Episode #49: Voldemort’s Downfall
Voldermort’s downfall was a long time coming. Despite his efforts to ensure his longevity, Voldemort’s overall approach to life almost guarunteed his defeat. By ignoring the signifcance of some very important “deeper magics,” Voldemort opened up a proverbial chink in his armor that ultimately led to his demise. In Chapter 35, King’s Cross, an etherieal Dumbledore sums it up nicely:
That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty and innoncence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. NOTHING. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.
In this week’s episode, we take a deeper look at the general and specific causes of Voldemort’s downfall, paying particular attention to Dumbledore’s assessment.
In the news:
- Daniel Radcliffe’s December Boys jump the gun and premiere on September 14.
- Equus may come to Broadway. In other news, the Kentucky Derby has been cancelled.
- Dumbledore makes Wizard of the Month on JKRowling.com. It’s about time he was recognized for all his hard work.
- Order of the Phoenix second most profitable Potter film. But still the worst book.
- Scholastic announces 40 schools of very lucky children. I think I can still pass as a sixth grader if I shave really close.
You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.
September 7th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Anoher tremendous episode. Penny has put a lot of work researching and composing Voldemort’s mistakes/weakness that caused his ultimate end. Exceelent points that support how the big V’s undoing was caused as much by himself than by Harry. Greg made a very profound point that I may have missed in previous discussion. Love/ grief as the tool which occlumacy needs to be effective as a shield. I recall reading about where or who had taught Snape but Greg saying it was his grief for Lily as Harry’s grief for Dobby finally allowed for a complete block.
Facinating subject Penny very well covered given the time constraints of a podcast. One thing I would add is a trait Harry shared with Voldemort. Stubborness. Harry’s signature spell is expelliarmus. Harry used this so much that it allowed him to be recognized during his escap from Lil’ Wingding. Voldemort used the same killing curse on Harry in spite of the fact that it hadn’t worked twice before. Kinda duh! Wasn’t he? In the end Harry did not kill Voldemort, he defeated him but expelliarmus is cool but not usually fatal. I just thought that was a good point to coinside with your take on V’s own personality flaws being responsible for his undoing.
Everyone has flaws (except for maybe Greg) But my personal feeling is that friendship and love easily nullify these if we let it. Everyones flaws/faults are different so when we interact in a relationship with trust, love and friendship these can be unimportant. An example would be how Greg was mistaken as somewhat arrogant and rude in early Progs episodes. Poor Penny was victimized , helpless, and down right subjigated.
Their love for the HP series and the friendships created thru prognosticating pretty much negated such flaws and has allowed for a a unique perspective on Harry Potter and life. In short they took this perception to heart and overcame it together. Voldemort had no friends or loves or intrest in them. Therfore his flaws were able to become his demise. Rather than grow from them he was destroyed and shown as the crying infant icky thing that never matured. Voldemort never knew friendship or love and I feel sorry for him! ( Had to put that cheesy movie quote in for Greg) Thanks guys Great episode! Gotta cook me some steaks!
September 7th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Looking forward to this one guys. I’ll be listening in a few minutes. Oh, and I don’t see why you guys don’t like book 5. It was actually my favorite one. The whole ending was just so epic and the rest did a good job leading up to it and really showed Harry’s personality.
September 7th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
AHHHHHHH!!!! My computer is messed up, so my comments are all over the place!!!! I HOPE this one ends up in the new episode blog!!! Those 4 (4!!!!!!) comments that were in ep. 48 were supposed to be in here!! Sorry for gumming up the blog! (I’m hitting myself on the head right now.)
September 8th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Andrew, until book 7, book 5 was my favorite too. I don’t get P and G’s dislike for it. I think it’s powerful and emotional - the end in D’s office made me bawl.
I love how Harry has all these things converging on him to make him an emotional wreck: puberty, tom’s excursions into his mind, being called crazy by everyone, UMBRIDGE, first love, nighmares about the horror in the cemetary, the Prophet, the ministry, etc. MEANWHILE, he’s expected to keep his emotions in check and be able to practice occlumency! A tall order.
