That damn blood protection thing

[fishinginthemud.livejournal.com]

My sincere apologies if this has been addressed before, but I haven't found anything on it yet.

We are told that Harry survives the Killing Curse from Voldemort because Voldemort is now a "blood relative" and Harry can't be harmed in the presence of his "blood relatives." But at that point, hasn't the "blood protection" spell already ended, since Harry is now 17 and no longer lives with the Dursleys? Have I missed something?

Comments

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

I absolutely loved reading that theory. It totally works based on what we know of Harry's family tree.

Dumbledore sent Harry to the Dursleys because both the Malfoys and the Lestranges could have claimed him as his closest living magical relatives.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Yes. An actual, coherent, understandable, political *reason* to stash the kid with his muggle relations.

And, really, even adding an extra generation between Doria Black and Harry, the 3 Black sisters are *still* his closest wzarding relatives. And that's right off the stupid tapestry sketch.

[oryx_leucoryx]

But he had closer relatives. The various elder Blacks were still around - his great-aunt Cassiopeia Black, his great-grandfather Pollux Black were his closest living magical relatives. And after the war Lucius' standing was weakened by his confession.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

That's right. When Tom was defeated the first time, there were a number of Blacks still alive. Most of them too old to really expect them to take on the care of a toddler, but they were certainly alive.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that is a very good point. Pollux and Cassiopeia were Dorea's siblings. If we go with the family tree on the HP Lexicon site, Pollux was 69 and Cassiopeia was 66 when the Potters died. That's not really that old in the wizarding world.

Well, it's still an interesting idea that Dumbledore placed Harry with the Dursleys in order to keep him away from the Blacks.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Albus was the uncrowned king of Wizarding Britain that moment. The Potters were his proteges and they won the war for everyone. Lucius was at an all-time low. I doubt anyone would have supported Lucius if he had objected to Albus placing Harry with the Weasleys, Longbottoms or any other of his close supporters. He whisked Harry off to 4PD because it served his plans to do so.

And I'm sure the only protection 4PD offered against the remaining DEs was that of relative anonimity. It really was fortunate that Lily had a sister rather than a brother. So even those who remembered her maiden name didn't know which family to look for.

(But what prevented anyone from sending a cursed object of their choice by owl to Harry? Owls do find people rather than addresses, most of the time.)

[fishinginthemud.livejournal.com]

He says in so many words that he's leaving Harry with the Dursleys because he doesn't want him becoming a spoiled, arrogant brat. It didn't seem as cold-blooded at the time, because he probably didn't expect Harry to be locked in a closet and starved, but his motive was definitely to have Harry not realize he was special or important.

If the "blood protection" thing had had any real significance, we probably would have seen Voldemort try and fail to attack Harry at 4PD. As it is, we might as well assume Dumbledore was lying about the whole thing and Voldemort never figured out exactly where Harry lived.

[oryx_leucoryx]

but his motive was definitely to have Harry not realize he was special or important

Until he turns 11 and bam! he is the most special person ever!

But there are other motives, I think. He wanted Harry to have no other support in the magical world and little if any in the Muggle one, so that Albus could be the most influential adult in his life. He wanted Harry to view the magical world in Albus-tinted glasses.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

but his motive was definitely to have Harry not realize he was special or important

Dumbledore didn't want Harry spoiled or to know he was special....

hummm...

Can we call this an epic fail on Dumbledore's part? He really failed at the braty part and spoiled, and arrogant...There all big key traits Harry's got going on.

[whittertwitter.livejournal.com]

Or he could have been sent to live with Andromeda. She was, if not an actual member of the OotP, at least supportive of Dumbledore's side during the war. And I doubt she would have raised Harry to be a "pampered prince", if Tonks is any indication of her parenting skills.