Time Out: Need a good conspiracy theory outlet? TEC Theories got you down? Join the HP Book VII Theory Debates - no stone left unturned.

BB NOTE: Lots of fun going on with the conspiracy theories (have just about given up putting the tinfoil hat away), but have found a better outlet than the wild ones racing through TEC just now. For real fun, brush off your dusty HP books and give them all another read through as we prepare for the seventh and final release of the series, some believe may be this summer (7-7-7?) or fall (All Hallows Eve?).

Here's a great one I've just come across, though it does mean being a somewhat serious and not just casual reader of the books. What caught my attention is that it is just assumed by us all that "The Deathly Hallows" is going to be about Harry searching for the remaining "horcruxes" (those things that Voldemort has used to hide his sliced up soul in his attempts toward immortality) until the final battle with Voldemort. But old friend John Granger, the "Hogwarts Professor," has a completely different take, one that I haven't seen and frankly, he argues it from canon (the books themselves), so it's intriguing.

One of the major points of discussion - and this is far more entertaining then thinking IRD is taking over the world by the way - is whether Harry's infamous scar is actually a horcrux. There are competing opinions on that (I have a somewhat different theory, but I haven't closed that option, frankly because there just isn't enough evidence to do that) but it often denotes a bitter end for Harry if it is so. This is another reason why John's theory is surprising.

Finally, we do know that there is a strong bond between Harry and Voldemort because of that scar. John addresses that bond when he answers the letter from reader. But for all of you who visit the BabyBlueCafe know, when the going gets tough, the tough read Harry Potter. Or listen to Bob Dylan. Both come highly recommended.

bb

Here's John Granger's most recent post from HogwartsProfessor where he answers a question regarding what may be the biggest plot resolve in our century. Not even "Who Shot JR?" can match this one, not by a long shot.

Date: Jan 10, 2007 1:28 PM
Subject: the Gleam of Triumph
To: john@zossima.com

I just finished reading Looking For God in Harry Potter, the 2004 edition, and I was waiting eagerly for one explanation that never appeared. After the explanation of why Quirrell couldn’t touch Harry’s skin without burning, I was wondering why it was that after the rebirthing Voldemort *could* touch him without any apparent effect. The subject line of my email, of course, refers to Dumbledore’s gleam of triumph in his eyes after Harry relates this fact to him. Any theories, clues, directions to writings on this that I have missed?

Harry Fan in Ohio

Dear Buckeye,

Just a quick note to begin to answer your question! The full answer is in my Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader that you can pre-order now at www.zossima.com.

Dumbledore is no dark wizard but he knows dark magic well enough that, even at his first interview with Tom Riddle, Jr., he realizes that this young wizard has been making Horcruxes. As the Red Hen has written, how many curses can there be that cause your face to change its character? The Headmaster’s grasp of dark magic is also sufficient that he knows the potion ingredients that Voldemort needs to get his body back at the end of Goblet. Because the Headmaster knows that Harry’s scar is a Horcrux which links him to Voldemort (and knew that from the day the books open), he allows or at least does not take the measures necessary to prevent the Dark Lord from capturing Harry and using Potter blood to reconstitute himself. He shows his “gleam of triumph” at Harry’s return because his plan is working out!

How so? Voldemort and Harry are now the same person in large part because Voldemort is made of Harry’s blood qualities and Harry has a piece of Voldemort’s soul in his noggin. They are “in essence divided” (Phoenix, 470), certainly, but they are able to see through each other’s eyes. Harry does this only when completely relaxed and he can sense the Dark Lord’s emotions if they are extreme, but the Dark Lord can look through Harry at will (being a great wizard, however twisted). This also explains why Voldemort can touch Harry – they are no longer “contraries” but self/other resolved. The difference – the divided essence – is that Harry has his integrity as a person and his capacity for love.

If you re-read Phoenix and Prince with the idea in mind that Dumbledore and Snape know they are talking to Voldemort whenever they talk to Harry (and whenever Harry speaks in all-caps, Voldemort is learning how to use his new scar-o-scope, an effect he is able to mute by the beginning of Prince), I think you’ll be astonished at the “narrative misdirection” drama they are writing to deceive the Dark Lord about their progress with respect to Horcruxes. By the time in Prince that Horace hands over the memory and Harry learns more about the six Horcrux items he needs to destroy in Deathly Hallows, I’m confident Snape and Dumbledore already have them in hand and have destroyed them. Snape’s last “hit” on Harry as he departs Hogwarts in Prince destroys the Horcrux on Harry’s head and turns off the scar-o-scope. The Horcruxes are destroyed and Snape has the drop on Voldemort to dispatch him because the Dark Lord believes the melodrama on the Tower was for real.

You can read more about this and the other Five Keys on www.HogwartsProfessor.com! See you there.

John, grateful for your note