I am your father, look into your heart, you know it to be true

[sab]

It's not like I don't think it's cheap. But it could be done elegantly, and I'm just -- I got suspicious. Anyway. What if Voldemort were James Potter? I can't be the only person to have thought of this -- anyone?



I heard OotP on tape, right, so I got a special kind of suspense, especially since the bloke who read the thing really did a marvelous job performing every one of the dozens of characters. Anyway, it left lots of pregnant pauses and room for speculation.

And, we don't have any character evidence to disabuse us, right? What do we know about James? Cocky, seductive, one of the most skilled wizards Hogwarts has seen. Essentially what we know about Voldemort, who "went bad" at around the time of Harry's birth, then disappeared. Even assuming the two of them were contemporaries, isn't it interesting we never heard of them attending Hogwarts at the same time? In fact, we rarely hear of Voldemort attending Hogwarts at all...could be because, at the time, he was James Potter.

And, as prillalar pointed out, of course Dumbledore knows. I'd wager Snape knows too, which would explain both his hatred for James (and by extension, Harry), and his willingness to help protect Harry from Voldemort. He hid that flashback in the pensieve not because it was embarrassing, but because it might tip Harry off to the dark side of his father, which Snape and Dumbledore couldn't afford.

I don't think any of the boys know -- possibly Sirius knew, but I think Moony and Padfoot held their memories of James in too high regard; I don't think they'd've suspected this kind of ill of him, and I don't think Dumbledore would have told them.

It also clears up some of the ambiguity around Dumbledore's Infodumpy "bonds of love" speech at the end of OotP -- Voldemort/James killed Lily, but was unable to kill Harry because of the bonds of love -- because of the love Lily protected him with, and because of the fact that Harry shared Voldemort's own blood. It explains why they're bound, through scar and wand, and -- if nothing else -- certainly gives good reason to why Trelawney always predicted a special kind of heartbreak for Harry.

The question is - what was it that made James turn? Anyone who can point me to fic or LJ-ness where folks have entertained this before, I want in. Otherwise, y'know, discuss.

Comments

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Then how does James's 'echo' come out of Voldemort's wand at the end of GoF?

I wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort were a relative of James's, but I don't think he's James himself

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

I think the best explanation would be that there's an "echo" of James in Voldemort himself, a shadow of his good side that comes out to protect Harry, or, at least, that makes it difficult for Voldemort to harm Harry. Voldemort carries his lingering James-ness around, but it's very faint, and only Harry can bring it bubbling to the surface.

dude.

[helenish.livejournal.com]

that's exactly what schuyler and I were talking about the other night, except I kept making Harry! I! Am! Your! Father! Jokes, and then it all devolved into discussing how the entire Harry Potter series is an extended problematic father drama, wherein nearly every male (um, Sirius, Snape, Dumbledore, Lupin, James/Voldemort, so on ad infinitum) is a father figure of varying (and often ambiguous) benevolence.

It only makes sense that Harry's big final problems (Identity Crisis about father/Voldemort) are actually the exactly same conflict.

I was going to say that HP is in some ways very problematic from a feminist standpoint, since it's really all about boys boys boys and the girls are on the sidelines, but I'm going to take that back and says it's revolutionary because all the men have these extraordinary, emotionally centered/charged relationships (think of the permutations--Harry and Snape, Harry and Ron, Harry and Dumbledore, Harry and Sirius--Snape and the rest of the marauders, Draco and Ron, etc. etc.) while the girls are the cool intellectual force--McGonagle, Hermione, what we see of Lily--they lead with the intellect.

So, what the hell, man! A story where girls use their brains and need to work on their emotions, and boys need to learn how to calm the fuck down and stop listening to their emotions. That's new.

Re: dude.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was having the same problem, what with Cho Chang CRYING all the time, but then, we can co-opt that into your strong woman thesis (so much more enjoyable) and say that in this universe, BOYS are the whiny ones, and that's why no one could understand Cho's emotional fits. And even Hermione, who did a champ's job explaining Cho's situation to Harry, did so in a straightforward and intellectual manner. And it's true, Dumbledore and Snape ALWAYS let their emotions interfere with giving Harry the best advice, while McGonagall can be counted on to trust Harry and lead him properly and well.

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

Voldemort is Tom Riddle.

Tom Riddle is in his 60s and was at school with Hagrid in the early 50s.

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans and Snape were all at school together in the late 1970s.

Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy are also reputed to be contemporaries about 5 years older than Potter etc.

Riddle could easily be related to the Potters somehow. The Wizarding World is small.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

I DID get hung up on the Tom Riddle thing for a bit there. I'm still working on that. Do we know for certain that Hagrid's that much older than James?

Alternatively, it's possible that the Voldemort entity passed from Tom Riddle to James Potter at the moment of Harry's birth, for some reason.

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is a KNOWN FACT that Hagrid is in his 60s, because Tom Riddle had him kicked out of school becuase of Aragog, the spider. It's all in the second book.

There's also all the stuff in book 4 about Voldemort digging up the bones of Tom Riddles' Muggle father to make the coporeal potion that also used Harry's blood. So he is manifestly related to whoever Mr. Riddle was. But that doesn't preclude his being related to Harry.

Many people think he may be James Potter's father. Because he looks like the Potters. Black Hair, handsome, popular, etc.

My secret belief is that James might actually be Snape.

Say the real Snape was in on the hit on James and Lily, he was a DE then. Say Snape used something to disguise himself as James, like Polyjuice potion, to get Lily to let him in the house. That means, when someone who looks like James comes out of the Wand, that would be whoever it was that looked like James when they died. Snape could even have been fighting James while Voldie killed Lily. Snape thinks he's killed James. Voldie kills Snape (looking like James) to keep him quiet. Goes after Harry and fzztttt. James is not really dead. He wakes up and realizes what has happened and takes Snape's identity, Keeping Harry safe all along.

It could be something like that, too.

[prillalar]

I think this could work if Voldemort were like Bob from Twin Peaks -- at one point he possessed Tom Riddle, but now he's possessing James. The switch could have happened on the night Voldemort came to kill James and Lily.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Yeah yeah yeah! See! Like that.

Or, Voldemort is Harry's *real* father, which is to say, Tom Riddle is Harry's real father and James Potter jsut happened to be Lily's husband. That's less likely though, given how much like James Harry is said to be.

I like your way. *g*