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Was the protection afforded to Harry via Lily's sacrifice universal or just anti-Voldemort?




It was posited in answers/comments to " If a living Horcrux was killed "normally", would they stop being one? " that somehow, Harry is being protected from harm in general (post-GoF) by the fact that - as per HP7 - Voldemort took Harry's blood and thus with his blood took inside him the protection that Lily's sacrifice bestowed on Harry.


However, I think that this protection (both Lily's original protection in Harry's blood, and the part of it that got transferred to Voldemort) is VERY VERY specific and is only against harm done directly by Voldemort. This means that Harry is still subject to non-Voldemort harm, for example he could have been easily killed by Basilisk fang's bite in HP2 or by FiendFyre started by Crabbe in HP7 in Room of Hidden Things.


Is there good in-Universe or JKR information to support or reject my theory that the protection is only against harm directly done by Voldemort?



Answer



Okay, yeah, you're totally right, and I will go back and edit my posts accordingly :) Here's what Harry tells Dumbledore at the end of Goblet of Fire:



‘He said my blood would make him stronger than if he’d used someone else’s,’ Harry told Dumbledore. ‘He said the protection my – my mother left in me – he’d have it, too. And he was right – he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face.’

Goblet of Fire - Page 604 - British Edition



And then I recalled something from Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort possessed Harry and taunted Dumbledore to kill Harry right then and there if Dumbledore wanted to kill Voldemort too. If Harry had universal protection, Dumbledore would not have been able to kill Harry and I don't think Voldemort would have offered that as an option.




Kill me now, Dumbledore ...’

Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again ...

If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy ...’

Let the pain stop, thought Harry ... let him kill us ... end it, Dumbledore ... death is nothing compared to this ...

Order of the Phoenix - Page 720 - British Edition



So, yes sir, I completely concede on this one. I was wrong. :)


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