Might get around to posting a solution. Here’s the direction I’m headed:
I think I have a reasonable timetable that can be found in this post. I figure there’s at most an hour and a half left until Harry leaves the Quiddich game. I don’t expect the cavalry to save the day, but it imposes a time restriction.
Cedric is a wild card here. If he were to accompany Harry then we probably would have learned of it by now. Otherwise, he may have been asked to raise the alarm should Harry fail to return in a timely manner, so I think it’s safe to suppose that the time restriction is tight.
If Voldemort can be given a reason to keep Harry alive beyond the 90-minute mark, he’ll have to change venue and resume the conversation in another place. Possible topics of discussion are partial transfiguration, Patronus 2.0, and the dangers of meddling with prophecies. Bonus points for invoking the Unbreakable Vow to get Voldemort to awaken Hermione.
Second possibility is to escape. Harry does have that portkey after all. Voldemort did mention having some of his own wards in the area, but the Death Eaters were able to apparate in just fine and Harry, being Tom Riddle, may be able to bypass them as well. The problem is that the reader doesn’t know exactly where that portkey is. It may require access to Harry’s bag. That means he has to arrange a diversion without getting blown to bits or else has to go back to the talking plan.
Third possibility is to defeat the Death Eaters and Voldemort. I’ve seen a number of suggestions along the lines of partial transfiguration. I’m inclined to reject this possibility. It has been established in canon that a good Legilimens can detect someone forming a spell in his mind. I don’t know that Harry can concentrate on a complex transfiguration while carrying on a conversation and blocking Voldemort from his mind.
Now regarding Dumbledore. There’s a reason why he chose to spare Harry knowing that he’d end up in Voldemort’s hands. There’s something afoot here but I can’t place my finger on it. I also wonder whether Dumbledore can leave the mirror. Phoenixes were rumored to come from the mirror and Dumbledore does have one of those...
Do note that Voldemort cannot actually use Legilimency on Harry, due to magical resonance.
Not only would this be expected due to how the effect has manifested in the past, but EY has also confirmed that this was the original reason for the resonance in the first place.
It could be possible for a Death Eater to do so in his stead, but I do not think it at all likely without further orders from Voldemort, given his explicit desire for privacy in their conversation.
Regarding Dumbledore’s decision, it could simply be that (due to the prophesy) he believed Harry the only one who could defeat Voldemort, and so the loss of Harry would mean that his own presence would be useless in that regard. Better a minuscule chance of saving the world than none at all.
I might be wrong, but I interpreted that as Tom having made a previous commitment to not raise had nor wand against other versions of himself. That curse is gone, but the resonance is a distinct entity and is still there.
Addendum: being as Voldemort hadn’t done much testing on his Horcrux network and Harry is Tom Riddle, it may be possible for Harry to die and still be able to return using said Horcrux network.
Might get around to posting a solution. Here’s the direction I’m headed:
I think I have a reasonable timetable that can be found in this post. I figure there’s at most an hour and a half left until Harry leaves the Quiddich game. I don’t expect the cavalry to save the day, but it imposes a time restriction.
Cedric is a wild card here. If he were to accompany Harry then we probably would have learned of it by now. Otherwise, he may have been asked to raise the alarm should Harry fail to return in a timely manner, so I think it’s safe to suppose that the time restriction is tight.
If Voldemort can be given a reason to keep Harry alive beyond the 90-minute mark, he’ll have to change venue and resume the conversation in another place. Possible topics of discussion are partial transfiguration, Patronus 2.0, and the dangers of meddling with prophecies. Bonus points for invoking the Unbreakable Vow to get Voldemort to awaken Hermione.
Second possibility is to escape. Harry does have that portkey after all. Voldemort did mention having some of his own wards in the area, but the Death Eaters were able to apparate in just fine and Harry, being Tom Riddle, may be able to bypass them as well. The problem is that the reader doesn’t know exactly where that portkey is. It may require access to Harry’s bag. That means he has to arrange a diversion without getting blown to bits or else has to go back to the talking plan.
Third possibility is to defeat the Death Eaters and Voldemort. I’ve seen a number of suggestions along the lines of partial transfiguration. I’m inclined to reject this possibility. It has been established in canon that a good Legilimens can detect someone forming a spell in his mind. I don’t know that Harry can concentrate on a complex transfiguration while carrying on a conversation and blocking Voldemort from his mind.
Now regarding Dumbledore. There’s a reason why he chose to spare Harry knowing that he’d end up in Voldemort’s hands. There’s something afoot here but I can’t place my finger on it. I also wonder whether Dumbledore can leave the mirror. Phoenixes were rumored to come from the mirror and Dumbledore does have one of those...
Do note that Voldemort cannot actually use Legilimency on Harry, due to magical resonance.
Not only would this be expected due to how the effect has manifested in the past, but EY has also confirmed that this was the original reason for the resonance in the first place.
It could be possible for a Death Eater to do so in his stead, but I do not think it at all likely without further orders from Voldemort, given his explicit desire for privacy in their conversation.
Regarding Dumbledore’s decision, it could simply be that (due to the prophesy) he believed Harry the only one who could defeat Voldemort, and so the loss of Harry would mean that his own presence would be useless in that regard. Better a minuscule chance of saving the world than none at all.
I may be misinterpreting, but I thought the whole resonance business got cleared up when Voldemort lured Harry into shooting at him.
I might be wrong, but I interpreted that as Tom having made a previous commitment to not raise had nor wand against other versions of himself. That curse is gone, but the resonance is a distinct entity and is still there.
Addendum: being as Voldemort hadn’t done much testing on his Horcrux network and Harry is Tom Riddle, it may be possible for Harry to die and still be able to return using said Horcrux network.