Harry Potter 06 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

told that his anger was terrible to behold.’
    ‘But I thought he meant Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it into Hogwarts?’
    ‘Yes he did, years ago, when he was sure he would be able to create more Horcruxes, but still Lucius was supposed to wait for Voldemort’s say-so, and he never received it, for Voldemort vanished shortly after giving him the diary. No doubt he thought that Lucius would not dare do anything with the Horcrux other than guard it carefully, but he was counting too much upon Lucius’s fear of a master who had been gone for years and whom Lucius believed dead. Of course, Lucius did not know what the diary really was. I understand that Voldemort had told him the diary would cause the Chamber of Secrets to reopen, because it was cleverly enchanted. Had Lucius known he held a portion of his master’s soul in his hands he would undoubtedly have treated it with more reverence – but instead he went ahead and carried out the old plan for his own ends: by planting the diary upon Arthur Weasley’s daughter, he hoped to discredit Arthur, have me thrown out of Hogwarts and get rid of a highly incriminating object in one stroke. Ah, poor Lucius … what with Voldemort’s fury about the fact that he threw away the Horcrux for his own gain, and the fiasco at the Ministry last year, I would not be surprised if he is secretly glad to be safe in Azkaban at the moment.’
    Harry sat in thought for a moment, then asked, ‘So if all of his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort could be killed?’
    ‘Yes, I think so,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical power remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort, even without his Horcruxes.’
    ‘But I haven’t got uncommon skill and power,’ said Harry, before he could stop himself.
    ‘Yes, you have,’ said Dumbledore firmly. ‘You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can –’
    ‘I know!’ said Harry impatiently. ‘I can love!’ It was only with difficulty that he stopped himself adding, ‘Big deal!’
    ‘Yes, Harry, you can love,’ said Dumbledore, who looked as though he knew perfectly well what Harry had just refrained from saying. ‘Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Harry.’
    ‘So, when the prophecy says that I’ll have “power the Dark Lord knows not”, it just means – love?’ asked Harry, feeling a little let down.
    ‘Yes – just love,’ said Dumbledore. ‘But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him – and in doing so, he made you the person who would be most dangerous to him!’
    ‘But it comes to the same –’
    ‘No, it doesn’t!’ said Dumbledore, sounding impatient now. 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’s words! 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 realise 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. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly