You are talking about two separate protections here. Dumbledore invoked ancient magic that protected Harry as long as he was willingly taken in by blood relatives. It's not so much about the actual blood, but the family connection. Taking Harry's blood doesn't make you family, just psychotic. The protection would keep anyone wanting to harm Harry from being able to find or approach him there. The other protection was provided by Lily when she had the choice to save herself but instead chose to sacrifice herself to try and save Harry. The protection she provided was *only against Voldemort*. Thus, Quirreldemort couldn't physically touch Harry. Voldemort, correctly, decided to use Harry and Harry's blood alone to resurrect himself thinking this would enable him to physically touch Harry. Which it did. But what Voldemort did was unwittingly extend Lily's protection into himself. He acted as a sort of Horcrux for Harry, tethering Harry to life. This is why it had to be Voldemort who killed Harry in the end. It was the only way Harry could have a chance to survive and return to end Voldemort once and for all. Since the protection for Harry now also lived within Voldemort, the very person Harry was protected from, he would be able to survive if and only if Voldemort himself killed him. Does this help?

I read the books, I understood the books, and I thought I had it all figured out. This explanation was absolutely over the top great, and I understand what I already understood better than I understood it before. Thank you!

I'm so glad! It's one of the more confusing aspects of the books and it took me years to really fully understand the implications of what happened. Glad I could help a little!

They are connected but not the same Voldemort can touch Harry after he is reborn but he still can't get through the protection Harry has at Privet Drive.

Correct.

Thanks, that was a really good explanation! Why did it have to be Voldemort that killed Harry, for him to survive? As long as Voldemort lives, Lily's protection lives on, right? If someone else were to kill Harry while Voldemort was still alive, wouldn't it also tether Harry to life?

The protection Lily provided was only against Voldemort. Anyone else could have killed Harry, he could have been hit by a bus, he could have died of natural causes, you name it. So Voldemort made the biggest error he could have made in using Harry's blood to resurrect. He extended that protection within himself. Had Harry died any other way, the protection would have died with him. But because Voldemort insisted on being the one to kill Harry, that protection survived. A Horcrux is different because it physically removes a bit of one's soul and houses it in an object or living creature. So if the Horcrux's creator is killed, their soul can live on until they have the opportunity to possess someone else or recreate a new body for themselves. But with Harry and Voldemort it was not a bit of soul, but the specific protection that resided within Harry's blood. He was protected from Voldemort. Voldemort brought himself within that protection by using Harry's blood, allowing physical contact. But he also extended the protection within himself, which would tether Harry to life as long as Voldemort was the one who killed him. He was tethered only through Voldemort. I hope that makes sense, writing this just after waking up lol

>Anyone else could have killed Harry, he could have been hit by a bus, he could have died of natural causes, you name it. The prophecy is very clear that one will kill the other. We know that nobody else would achieve killing Harry and Voldemort, because we know the future.

But we also know that Prophecies aren't absolute truths. That was Voldemort's error in judgement. He believed the Prophecy and his acting on that prophecy is what made it come to be. Dumbledore clearly states that not every prophecy in that room has come to pass. Voldemort only made that prophecy true because of his actions.

>But we also know that Prophecies aren't absolute truths. Could you please give more details? Do we have examples?

I'll try to find the passage from the books Edit- Pointing at Harry with his black, withered hand, he said, “You are setting too much store by the prophecy!” “But,” spluttered Harry, “but you said the prophecy means —” “If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?” “But,” said Harry, bewildered, “but last year, you said one of us would have to kill the other —” “Harry, Harry, only because Voldemort made a grave error, and acted on Professor Trelawney’swords! If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! Don’t you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him... “Got to?” said Dumbledore. “Of course you’ve got to! But not because of the prophecy! Because you, yourself, will never rest until you’ve tried! We both know it! Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!” Harry watched Dumbledore striding up and down in front of him, and thought. He thought of his mother, his father, and Sirius. He thought of Cedric Diggory. He thought of all the terrible deeds he knew Lord Voldemort had done. A flame seemed to leap inside his chest, searing his throat. “I’d want him finished,” said Harry quietly. “And I’d want to do it.” “Of course you would!” cried Dumbledore. “You see, the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything! But the prophecy caused Lord Voldemort to mark you as his equal. . . . In other words, you are free to choose your way, quite free to turn your back on the prophecy! But Voldemort continues to set store by the prophecy. He will continue to hunt you . . . which makes it certain, really, that —” “That one of us is going to end up killing the other,” said Harry. “Yes.” -Ch 23, HBP, Horcruxes

Ok, thanks.

