So, what’s the importance of Roger Bacon’s diary? Canon & conservation of detail both suggest it’s something, possibly a horcrux or possibly some other tool of Quirrelmort. This Voldemort is too smart to horcrux his own diary, but this diary would be an awfully convenient trojan horse for him to have (extremely durable, treasured by Harry).
It doesn’t seem to produce any sense of Doom, though, which seems to count against the horcrux hypothesis.
Could Quirrell be using it to spy on Harry, to get his curiously accurate priors? Does Harry keep the diary in the pouch which he carries around everywhere, and which he brought to Azkaban, and which the Quirrell cast a spell on and entered in snake mode? If so, it could be a part of Quirrell’s current plot. (Or, Quirrell could’ve done something else with Harry’s pouch, which doesn’t involve the diary.)
It doesn’t seem to produce any sense of Doom, though, which seems to count against the horcrux hypothesis.
In canon Harry’s sense of pain when encountering Voldemort doesn’t occur when encountering horcruxes. Moreover, it turns out that Harry is an accidental horcrux and he doesn’t have any similar reaction to himself, or even to a time traveled version of himself that he sees. So by analogy a horcrux here may not be enough to trigger the sense of doom.
Could Roger Bacon’s diary have important information in it?
I would be pleased if Quirrel was using the diary to affect Harry (whether by getting Harry to accept a gift or by some magic-related method), but Harry read it with more knowledge and/or attention and/or willingness to make deductions, and got some crucial addition to his abilities thereby.
If it is a “very recently” created horcrux, one thing it means is that the maker is healthy enough to make horcruxes. Taken with Ch54, killing-curse ricochets might not be as damaging as one expects.
So, what’s the importance of Roger Bacon’s diary? Canon & conservation of detail both suggest it’s something, possibly a horcrux or possibly some other tool of Quirrelmort. This Voldemort is too smart to horcrux his own diary, but this diary would be an awfully convenient trojan horse for him to have (extremely durable, treasured by Harry).
It doesn’t seem to produce any sense of Doom, though, which seems to count against the horcrux hypothesis.
Could Quirrell be using it to spy on Harry, to get his curiously accurate priors? Does Harry keep the diary in the pouch which he carries around everywhere, and which he brought to Azkaban, and which the Quirrell cast a spell on and entered in snake mode? If so, it could be a part of Quirrell’s current plot. (Or, Quirrell could’ve done something else with Harry’s pouch, which doesn’t involve the diary.)
In canon Harry’s sense of pain when encountering Voldemort doesn’t occur when encountering horcruxes. Moreover, it turns out that Harry is an accidental horcrux and he doesn’t have any similar reaction to himself, or even to a time traveled version of himself that he sees. So by analogy a horcrux here may not be enough to trigger the sense of doom.
Could Roger Bacon’s diary have important information in it?
I would be pleased if Quirrel was using the diary to affect Harry (whether by getting Harry to accept a gift or by some magic-related method), but Harry read it with more knowledge and/or attention and/or willingness to make deductions, and got some crucial addition to his abilities thereby.
If it is a “very recently” created horcrux, one thing it means is that the maker is healthy enough to make horcruxes. Taken with Ch54, killing-curse ricochets might not be as damaging as one expects.
Perhaps for similar reasons that death by basilisk glare isn’t all that that damaging when reflected.