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sabIt'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![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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.
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.
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Date: 2003-10-13 04:05 pm (UTC)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.
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Date: 2003-10-13 04:19 pm (UTC)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.