This isn’t the chain of logic I followed—for the sake of authenticity I’ll put that at the end, but -
Isn’t a little… strange, that artifacts designed and destined to defeat death transfer primarily by death?
I mean, even aside from the “kill the previous owner and take their stuff” method, the other option—inheriting it—is also heavily tied to death, as powerful artifacts like these are unlikely to be permanently given away until the original owner has no further use of it.
Backing away from plot for a minute—if you don’t expect to manage to destroy death yourself, you should really program your powerful artifacts to seek out the most effective owners, anyway. Inheritance is very unreliable, and murder is entirely counterproductive—both would be backup selectors to anyone designing such a thing. So what’s the primary determinant?
I think we’ve seen it. The prophecy stone, that responded to Harry’s oath to end death, engraved with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, and completely unmentioned since—if I were going to design such a thing, gifting the Hallows to someone who had sworn an honest oath against death would be a good start, particularly if I could somehow tie it into True Patronus capability (as the silvery light suggests.)
If that’s the case, then Harry has a stronger claim on the Hallows than their current physical possessors. Most importantly, this includes the Resurrection Stone. Further, magic seems to register HJPEV as “Tom Riddle”—at any rate, the ancient Hogwarts wards do. So unless magic has multiple names for Harry Potter, then HJPEV may really count as the same person as Voldemort—in which case he would have access to his Horcrux network. Voldemort may even have anticipated this—but since literally nobody knows both the existence and the significance of that glowing stone, he can’t anticipate losing control over the Stone.
(My actual chain of logic started from noticing that I was confused about the Death prophecy—since I didn’t really see how the Hallows would play much of a part in the climax of the story—which lead to the realization that the prophecy might reassign ownership of the Hallows.)
I think you’re right; on reflection, that’s exactly the sort of thing I would expect rational!Peverells to do, plus the stone appears about the right age to be set up by the Peverells. Based on the same reflection, I agree with your predictions and the probabilities you’ve given them. Quoting for posterity:
Harry is the Master of Death, in the sense of being the primary magical owner of all three Hallows − 75%.
HJPEV counts as Tom Riddle, to the point that on death, the Horcrux network will attempt to update based on him. − 60%.
The prophecy stone in Chapter 96 (“the tall stone worn as though from a thousand years of age, upon it a line within a circle within a triangle glowing ever so faintly silver”) and/or its behavior will become plot-relevant. 95% Otherwise it’s a major unfired Chekhov’s Gun.
The wand Quirrell produced from a false tooth in Chapter 107 (the one that he then uses to cast Fiendfyre) is the brother to Harry’s wand. 90%
Riddle’s Horcrux 2.0 (the improved version that resembles the ‘false’ description, but before he integrated the Resurrection Stone) is actually a lost earlier version of the Horcrux spell; Riddle rediscovered it. 70%
Observations:
This whole segment from Chapter 108 reminds me strongly of having something to protect:
“And you,” said Professor Quirrell, “have no right to speak of happiness either. Happiness is not what you hold precious above all. You decided that in the beginning, all the way back in the beginning of this year, when the Sorting Hat offered you Hufflepuff. Which I know about, because I received a similar offer and warning all those years ago, and I refused it just as you did. Beyond this there is little more to say, between Tom Riddles.”
… Hm.
This isn’t the chain of logic I followed—for the sake of authenticity I’ll put that at the end, but -
Isn’t a little… strange, that artifacts designed and destined to defeat death transfer primarily by death?
I mean, even aside from the “kill the previous owner and take their stuff” method, the other option—inheriting it—is also heavily tied to death, as powerful artifacts like these are unlikely to be permanently given away until the original owner has no further use of it.
Backing away from plot for a minute—if you don’t expect to manage to destroy death yourself, you should really program your powerful artifacts to seek out the most effective owners, anyway. Inheritance is very unreliable, and murder is entirely counterproductive—both would be backup selectors to anyone designing such a thing. So what’s the primary determinant?
I think we’ve seen it. The prophecy stone, that responded to Harry’s oath to end death, engraved with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, and completely unmentioned since—if I were going to design such a thing, gifting the Hallows to someone who had sworn an honest oath against death would be a good start, particularly if I could somehow tie it into True Patronus capability (as the silvery light suggests.)
If that’s the case, then Harry has a stronger claim on the Hallows than their current physical possessors. Most importantly, this includes the Resurrection Stone. Further, magic seems to register HJPEV as “Tom Riddle”—at any rate, the ancient Hogwarts wards do. So unless magic has multiple names for Harry Potter, then HJPEV may really count as the same person as Voldemort—in which case he would have access to his Horcrux network. Voldemort may even have anticipated this—but since literally nobody knows both the existence and the significance of that glowing stone, he can’t anticipate losing control over the Stone.
So, predictions:
Harry is the Master of Death, in the sense of being the primary magical owner of all three Hallows − 75%.
HJPEV counts as Tom Riddle, to the point that on death, the Horcrux network will attempt to update based on him. − 60%.
Links go to PredictionBook pages.
(My actual chain of logic started from noticing that I was confused about the Death prophecy—since I didn’t really see how the Hallows would play much of a part in the climax of the story—which lead to the realization that the prophecy might reassign ownership of the Hallows.)
I think you’re right; on reflection, that’s exactly the sort of thing I would expect rational!Peverells to do, plus the stone appears about the right age to be set up by the Peverells. Based on the same reflection, I agree with your predictions and the probabilities you’ve given them. Quoting for posterity:
And I’ll just make this my prediction comment for this thread. (Previous prediction comment.)
The prophecy stone in Chapter 96 (“the tall stone worn as though from a thousand years of age, upon it a line within a circle within a triangle glowing ever so faintly silver”) and/or its behavior will become plot-relevant. 95% Otherwise it’s a major unfired Chekhov’s Gun.
The wand Quirrell produced from a false tooth in Chapter 107 (the one that he then uses to cast Fiendfyre) is the brother to Harry’s wand. 90%
Riddle’s Horcrux 2.0 (the improved version that resembles the ‘false’ description, but before he integrated the Resurrection Stone) is actually a lost earlier version of the Horcrux spell; Riddle rediscovered it. 70%
Observations:
This whole segment from Chapter 108 reminds me strongly of having something to protect: