In HBP, while learning about Horcruxes, we discover that the act of murder shatters one's soul. Well, didn't Harry murder Quirrell in SS? Does it not count because it was in self defense? Your thoughts.

no voldemort leaving his body killed quirell, dd says so in the hospital wing at the end of ss

Ahh, I see. Lazy mistake on my part, I should have checked. Glad to know Harry is still clean!

1. Harry was acting in self defense, he wasn't intentionally murdering someone. There's a difference between murder and killing (in self defense).

2. Your soul is shattered when you make a Horcrux from someone's death, when you try to profit from someone dying; not just by killing someone.

Lily phoenix,

I am pretty certain the DD says that the soul is broken from the act of murder.

Though, your first point is right. Killing someone is not always murder. It can be self deffense, and accident, or an act of justice.

Now the last one can be tricky. I personally think if Harry confronts LV in a duel, and he disarms him and has him in a full body bind or something similar, then kills him while helpless, well this is neither justice, nor self deffense, so it would be murder.

Is that not justice, after all LV has done? In a sense, he would be killing in self defense because LV is obviously trying to kill Harry, which means finding a way to kill LV, even while he is helpless.

Harry couldn't have killed Quirrell as he was unconscious at the time.

Page 214, Australian edition:


On the next page, in the hospital wing, Dumbledore tells Harry,


So, Harry didn't kill Quirrell at all, self defence or otherwise. Harry's soul is intact!

Voldemort himself says in GoF that Quirrell died when Voldemort left his body. The wounds Harry inflicted on Quirrell were probably survivable (look how quickly Madame Pomfrey cured the dragon burns), but Voldemort did additional damage by ripping himself out of Quirrell's body causing Quirrell's instant death. So Quirrell's death was ultimately Voldemort's responsibility, not Harry's.

This topic, although very interesting, is closed. If you want to discuss Harry's Mysterious Power go here and you'll find a good arguments. For those more inquisitive here are other related topics:is there part of Riddle in Harry? or Dumbledore doesn't tell Harry to kill

Happy posting!

LL mod
You_won't_know_who