I got my “Always” t-shirt today. My two roommates told me they liked it even though they had no idea what it means and I just told them they need to read HP to find out. It’s so off-the-wall and enigmatic to the non HP lovers lol. The only thing about the shirt I don’t like is that I prefer a lighter weight T-shirt a la American Apparel or similar. Maybe in the future you can offer a choice of different styles.
September 9th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I have to admit…P & G are not alone in their opinion - it’s my least favorite movie and book actually. I think a lot could have been avoided if ANYONE - Sirius, Remus, Arthur, Albus - ANYONE had simply told Harry at the beginning of the book - “Look Harry we need to talk - this is the deal. Let me tell you what’s at the Department of Mysteries”.
Whenever that’s the plot - that a lot could have been avoided by someone simply saying something- it takes something away.
I remember when I read it back when it first came out, I kept thinking “Harry, get over it”.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:11 am
Well, yes, a lot could have been avoided, but the same could be said for any of the books. If Harry and all the rest did what seems like the obviously right thing to do–talking to each other openly–then we wouldn’t have had much going on in the seven books.
I found the Occlumency lessons with Snape fascinating, to see the two of them forced into being together. When I read through those lessons now, I think that Snape was giving Harry big clues about his own past without meaning to, and of course, our rather obtuse 15 year old missed all of it. (That whole thing about fools who wear their hearts on their sleeves bit always sounded like Snape was speaking from painful personal experience, and apparently he was.) And as annoying as it was to read about Harry yelling at everyone, I really felt like it was high time he vented about the rotten hand life had dealt him; in some ways, it seemed over-due.
I agree with Kimba and Andrew–book 5 is/was my favorite; I think by the time I re-read book 7 one more time, it will take that top spot with 5 coming in second. And of the 5 movies, I like the fifth one the best. They all have cut things I think should have been included, but the 5th one felt like it retained the essence of the book, where some of the others just missed it, IMO.
That was a great podcast, Penny and Greg. I actually had noticed the same things, and I think there might be some more, but I’ll need to listen again so I don’t repeat things you already talked about. Rowling makes the point throughout the books that our choices matter and show who we are, and with Voldemort, his choices show that he is entirely self-absorbed, to the point that he doesn’t take anyone else’s feelings or abilities into account. His arrogance and pride lead to his downfall as much as his forgetfulness, concerning spells and old magic, etc.
Oh, and as for the Tale of the Three Brothers, I assumed that since he grew up in a Muggle orphanage, returned there during the summers and holidays, that he just never heard the story. It seems possible to me that the Elder Wand took on a reputation of its own, apart from the other hallows. I think you mentioned something about Voldemort not wanting to use the Resurrection Stone, but I doubt that he knew what it was. Marvolo only seemed to connect it to his ancestors, but he doesn’t seem to have known more about it either. As for Voldemort, if he did know what it was, it’s true that there isn’t anyone he’d have wanted to bring back, unless he used it to bring back Salazar Slytherin. If he’d known he could do that, wouldn’t he have tried that at least once? But since he hid the ring after he made it a Horcrux, I just think he didn’t know all of it’s powers.
Pat
September 10th, 2007 at 9:39 am
remember hermione didn’t know about the tale, either. and we know she reads EVERYTHING. great podcast this week, so organized and i can’t wait for them to come out each week.
i need to reread ootp again, after i see the movie one more time, then i’ll decide it final place in favs, right now its #3 on the list, just because i adore really big fat books. my favorite movie has been poa, minus talking head. that’s my 10 yo son’s favorite part, he does a great imitation.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Good comments. Makes me ponder lots of things I had not given a lot of notice to. Oddly I was thinking about stuff I was expecting to happen that didn’t. Ginny Weasleys role was a bit of a let down as she was still treated as a protected little girl. I had expected her to be much more powerful and downright lethal to the bad guys. Voldemort kinda waned at the end. He was whimpy and did not suffer nearly enough. May sound a little vindictive but I expected something a bit more painful and fitting than just bang your dead. Not much said about death eater casualtys either. Lots of dead good guys but no mention of the other side except at the end with Bellatrix and Voldemort. Guess maybe it would have been a bit much but things like a battle between Bill Lupin vs Greyback would have been cool. Nit picking probably as there was plenty of cool stuff like Neviell and the plants. Maybe I am just suffering from HP withdraw?
