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Why did Dumbledore have James' cloak?

by David Haber

On a new post on her official web site, J.K. Rowling admitted she made a mistake in New York when she was asked, what question have you never been asked that you ought to have been asked? She now says the question should have been, Why did Dumbledore have James' invisibility cloak at the time of James' death, given that Dumbledore could make himself invisible without a cloak?

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Reader Comments: (Page 68)

Ryan: Yes, it does imply that. From the dictionary:

: -- the ing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree ), and by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree ).

Depending on what side you're on, ing in war is not . If you in a war when you're trying to defeat a country because you want their land or their money, that could be considered . But if you are fighting in war to DEFEND your country and your people, that is NOT .

Posted by Dave Haber from Los angeles on July 3, 2007 2:19 PM

It can't be a Horcrux from James. Remember that someone with a Horcrux can't until the Horcrux is destroyed, and J.K. has confirmed that both James and Lily are .

Posted by Keith from Florida on July 3, 2007 4:51 PM

you are quite right keith.
but i still want to know whether a person who has a horcrux is ed by some means can take any form?
the night voldemort tried to harry was cursed it rebounded and he was vanquished. we did not know in which form he was living until the fourth book.
what if the same had happened to james? this doubt came to me because in the GOF during the duel between harry and voldemort, harry's parents appeared from voldemot's wand taking a fog form. and voldemort was in a baby form in the hand's of wormtail.

Posted by VIJAY from BANGALORE on July 5, 2007 12:04 AM

I personally think that when James "left it in Dumbledore's possession", that meant that Dumbledore was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak the night that Lily and James d. But in the 1st book Dumbledore does say that he can make himself invisible in other ways. So who knows?

Posted by ce from san jose, california on July 5, 2007 1:11 PM

Making a Horcrux is the darkest magic, it's so dark that the book called "Magick Moste Evile" wouldn't even talk about it, you have to be a dark wizard (or witch, yes, I mean Lily) to make one, I can speak with 100% certainty when I say Lily and James Potter were not evil or into dark magic, nor was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. I agree that Harry is a decentant of Godric Gryffindor and that the cloak probably at one time belonged to him, I do NOT however agree that it is a Gryffindor Horcrux because 1) I highly doubt that Gryffindor was evil (though for this one it's only about 95% sure), 2) if Horcruxes are a banned subject at Hogwarts, it's very hard to believe that one of the founders (well, atleast 3/4 of them, Slytherin, maybe) would make one, and 3) it's been about 1000 years since Gryffindor d, he probably would have figured out a way to get a body back by now, based on how hard it's supposed to be living as a piece of soul only, according to Voldemort, he would have given up (Voldemort said he remembered "only forcing myself sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist").

I think it's probably because Voldemort wanted the four house objects and that that was an object he could have used, so they gave it to Dumbledore in case Voldemort did find them. Lily was smart and one of slughorn's favorites, I don't think it's too wild of a thought to think that she figured out about Voldemort's Horcruxes too, or at least had her suspitions, when Dumbledore told her about the prophecy, he may have told them his own suspitions, and if Lily had suspitions too, they may have seemed more likely if they were the same as his. Since the Potters didn't need the cloak anymore and they did know there was a spy that may have told Voldemort there whereabouts, they may have given the cloak to Dumbledore to make sure it was impossible for Voldemort to make it into a Horcrux, but it wasn't already one.

Posted by anonymous on July 6, 2007 2:28 PM

im glad someone else spotted the fact that jk has not confirmed james's , because this goes along with my theory. To save their child, as they knew Voldemort was on his way, james and lily used the cloak to hide young harry, and lily gave james polyjuice potion to take the place of harry. I know its thin but i think when Voldemort cursed the pretend harry, james was effectivley ed, leaving him to grow up as a child and not knowing what went on before. This would answer a few questions (as the order would have known what had happened) like why snape hated him so much, why he could fly so good, why the cloak was RETURNED to him. And maybe its another answer to one must so the other may live? One last thing, what happened to the real harry hiding under the cloak? Maybe jk gave us a clue on the knights bus, "whats your name" stan asked, "Neville Longbottom" harry replied.

