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harry potter - Why did the silver hand turn against Wormtail?


Obvious spoilers for Deathly Hallows..


Excerpt from Slytherincess' answer to Why was Wormtail made a servant ?




Voldemort enchanted the silver hand to kill Wormtail if Wormtail showed the weakness of mercy.



Is there any source for this ? At one point, Dumbledore tells Harry that a life debt between two wizards is something very powerful (at the end of PoA I think). I always assumed that Wormtail wanted to kill Harry but that some kind of old magic prevented him from doing it.


So... Did Voldemort really enchanted it ? If so, why didn't the hand just kill Harry when it had the occasion ?


ETA : I just found this quote by JKR :



When Dumbledore said to Harry "Voldemort won't want a close associate who is in your debt", I wasn't implying by that there was any kind of magical bond there.



I throw my theory away :p see the accepted answer for more details




Answer




The silver tool that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its Disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes.

Deathly Hallows - Bloomsbury - Malfoy Manor



The hand wasn't enchanted to kill Harry. It was enchanted to kill Wormtail, should he show even a split second of mercy. So it wouldn't be going around trying to kill Harry specifically. It was Voldemort's punishment for Wormtail, not Harry, although Harry ultimately was the trigger that caused Wormtail to experience a moment of mercy, which subsequently cost Wormtail his life.


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