September 10th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Ok bad guys who kicked the bucket? Peter Pettegrew, Nagini, Bellatrix, Crabb in the fiend fire, and the big bad V. Was there any more? DId Voldemort get any of them when he found out about Gringotts? You guys are going to make me read this book again aren’t you?
September 10th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Aaron: Just in regards to V’s suffering, imagine his reaction had he known that was the be his final, inglorious end. Pretty fabulously pissed, I’d imagine.
Ok, back to contemplating mounds of homework.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Yes I suppose in the context of the book you could say his suffering really begins after his death. His greatest fear realized, his own defeat caused as much by himself as anyone. (as Penny pointed out so well) Figure he became that screaming mutant baby thing? Maybe his victims get to use him as a quaffle.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Good luck with the homework BTW. When you get a chance could you proof read my paper on why muggles use electricity?
September 10th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
While listening to the podcast I kept on thinking what a complete idiot Voldemort was through the entire Harry Potter saga. But then I remembered a very telling line from the first book that came from Hagrid when he was discussing Voldemort’s first downfall with Harry, He says, “Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion, Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.” (Uk edition, p.46) For me, this relates to another dose of wisdom Dumbledore doles out about Voldemort’s failings in Half-blood Prince where he says, “I do not think he understands why, Harry, but he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole.” (Uk edition, p.478). So I think in his quest to attain power he single handedly destroyed his own sense of humanity which left him woefully unprepared to understand its fundamental laws of morality and reponsibility. I mean, Voldemort didn’t even suspect that Snape might be a bit vengeful for killing a woman he asked him personally to spare in the quest to destroy Harry Potter. This is a glaring mistake on Voldy’s part because it was so glaringly obvious, but again, love and loyalty are simply things he can no longer comprehends which is what allowed Snape to carry out his work of undermining his power wherever he could. In essense, like Harry Potter, Voldemort created his own worst enemy in Snape because of lack of insight into the human soul.
I also liked the talk on children’s tales. The fact of the matter is that in most cultures, fairy and folk tales form a large part of a child’s early moral education. A lot of of us grew up hearing tales like “The Tortoise and the Hare” from Aesop’s Fables or things like Cinderella (as Hermione mentions in DH) by the Brother’s Grimm which was really our first introduction into the ways of the outside world. This is hugely important in that Voldemort never grew up with someone to nurture and guide him on the right path- I think Dumbledore tried to assist in this respect when he first encountered Tom in the orphanage, but I think by that time the child that would become Lord Voldemort had already created his own world view. When I was reading DH I kinda chuckled a bit when Rowling introduced the Tale of the three brothers, because I think in a way Rowling was putting out a wink and a nod to herself in the sense that the kind of stories that she has been creating on the surface may seem like child’s play, but offers a decidedly deeper wisdom with some fundamental truths to explore.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Yeah, um. Not unless you’re deeply curious as to the more violent ends electricity can be put to, LOL.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
New here, just wanted to say GREAT discussions, I’ll have to go back and catch the early ones too. I really look forward to your podcasts now that I have found you. Finally, a satisfying indepth look at the books. I am constantly amazed as the discussions accept the actions of fictional characters as real events and then wonder at how it all came out of JKR’s imagination and her organization of all the details and themes. Looking forward to episode 50!
September 10th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Getting back to some of what people were saying about Order of the Phoenix, it isn’t one of my favourites in the series, but it has a lot to commend. I think Rowling did a great job with mapping out Sirius’ past and final trajectory in the story and Harry’s growing link with Voldemort, but I felt that the middle section at Hogwarts really lagged. It is a small complaint, but momentum is an important storytelling dynamic and it was a bit off in Book 5. Rowling tells one hell of a story though and I think she ultimately did a great job on the book despite some of its problems.
As for the movies, I am still a sucker for PoA directed by Cuaron… I love the atmosphere he created in that movie, it was so evocative of the book.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
I haven’t yet had a chance to finish the podcast so can’t comment on Voldemort yet but I did want to say about book 5 that it was also my least favourite, but I did go back and read a few scenes after book 7 and think I might actually enjoy reading it again. It was the only HP book that I could happily put down in between chapters. I did even have to start it a couple of times before I could even get going on it.