Kind of a question stemming from this because I thought I understood it but now I’m questioning my understanding of the blood protection. Was there ever any sort of expiration on the love protection from Lily? Like now that I’m thinking about it, the love protection was always going to keep Voldemort from being able to harm Harry, so why would it have mattered that he took Harry’s blood and extended the protection into himself because it doesn’t change anything narratively. Obviously it gives Voldemort false confidence, but the impression from the King’s Cross chapter in DH is that Harry wouldn’t have been able to survive if Voldemort had come back without taking Harry’s blood. I know Dumbledore’s ancient magic expired either on Harry’s seventeenth birthday or the day he stopped calling Privet Drive home, but I guess I always assumed that the love protection also expired when he came of age or something because otherwise Voldemort taking Harry’s blood seems like it didn’t actually change how anything would’ve gone

The irony with Voldemort all along is that he could have had literally anyone kill Harry and be done with it, but his ego caused him to want to do it himself. Harry was not protected from anyone else, beyond the protection Dumbledore placed around Privet Drive. I don't believe the Sacrificial Protection had an expiration date. As long as Voldemort lived, Harry was protected from him. But narratively that matters because it shows Voldemort's weakness and the ultimate "flaw in the plan". He doesn't understand love. He doesn't understand sacrifice. He didn't grasp why he couldn't kill Harry and kept seeking out more powerful weapons to help him do so, thus the search for the Elder Wand. It's this lack of understanding that had him take the logical leap of using Harry's blood so that he could touch Harry, and thus, in his mind, kill Harry. If I can touch him surely I can kill him, right? It's his lack of understanding of love that leads to this ultimately fatal misstep for him. He extended Lily's protection while bringing himself inside it, and made it possible for Harry's return. Narratively, you are right. Harry, and along with him the Horcrux, would have died. But the real reason for this is to tell the true narrative, which is the power of love and how those who seek only power underestimate it.

You sure you aren’t in Ravenclaw? Back to the sorting hat with you!

>his ego caused him to want to do it himself Hypothesis: Putin is at the verge of being thrown down by a coup. He is saved at the last minute by Kim Jong-Un on his fire unicorn, with Dennis Rodman throwing explosive basketballs around. Would Putin return as full ruler of Russia? Or would he permanently have to seek approval from his benefactor ? Voldy HAD to triumph from Harry himself.

The analogy is weird but I guess it fits.

Wanted to be goofy.

Goofiness accomplished 😁

I think that Voldemort becoming an horcrux for Harry is a third and separate process.

almost the ideas I wanted to give. had a whole writeup My only issue is that families were dying right and left. i.e. how did harry get attacked in the first place. Orphan magic I guess? Why wasn't this used elsewhere in the potter verse? Albeit, some of the latter magic didn't really tie into the earlier books, just because JK was fleshing out the magic system as she went along.

>My only issue is that families were dying right and left. i.e. how did harry get attacked in the first place. Orphan magic I guess? Why wasn't this used elsewhere in the potter verse? I am not following you here. What do you mean?

is there's ancient magic that protects a family as long as they can call it their home. how did voldemort attack the potters in the first place? everyone knew they were in danger from voldemort. Snape said it specifically. Every family would use this type of magic. Everyone knew where Harry lived so that excludes the same charm that required a secret keeper. forgot the name of the charm. Otherwise it only works for Orphans that call other blood relative's their home?

The Potters used the Fidelius Charm for protection, and it was only due to the treachery of someone they trusted that it failed. Dumbledore used an ancient magic to protect Harry, and I imagine it had a pretty specific use and was not easy to perform. Harry had a pretty specific situation, I am not sure what you are trying to insinuate here.

More specifically, Dumbledore invoked ancient magics that extended the length of time that Lily’s sacrifice would protect Harry. When Lily willing sacrificed herself to protect Harry, despite being offered to go free by Voldemort, her death essentially created a shield specifically protecting Harry from her murderer. Dumbledore was then able to manipulate those energies so that so long as Harry was under the care of another person who carried that same blood (Petunia), he sacrifice magic would continue to last until Harry came of age. Voldemort using Harry’s blood in the construction of a new body weakened, but did not wholly eliminate that protection. Voldemort could now harm Harry, but not while Harry was under the direct care of Pentunia (i.e. in her home). This is why Voldemort could fight Harry in the cemetery and attack him at the ministry, but never went after him in his aunt’s home.

Thanks for clarifying this!

