It also allows him to master the preparatory Occlumency exercises with extreme speed and ease. Which makes sense since the heart of Occlumency is assuming whatever personality you want at a given time, a gift Voldemort claims to have in abundance.
I just thought of something, and I’m not sure what the connection is to this but I feel like there is an underlying connection. Is EY emphasizing Snape’s history for a pragmatic plot type reason? Maybe there’s a secret reveal coming up, about Lily or something? This is purely intuitive so it’s probably crap. But sometimes my intuition is smarter than my active thoughts.
My guess is that he’s filling in Snape’s character background to give him the full complexity he deserves as one of the major players. Although Dumbledore doesn’t seem to think twice about him, Harry treats him as an obstacle, and Quirrell dismisses him as an opponent, it’s been made clear that Snape is running his own multi-stage plans (such as his manipulation of Hermione), which interact and interfere with everyone else’s. Perhaps his role is due to expand.
Harry is totally schizophrenic in MOR though. He’s got all of the Founders in his head.
You seem to be working from a unified view of the mind in which there is one single personality with one single voice, and deviations from this structure are pathological. I don’t think this is accurate.
Even if it was, it is common for people to hold internal dialogues, and not unusual for patterns to develop where certain kinds of thought are given certain labels. I don’t think this says anything special about Harry, except that he has a rich and vibrant inner life.
Also, a Public Service Announcement: “schizophrenia” is an umbrella term for a long list of possible symptoms whose main common feature is disconnection from reality or warped perception of it. You are thinking of Dissociative Identity Disorder (commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder), which is a completely different thing altogether.
The dark side isn’t even a personality, as such, which implies strongly that it’s not a soul.
I was originally going to put a quote here, but it turned out to be pretty much half the chapter, so… Chapter 56. In particular, when you read
a blind terrified thing that only wanted to find a dark corner and hide and not have to think about it any more - [...]
Visualizing himself cradling his dark side like a frightened child in his arms.
Think back to Deathly Hallows, Chapter 36: King’s Cross, specifically the bit
He was the only person there, except for -
He recoiled. He had spotted the thing that was making the noises. It had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, flayed-looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, struggling for breath.
He was afraid of it. Small and fragile and wounded though it was, he did not want to approach it. Nevertheless he drew slowly nearer, ready to jump back at any moment. Soon he stood near enough to touch it, yet he could not bring himself to do it. He felt like a coward. He ought to comfort it, but it repulsed him.
No. Parseltongue has nothing to do with the dark side, and neither does the possible piece of Voldemort’s soul inside Harry. You’re confusing two different things. I’m not trying to argue that he isn’t a Horcrux, I’m trying to argue that the dark side is an authentic part of Harry and was not a result of the Horcrux.
Harry has some Voldemort powers. None of those are from the dark side of Harry, though. Nothing about Harry’s dark side is Voldemorty except that Harry arbitrarily labeled it dark.
I think the difference there is that Hufflepuff is a voice representing some of Harry’s thoughts and attitudes, running in parallel with the voice that Harry thinks of as himself. His dark side is a different state of consciousness—while it’s “on”, Harry processes emotions differently to normal, as well as thoughts, and the difference is big enough for him to perceive a separation between the dark side and his usual self.
Anecdotal evidence: I have a mental separation in my own inner life between “modules”, things like Harry’s house avatars that interject thoughts into my ongoing thought process, and “other personalities,” only one of which can be running at once. So the structure isn’t totally unrealistic.
I would have thought Parseltongue was an obvious example.
It also allows him to master the preparatory Occlumency exercises with extreme speed and ease. Which makes sense since the heart of Occlumency is assuming whatever personality you want at a given time, a gift Voldemort claims to have in abundance.
My guess is that he’s filling in Snape’s character background to give him the full complexity he deserves as one of the major players. Although Dumbledore doesn’t seem to think twice about him, Harry treats him as an obstacle, and Quirrell dismisses him as an opponent, it’s been made clear that Snape is running his own multi-stage plans (such as his manipulation of Hermione), which interact and interfere with everyone else’s. Perhaps his role is due to expand.
Harry is totally schizophrenic in MOR though. He’s got all of the Founders in his head.
The dark side isn’t even a personality, as such, which implies strongly that it’s not a soul.
I think your interpretation of the Snape thing is probably accurate.
You seem to be working from a unified view of the mind in which there is one single personality with one single voice, and deviations from this structure are pathological. I don’t think this is accurate.
Even if it was, it is common for people to hold internal dialogues, and not unusual for patterns to develop where certain kinds of thought are given certain labels. I don’t think this says anything special about Harry, except that he has a rich and vibrant inner life.
Also, a Public Service Announcement: “schizophrenia” is an umbrella term for a long list of possible symptoms whose main common feature is disconnection from reality or warped perception of it. You are thinking of Dissociative Identity Disorder (commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder), which is a completely different thing altogether.
I was originally going to put a quote here, but it turned out to be pretty much half the chapter, so… Chapter 56. In particular, when you read
Think back to Deathly Hallows, Chapter 36: King’s Cross, specifically the bit
No. Parseltongue has nothing to do with the dark side, and neither does the possible piece of Voldemort’s soul inside Harry. You’re confusing two different things. I’m not trying to argue that he isn’t a Horcrux, I’m trying to argue that the dark side is an authentic part of Harry and was not a result of the Horcrux.
Harry has some Voldemort powers. None of those are from the dark side of Harry, though. Nothing about Harry’s dark side is Voldemorty except that Harry arbitrarily labeled it dark.
The dark side is ridiculously afraid of death, which we know to be a Voldemort trait. It’s also very much separate from Harry.
I see fear of death as more of a universally human thing. I think that makes more sense than saying Voldemort’s soul is inherently more fearful.
I think people are attributing things to the dark side that don’t really belong there.
Why do you think the dark side is any more separate from Harry than Hufflepuff?
Harry says it is, in Azkaban.
I think the difference there is that Hufflepuff is a voice representing some of Harry’s thoughts and attitudes, running in parallel with the voice that Harry thinks of as himself. His dark side is a different state of consciousness—while it’s “on”, Harry processes emotions differently to normal, as well as thoughts, and the difference is big enough for him to perceive a separation between the dark side and his usual self.
Anecdotal evidence: I have a mental separation in my own inner life between “modules”, things like Harry’s house avatars that interject thoughts into my ongoing thought process, and “other personalities,” only one of which can be running at once. So the structure isn’t totally unrealistic.
In fairness, MoR!Voldemort has yet to demonstrate this trait. If anything, he acts as if he is tired of living.
Well, Quirrell thinks that the Dementor at Hogwarts tells him that he’ll hunt him down....
When you think about it, it makes sense that Horcruxing yourself would piss off Deathmentors something fierce.