I did re read it before the movie but was kind of distracted by DH coming out. The Snape/Harry scenes now make so much more sense. I still have a problem though, I feel like the book was just a vehicle for her story rather than having a story itself. It got her from Book 4 to Book 6 but left so many things unanswered. The whole Department of Mysteries was a huge let down, it offered so much and yet delivered nothing apart from Sirius’s death.
I do wonder whether she has a whole other series up her sleeve revolving around the Dept of Mysteries.
PoA will probably always be my favourite, DH is very close on its heels.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:36 am
ootp has so much exposition in it, and is, in my opinion, the slowest book. I know exposition is necessary, but honestly, they don’t even get to Hogwarts until a third of the way through the book. I absolutly love the Deathly Hallows, but its pretty far down on the list. Its maybe second last. Goblet of Fire is at the bottom. Hated the movie, only kind of liked the book.
September 11th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Kimba, how can you say that book 5 is your fav??? I really didn’t like it, Harry was doing idiotic things in this book, and he had absolutly NO control on his temper. : P I agree with G and P. But I think we can all agree on the fact that book 7 was the best.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I loved OotP. Still do. It starts off slowly, but I love the DA and Umbrige resistance. It’s also has the most direct examples of Dumbledore’s supremely awsome power.
September 11th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Just some quick thoughts:
Loyalty - Neville shouting Dumbledore’s Army when all looks lost
Innocence - Luna Lovegood
Innocence - Harry hearing from Dumbledore that he must sacrifice himself and not even thinking twice about it (even though he now knows that Dumbledore can be manipulative)
September 11th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
A have a quick question? Did we actually learn anything more about why some become ghost and other choose to go on to the next adventure? I am still perplexed by this. Was it because the soul chose not to go on or was there more to it? If it is a choice then it would seem Voldemort would surely become a ghost with his fear of death and all. The bloody baron was a killer of the Gray Lady. I dunno could be a cool possibility. Less than the meanest ghost.
September 11th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Michal……Oh my!
September 11th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Aaron– well, I am a little busy
September 11th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
First of all, I want to welcome all the new commenters- keep the comments coming- we love them (and when I am not feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the discussion of the comments sometimes I even respond!).
Just to clarify- I may be changing my mind on OoTP. Now that all 7 books are out and I am really able to make an informed decision I am not sure. I re-read OoTP before the movie came out and I found myself enjoying it more than I had in the past. One of these days I am going to force myself to sit down and really decide what my book ranking will be. Good times. But I will say I agree with Mizz Andy. I really wish we had learned more about the department of mysteries/veil in DH. Maybe Jo will write about them in some future charity work?
Shimon- good call. I agree with you on all of those. I especially like the Neville loyalty one. I can not wait to discuss Neville in all of his awesomeness on a future episode!!
September 11th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
If we are picking favorites. I like HBP the best. This was the first time I felt like something was being revealed. Horecruxes and a real interaction between Harry and Dumbledore. It gave us just enough to really want to prognosticate about the final book! Seemed so far away at the time and now it seemed to come too quick. Funny
September 12th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Shimon: there’s a whole lot to Luna and the Lovegoods that I want to get into, I just need some time to do a bit more research. I’m thinking that the theme of Book 7 might not be Love or Death as I had orginally thought…but rather Faith.
By the way, is Luna and the Lovegoods the name of a wizard rock band? If not, I’m officially staking my claim to it. Penny and I are going to release some old-timey harmony folk songs in the spirit of O Brother Where Art Thou? Our first single will be called, “I Am a Man of Constant Expelliarmus.” That actually sounds a little gross.
September 12th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Greg that was a comment I can relate too!
September 12th, 2007 at 9:43 am
I think our band should be called Harry and the Prognosticators.
September 12th, 2007 at 9:53 am
I’m new here as well. I have listened to all your casts, GREAT JOB!!!!!
Loyaty was huge at the end of book 7. The entire school (except Syltherins) the Order, Dumbledores Army decided to fight just to give Harry the time he needed to complete his task. After Harry’s “death” and the stuff Voldy spewed about him. They still didn’t stop. Wizards, House Elves, Centaurs renewed the fight showing loyalty and respect for Harry.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
I have to say that I would love more background info. on the Lovegoods. The whole time I was reading about Xenophilius in DH, I kept on thinking that perhaps the reason he was intrigued by the Deathly Hallows had a lot to do with his dead wife and perhaps his efforts to bring her back. Its just a thought, but I definitely feel that his interest in the Deathly Hallows informs his character and it makes the Hallows such a great literary device as it reveals some important tidbits into the past and motivations of a lot of characters in the series.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Ginny, I said it was my favorite until DH - now it’s my second. I think it had the most emotion (and not just Harry’s anger) of all but the last books. Yes, Harry was angry but his anger made sense. I vaguely remember puberty and emotions and anger were part of it and I didn’t even have to deal with an evil wizard taking over my thoughts! Or Umbridge! lol
I like how the movie handled it as well. In the scene when Harry sees Tom at King’s Cross, Tom makes a gesture with his head. Sort of rolling his head like getting a kink out of his neck. Whenever Harry was blowing up at somebody he made that same gesture. It was pretty subtle but clever. Even though more was probably cut from this book than any other in the movie, I thought it captured the essense of the story best. The more I watch the first two movies the less I like them. Yes, they get most of the book plots in there but Harry is this flat charicature of the wide-eyed innocent orphan. Blech. Harry is a good guy but he has an edge and he’s a bit of a smart-ass, sarcastic punk. That’s why I like him.
Ok - I rambled. lol
September 14th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
“Our first single will be called, “I Am a Man of Constant Expelliarmus.” That actually sounds a little gross.”
HA HA HA HA HA! That’s fantastic!
September 17th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Sorry I’m commenting so late. I’ve been kinda busy lately.
To add to your excellent podcast on an excellent topic: One aspect of Voldy’s not understanding loyalty that I saw was in the way he mistreated his followers. He thought he had their unending loyalty, and therefore saw no problem in torturing them and threatening their lives. The way he treated the Malfoys, by not appreciating Narcissa’s love for her only son, led to losing the Malfoys’ loyalty to him, which led to Narcissa’s lie in the forest, to the duel, to his death.
Another aspect of his not understanding love was in his attempt to AK Harry at the end. Voldy’s AK curse had never worked on Harry. He experienced that twice. Once it led to the end of his life, salvaged only through the Horcruxes. And the second time it was entirely unsuccessful. Why on earth did he think the AK would work in the Great Hall? Because even if he understood by that time that Love had prevented him from succeeding, he only understood it as a shield, a shield that given enough force, would break, like in a Star Trek episode (”Captain, shields are at 30%. They won’t hold much longer!”) He didn’t get that it was in a different class altogether. And that of course was the AK that rebounded and killed him.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Aaron, I would guess that we’ve already got all the information about why some become ghosts and some “go on” when Nearly Headless Nick explained it to Harry. Nick chose to be a ghost because he was afraid of what waited for him in the after-life. The Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady, we found out had done some things in their life that made them afraid to go on, but I’m curious what the Fat Friar did–he always seemed jolly and happy, but going by what Nick said, he also must have been afraid of what he would find in his after-life.
As for Voldemort, he wouldn’t have wanted to become a ghost either. There would be no power that he could weild as a ghost. He ultimately feared death and thought that the only way to be as powerful as he envisioned himself was to live forever. Beating death was his goal, not living a life that would ensure that he had any kind of satisfactory chance at happiness in the complete cycle of life.
I like Greg’s comment that Deathly Hallows is more about faith than about death. I think it’s really a combination of the two. We see all the characters and how they do or do not have faith–in themselves, in each other, and in what will happen if and when they die. Harry and Luna are the ones who have the most faith that they will once again be with loved ones after death; for Harry that is cemented in his walk in the Forest and his talk with Dumbledore at King’s Cross; for Luna, she’s had that faith since early childhood.
But Voldemort only has faith in himself and fears anything beyond what he can control. He doesn’t seem to understand or accept that there is something waiting for him beyond this life. If he did, it would indicate that he does have a conscience that acknowledges the horror of all that he has done, and as we have seen, he has no remorse, even when Harry tries to tell him what awaits him in his present state.
Raffy, I like your points about loyalty and Voldemort’s complete disregard for his followers. It seems a very good example of any tyrant and how they view and treat their followers.
