This is the second part of a series of posts I'm putting together on the various clues I think JKR has scattered throughout the first six books to give us an idea of what will happen in the final book. If you haven't read it yet the first part was about Petigrew's Debt to Harry. This post discusses the second clue which can be found near the end of the fourth book but is very easy to miss. it is literally contained in a single line, but to me that makes it all the more signifficant.

Dumbledore's Un-explained Triumph

Near the end of book four, when Harry has returned from the graveyard where he witnessed the return of Voldemort, Dumbledore makes him recount everything that happened there in great detail. Harry explains that the potion to revive Voldemort needed three key ingredients, the bone of an ancestor, the flesh of a servant, and the blood of an enemy. Harry tells how Voldemort used the bones of his father, Wormtail's hand and Harry's blood for the potion. Dumbledore then asks to see where the blood was taken from and when Harry shows him the wound on his arm Harry thinks he momentarily sees a 'look of triumph' in Dumbledore's eyes.

This look of triumph is not explained in books five or six and is in fact not even mentioned again. It is such a small reference and thrown in so subtly amidst a lot of action ththat it just reeks of JKR trying to tell us someing, it's her style! This leads me to believe that we are getting a glimpse here of something that will be very important in the final book.

But What Does it Mean?

Unfortunately, there is very little to go on here as the whole clue is literally a single sentence. The only feeble theory I've been able to come up with is that because Petigrew inflicted the wound it strengthens his debt to Harry (which I discussed in the first part of this series) but I have little doubt there is much much more to it than that.

What strikes me is that Voldemort considers his use of Harry's blood to be a master-stroke and is beside himself with glee because it has stripped Harry of the protection his mother gave him by dying for him. We, the reader see this event as being an entirely negative thing for Harry and the good side as a whole. The whole air is of doom and gloom and of victory for the dark side, this makes the one ray of light, Dumbledore's apparent look of triumph, all the more striking.

Conclusion

I believe that Dumbledore thinks that Voldemort has failed to see a vitally important consequence of his decision to use Harry's blood. This means that to understand the significance of this clue you need to understand what effect Harry's blood will have on Voldemort. Perhaps it will serve to strengthen the link between Harry and Voldemort and perhaps Harry will be able to use this link against Voldemort? We can only guess really but I'm confident that this apparent moment of triumph for Voldemort will have somehow sown the seeds of his eventual defeat.

Note

This post was initially posted to my old blog here. Comments may no longer be posted there and should be posted here but
there are still some old comments at the original loaction that people may be interested in reading.