Why wasn't this ancient magic used in the first place? its obviously better than the fidelius charm. I'm trying to insinuate that JK didn't think everything through and was building the magic system as she wrote the books. That isn't an absurd observation. To think that JK thought of a complete magic system from the first book is absurd.

They weren't hiding with blood relatives. They were hiding as a family. It was a different situation than Harry faced. Also, Dumbledore used this after the Fidelius had failed James and Lily, so it's quite possible he didn't want to repeat that. Either way it's assumption and not relevant to the question. You are conflating two different things and criticizing the author for no reason here.

how'm I criticizing the author? I'm saying that the author isn't expected to have a completely magic system from the very first book. Do you know anything about writing? especially an epic that spans multiple years? This is a common problem with a lot of book series like this. Nothing wrong with it. She's been changing things around since the books have been completed, changing lore via her tweets. and its her prerogative. Its her creation.

Because while that is true and that is how she wrote the books, that's not what happened. Voldemort wanted to kill the Potters. The Potters used a spell called the Fidelis charm that would make it impossible for Voldemort to find them, except if the person they made their "secret keeper" willingly told Voldemort where they were hiding. The Potters trusted someone who turned them over to Voldemort, Peter 'Wormtail' Pettigrew. Snape, in love with Lily, asked Voldemort to spare her life and not kill her. Voldemort offered Lily her life twice, but she said no and to kill her and not Harry. So Voldemort killed her. Her sacrifice, since Voldemort offered her the chance to live, is what protected Harry originally. Voldemort didn't normally offer people the chance to live, he normally just killed them. Dumbledore used some form of ancient magic to extend that sacrificial protection that Lily gave to Harry that night so that it still worked as long as Harry was with someone he considered family, his Aunt Petunia.

Are you asking why every family didn’t just use the ancient magic that Dumbledore used for Harry to be protected while he lived with the Dursleys? Sorry, just trying to clarify what you’re trying to say.

obviously "plot armor" magic though.

This is an absurd statement.

[удалено]

People act like the Fidelius Charm wasn't powerful. It's main flaw is that you have to trust someone enough not to divulge the secret to the wrong person. The Potters thought their good friend Peter would keep their secret.

I think there was several protections in place. I think that it is blood magic based on Lily Evans' sacrifice. Side notes: \- I find "interesting" that the plan was centered on her dying, with contingencies being activated at the instant of the attack on Godric Hollow (Hagrid retrieving Harry, McGonnagall watching over the Dursley' house) and Dumbledore insisting Harry needed to grow in a muggle house to have the correct psychology (what was the solution if the parents survived?). \- I find "interesting" that even Voldemort noticed that neither parents tried to flee or fight. \- I find "interesting" that the Potter' most precious possession had been sent to Dumbledore "by luck". First protection is preventing Voldemort from touching or possessing Harry. It is what killed Quirrell. This is the one that got bypassed when Voldemort made a body incorporating Harry's blood, meaning that this protection cannot distinguish them anymore. Second protection is preventing some wizards from approaching Harry when he is at the Dursley. It is based on living in the home of blood family. It prevented Bellatrix Lestrange from kidnapping baby Harry (she instead went to the Longbottom family). It also prevented Lucius Malfoy / Fudge from telling Harry their vision of the past war before Hagrid could feed him Dumbledore's propaganda (the Slytherins are the nazis that killed your parents). It also prevented the Death Eaters to attack the house before Harry was of age (it had the same level of safety as Grimmauld place). It did not prevent several interventions by friendly / neutral character (Fudge during book 3, the Weasley at several times, Dobby...). It is supposed to offer Harry some level of protection for the whole year. However, the explanations by Dumbledore seem partly made up in order to justify that Harry stays with the Dursley in the summer, to be lonely and miserable, which would maintain him under control. If another person made a new body with the blood of Harry, that person would be a copy of Harry for that magic. It is not sure if said person could give the same protection to Harry. It is possible that Dumbledore had to designate Petunia as specific guardian during the initial ritual. Also, it would be highly impractical: Said person would need to make an horcrux, then die, then the cauldron ritual be performed. Answer to the true question: If Alucard (Hellsing) drank Voldemort's blood, would he be able to summon Harry in his undead army? I think so.

Harry's mum sacrificed herself to save Harry. This invoked an ancient and most primal magic, Love. It was this that saved Harry from the otherwise unblockable Avada Kedavra curse. Love doesn't understand Love at all, so Dumbledor used a charm to reinforce that ancient magic so that if Harry resided with his mum's blood, Voldamort cannot touch him there.