Posted by neil from cannock uk on July 7, 2007 02:30 AM

Neil from Cannock-
No offense, but your idea has a few points that don't quite make a lot of sense to me.

1. Although Lily and James knew Voldemort was after them, thay thought themselves completely safe thanks to the Fidelius Charm. Therefore they would not have time to prepare their elaborate plan.

2. Tell me if I'm wrong, but according to your theory it seems like you are saying that Neville in the books is actually the son of Lily and James, and that the Harry in the books is actually James. If there were three people in the house at the time, and two were ed, how is there both a Neville and a Harry now.

3. JK has confirmed James's many times over, both in the books and in several interviews.

Posted by Connor K from Rigby, ID on July 7, 2007 8:54 PM

What if Harry's mother tossed the invisibility cloak over Harry just before Voldemort entered the room? Voldemort s Harry's mother while she is trying to protect Harry. Voldemort states that he couldn't touch Harry so he performs the ing curse on Harry to make the horcrux out of the cloak (which I believe belonged to Griffindor). The curse rebounds and s Voldemort. Harry's dad who was ed by Voldemort with a slow ing spell takes Harry and the cloak to Dumbledore for safe keeping. So, Voldemort was trying to Harry and make the horcrux out of the cloak he accidentally made Harry a horcrux.

Posted by Tim from Anderson, SC. on July 8, 2007 08:57 AM

I doubt the cloak is a horcrux. We know that horcruxes are among the most evil dark magic. Would Dumbledore, knowing that, pass one on to Harry?
I do think it might make sense for the cloak to be a relic of Gryffindor. If so, the cloak might have more powers than we realized.
Another thought is that we all might be overthinking this just a little bit. James might have left the cloak in Dumbledore's possession just in case things went wrong. James wouldn't need it, because he thought that he was safe with the Fidelius Charm. He might have thought it would be a good precaution to give the cloak to Dumbledore, who would certainly have a good use for it.
This in itself wouldn't be a vital plot point, but it could indicate that James suspected he'd been betrayed. This could lead to ideas about who might have known this, and would have given James warning. I'm thinking of Snape here. Of course, I'm probably overthinking the precaution leads to Snape warning James of suspected betrayel thing, but I suppose that it's at least a possibility.

Posted by Lisa on July 8, 2007 4:06 PM

I also highly doubt that the cloak is a horcux for James or anyone else for that matter. To add to the comment that the cloak was still in James/Dumbledore's possession before we discovered Voldemort's interest in horcuxes, I doubt it was an heirloom from Godric Gryffindor. If Dumbledore doesn't need a cloak to become invisible, I doubt Godric Griffindor would have need to use one as well. Dumbledore also said the only known heirloom of his was the sword, and I doubt that even if it is an heirloom, that Voldemort knew it was one, hence he wouldn't feel the desire to use it.

As for it being a horcux for James or Dumbledore, I also seriously doubt it. In order to create a horcux, we know that one has to do something so horrible that it would tear the soul. I can't see James or Dumbledore using such dark means to create a way to live passed . Both Dumbledore and Nearly Headless Nick stated that wizards who are wise enough accept when it comes. Dumbledore definitely fits that category in my opinion, and I would assume that James, who d trying to protect Lily and Harry, would have been of the same line of thought.

As to my theories on the cloaks real significance, I have only one, admittedly weak reason. James knew Voldemort was coming for him and perhaps entrusted it to Dumbledore specifically to give to Harry in the hopes that he could use it to protect himself in the future.

Posted by Mike G from New Jersey on July 8, 2007 6:11 PM

I do not think that the cloak is a horcrux of James's or Godric Gryffindor's. In order to make a horcrux you have to someone and I don't think that Jame's or Godric would do that. They are supposed to be the good guys.

Posted by kat on July 9, 2007 10:04 AM

As appealing as the thought of Harry being the heir of Gryffindor, I see that as not very likely. Remember when Harry were to be selected by the hat? If he had such a relation to the house of Gryffindor, the hat would surely have placed him there, right away. It did not, however. It were seriously considering to put him in Slytherin.

Posted by Julia on July 9, 2007 10:19 AM

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