Skip to main content

Why does the piece of Voldemort's soul attach itself to the only living thing i.e. Harry?


Possibly Related:


What EXACTLY cause Voldemort's soul piece to split off when he killed Lily and tried to kill Harry?


How Would Harry Breaking the Unbreakable Vow Have Affected the Piece of Voldemort's Soul?



We know that apart from Harry and Nagini - all the other pieces of Voldemort's soul were enclosed in some container. So why did the soul that split when the Killing Curse rebounded attach itself to the only living thing? Moreover - since Voldemort had other Horcruxes to keep him from dying - why didn't it attach itself to Voldemort himself? We know that the piece of soul in Slytherin's locket put up a fight to leave the container. How then did the last piece leave Voldemort's body and attach itself to Harry's?



Answer




The piece of the Dark Lord’s soul embedded itself in Harry because Harry was the only living soul in the room. Disembodied souls naturally only would be able to stay in other living things. They’re only able to stay in inanimate objects when they’re deliberately sealed into them by the spell used to make a Horcrux. The piece that broke off of the Dark Lord, however, wasn’t deliberately encased in anything, so it stuck itself in the only living soul nearby.



“Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort’s soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building.”
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33 (The Prince’s Tale)



This bit of soul is different than a Horcrux, because in making a Horcrux, the wizard creating it intentionally encases it in an object using a spell. Pieces of soul don’t naturally attach themselves to inanimate objects, they tend towards wanting to embed themselves in something living.




“Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion –’


‘Encase? But how –?’


‘There is a spell, do not ask me, I don’t know!’ said Slughorn, shaking his head like an old elephant bothered by mosquitoes.”
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 23 (Horcruxes)



The other instances of souls finding new hosts indicate that it’s much easier for soul pieces to enter living hosts on their own, without the magic required to seal them in an inanimate object. Even pieces already sealed in a Horcrux can temporarily possess living people. Though the soul piece in a Horcrux is dependent on its object, it can still possess other bodies, though not objects.



“The bit of soul in that diary was possessing Ginny, wasn’t it? How does that work, then?’


‘While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the object.”
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 6 (The Ghoul in Pyjamas)




When he was ripped from his body, the Dark Lord could also possess bodies, of humans as well as animals. He likely couldn’t possess inanimate objects, though, it seems limited to living bodies.



“Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals – snakes, of course, being my preference – but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill-adapted to perform magic … and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long …”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 33 (The Death Eaters)



This also explains why the piece of soul didn’t just reattach itself to the Dark Lord - he was ripped from his body, so at that point he provided no body for the soul piece to attach to.



“Aaah … pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost … but still, I was alive.”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 33 (The Death Eaters)




Therefore, the piece of soul that fractured off the Dark Lord’s couldn’t attach itself to an inanimate object, and it couldn’t reattach to the Dark Lord as he was bodiless. Harry was its only choice.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

star trek - Warning regarding forward saucer section in Nemesis?

In Star Trek: Nemesis , just before the Enterprise rams into the Scimitar, Picard sends a text message from his captain's chair arm pad to Troi — who is manning the helm in lieu of the crewman who was just blown out through what was once the view screen — indicating that she should put full impulse on standby. (Literally, if you watch the scene closely, Troi's console prefaces the order with "TXT MSG" !) My question is: Did Picard also somehow warn crew members in the forward saucer section about what was about to happen? The ramming of the Scimitar was a heat of the moment decision. Considering that he also resorted to calling the auto-destruct sequence shortly after (which ended up being offline), he probably was of the mindset that any losses would be acceptable in order to hault Shinzon's march to Earth. Still, I'm curious. Answer The original script indicates that he called for the crew to " brace for impact ". Whether that call (or the comma...
Post a Comment
Read more

star wars - What "exactly" happens when someone turns to the Dark Side?

When I saw the original Star Wars saga as a kid, the concept of the Dark Side imprinted in me was quite simple. You did a bad thing, so you're a bad person so you go to the Dark Side and keep doing bad things. Now, obviously this doesn't hold true in reality. In my mind it is perfectly reasonable for Luke to kill the Emperor and Vader and then just flee the Death Star and rejoin the Alliance. After all they are at war, those are enemy officers that have captured him and are taunting him by threatening with death of all loved ones and the whole operation was intended to kill the Emperor anyway. The same would hold true for Anakin. He could have killed Mace Windu to save the Chancellor and Padme but that doesn't mean he's going to then go mad and kill all Jedis including children. It doesn't add up from a merely psychological point of view. He had a set of objectives and that made him want to keep the Chancellor alive (quite valid by the way, Mace Windu is quite clums...
Post a Comment
Read more