Not quite an either/or—perhaps he’s also testing the immortality mechanisms he will use on himself. It hadn’t occurred to me, but he may not be as confident as he pretends to be about how the Stone and the troll/unicorn/Horcrux spells will interact. And it closely parallels his previous failure to test his Horcrux system.
Thanks for pointing out the false dilemma. I’m wondering whether he ever intended to kill Harry, specifically as to whether that gun is loaded.
Does anyone remember anything in Parseltongue which stated explicit intent to kill? I note that this line is not in Parseltonge:
I suppose you have doubts? Mark well, I could kill you this instant, for there is no longer a Headmaster of Hogwarts to be informed of it. Doubt me all you wish, but remember that.
The previous dialogue is in Parseltongue, and the dialogue ends after this. I’ll go have a more critical look at earlier chapters but I’m predicting the gun in Harry’s hand will go ‘click’.
EDIT: my mistake, Harry brought his own gun. I have a strong sense of literary disbelief that Harry managed to shoot Voldemort while his horcruxes were so conveniently down. If the gun is not suspect, then back up hypotheses are: Voldemort can deflect bullets OR Voldemort’s horcruxes were in fact still working.
Damn. I missed that hypothesis. I had been assuming that Harry had somehow gotten a hold of Voldemort’s gun (somewhat confused as to how it was in his pouch though). But yes, that clearly fits the data better and of course both Riddles would have thought of muggle weapons in advance, especially General Chaos.
And yeah, that line tripped my wires as well, but I think there are two more likely candidates for concealment than lack of intent to kill:
-Lack of ability to kill
-Whether there is a Headmaster of Hogwarts now (one can imagine a magically designated Interim Headmaster being immediately instated for the purpose of the wards)
Not quite an either/or—perhaps he’s also testing the immortality mechanisms he will use on himself. It hadn’t occurred to me, but he may not be as confident as he pretends to be about how the Stone and the troll/unicorn/Horcrux spells will interact. And it closely parallels his previous failure to test his Horcrux system.
Thanks for pointing out the false dilemma. I’m wondering whether he ever intended to kill Harry, specifically as to whether that gun is loaded.
Does anyone remember anything in Parseltongue which stated explicit intent to kill? I note that this line is not in Parseltonge:
The previous dialogue is in Parseltongue, and the dialogue ends after this. I’ll go have a more critical look at earlier chapters but I’m predicting the gun in Harry’s hand will go ‘click’.
EDIT: my mistake, Harry brought his own gun. I have a strong sense of literary disbelief that Harry managed to shoot Voldemort while his horcruxes were so conveniently down. If the gun is not suspect, then back up hypotheses are: Voldemort can deflect bullets OR Voldemort’s horcruxes were in fact still working.
That’s Harry’s gun, not Voldemort’s
Damn. I missed that hypothesis. I had been assuming that Harry had somehow gotten a hold of Voldemort’s gun (somewhat confused as to how it was in his pouch though). But yes, that clearly fits the data better and of course both Riddles would have thought of muggle weapons in advance, especially General Chaos.
I don’t think that’s the same gun.
And yeah, that line tripped my wires as well, but I think there are two more likely candidates for concealment than lack of intent to kill:
-Lack of ability to kill
-Whether there is a Headmaster of Hogwarts now (one can imagine a magically designated Interim Headmaster being immediately instated for the purpose of the wards)
The old Headmaster isn’t dead, just unreachable. It may be that noone has the access to the wards needed to become the new Headmaster.