this theory, the scar is not at all accidental, but designed by Voldemort to be the gate through which his soul, memories and power get to Harry's body. Voldemort chose Harry to be his future. Harry and Voldemort are then connected: noone can live while the other one survives.

In doing that, Voldemort intends to transform Harry into someone mirroring the real Voldemort. Harry being a young child, Voldemort needs an accomplice to take care of Harry during childhood. That's why he asks Lily. He wants a real mother. Of course, Lily prefers to , than to raise a dark dictator. Voldemort can't understand that and fails.

Moreover, through her sacrifice, Lily gives Harry a love power, not an aggressive power, but enough to resist Voldemort's attacks.

In some way, Harry has become the mirror of Voldemort, but he has something more: love. Love is what prevents Harry from failing, what helps him to resist, because love is stronger than Voldemort's evil power. At the end, Voldemort need to take possession of Harry, but Harry resist and Voldemort be defeated.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on May 7, 2007 08:21 AM

Just a thought: one of the human needs is affection. It's part of what makes us human. No matter what Tom does to himself, no matter how much he mutilates his soul or his body, he is still human. Tom, who has never known love, has fooled himself into believing that he doesn't need it, that it'll do him no good. The grapes were probably sour anyway. He's afraid of what love can do to him because he does not know love (fears the unknown). If he were to feel love, it would destroy him as Voldemort, and leave nothing but a confused and vulnerable Tom Riddle. Maybe that's what he'd be afraid of, anyway. I don't think it's a question of someone loving him; people have and do and he abuses that. He would need to truly love something or someone other than himself (obviously).

Posted by Monkeeshrines from orlando fl on May 7, 2007 4:56 PM

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