Pat
October 8th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Great job, Penny!
February 14th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I’m new here
I cried nonstop through book 7. I couldn’t help it. Even the happy parts were so….so….beautiful, and that hit me with more sobs. I think what was best was the simplicity in parts. Sure, it was an adventure, with mysteries tripping us up along the way, but at heart the books are about love, and friendship, and loyalty. That’s probably why Dumbledore’s death shook me to the core. I mean, he seems to stand for EVERYTHING…and then he’s gone…just gone. But no, he’ll never be gone, not as long as people stand up for what’s right. At any rate, he needed to die, so he wouldn’t be a crutch for Harry. But still…
A marvelous adventure in book 7 was watching Harry’s friend’s loyalty. The world needs a few more Rons and Hermiones. Or “Hermys”, as I like to say lol
I don’t like Voldy-Moldy, but I he’s not my least-favorite character. No, my least favorite characters happen to be Rita, Auntie Muriel, and that Queen of Toads…Umbridge. They represent something more than just Ultimate Evil. They represent…….oh, I can’t even find the word for their cruelty. Lies? Nah, not strong enough. I don’t know, but sometimes I wonder who the real villians are.
Speaking of Rita, why wasn’t Hermione’s threats able to cow her anymore? I think I was actually angry at Hermione for a while, but maybe I was just scared of Rita. No, not Rita, but her stories. When I read her article, I actually had to set down the book and catch my breath. It was always easy, in book 5, to relatively ignore her lies (except about Hagrid) because Harry KNEW they were lies. He KNEW it. Dumbledore…oh Dumbledore…and Aberforth! He was a great character, because I’ve always wanted to meet ol’ Dumbly’s family. I fully felt Aberforth’s grief when he told his story, and yelled with delight at Harry’s determination to go on with his quest. It says a lot that neither Rita nor Doge were right about Dumbledore.
Dumbledore’s story says a lot about the old man. It made him seem better, in fact, because it made him seem human. He was hardly perfect.
“What do you see when you look into the Mirror?”
“I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.”
The epilogue was perfect. Truly perfect. Nothing else to say.
I do have ONE complaint about book 7, but it’s a small one. I understand that Dumbledore’s story is spectacular, and splendid, and what many readers have wanted for a long time, but was it needed? I still say book 7 is the best, but in many places, it became DUMBLEDORE’S story, and not HARRY’S story. I was less than thrilled with Dumbledore’s betrayal, but not because of the actual betrayal. I just wish Dumbledore wasn’t……well……in control of anything. No, it was still Harry’s choice to live or die. I don’t know, maybe I’m just crazy.
LONG LIVE DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY!
FlyingDove
February 14th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I figured it out. I kind of wish that Dumbledore didn’t seem to know everything. lol but that’s why I admire him in the first place! Rest in Peace, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (whew that’s a mouthful!)
May 30th, 2008 at 4:56 am
I was wondering about something and seeing that I’m in HP-lovin’ company, this seems like the right place to pop the question.
Ever since I read DH I was pondering about what made the HP-series feel so logical. Everything seems to fit snugly together, from the dual-core-wand thingy, the protection Harry’s mum gave him (wich Voldemort ensured would linger on), to the piece of Voldemorts soul that latched on to Harry’s when he tried to kill him in his cradle. These three facts were vital to Harry’s survival, missing one of them would have left him dead in that spooky graveyard in Little Hangleton(?), when Voldemort was ressurected.
Every antagonist creates a protagonist or vica versa. At least in good stories they do (Darth Sidious creates Vader, who in the end betrays him to save his own son. Neo in a way creates his nemesis by destroying Smith in The Matrix). Voldemort created his arch-enemy by choosing to kill Harry over Neville and thus unknowingly transferred some of his powers to Harry in the form of a piece of his soul. Without this fact the whole relationship between Harry and Voldemort would be shakey to say the least.
I wonder wether or not JK knew all these facts about the Harry-Voldy relationship when she started working on The Philosopher’s Stone. How much did she know back then about this backbone of the story? Or did she only started to think about these thing’s when GoF was in the pipeline? What do all ya’ll think? Or perhaps there’s another backbone in the story…