Summary

• The Resurrection Stone did not bring Harry back to life because it cannot fully restore the dead to life, as shown in "The Tale of the Three Brothers."
• Voldemort being a Horcrux for Harry is unlikely because creating a Horcrux requires splitting one's soul through murder.
• Harry survived the second Killing Curse because a piece of Voldemort's soul lived inside him, and when Voldemort cast the curse, it only killed the piece of his soul inside Harry. Harry's connection with Voldemort helped him time and time again, including surviving the killing curse for the second time.

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It's been years since the main Harry Potter series concluded, but the nostalgia of the saga still spawns theories about some of its most important moments. As every fan knows, Harry survived the killing curse as a baby because his mother's love protected him. However, after Voldemort returned using Harry's blood to regain his full body, he was allowed to touch Harry without suffering negative consequences. This raises the question of how Harry survived the killing curse a second time in Deathly Hallows.

Being able to touch Harry would, theoretically, mean Voldemort could kill him, which meant something else was at play. Amid a few online misconceptions, two of the main theories can be discussed and refuted to really understand how it happened. The first is that the Resurrection Stone brought Harry back after Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra. The second is that when Voldemort restored his body using Harry's blood in The Goblet of Fire, he became a Horcrux of Harry. However, these theories are easy to refute, and the true explanation is much more simple and straightforward.

Updated on May 5, 2024, by Andrea Sandoval: While the Harry Potter films are a terrific adaptation of the Wizarding World, a lot of the time they don't have enough time to explain the many magical intricacies that appear in the books. Many Harry Potter fans wonder how Harry came back to life after Voldemort struck him with the Killing Curse. There are many theories about this, and we updated this article to enrich this thrilling discussion.

Harry Came Back to Life After Being Stroked By Voldemort's Killing Curse (For a Second Time)

Harry's Self-Sacrifice Was a Gamble, As Not Even Dumbledore Fully Understood The Nature Of Horcruxes

• Narcissa Malfoy, married to a Death Eater, lied to Lord Voldemort and made him believe Harry was dead. However, it wasn't true, as she could feel the pulse of the Boy Who Lived. This courageous act from Narcissa also allowed Harry to survive this moment.

When Harry discovers he's one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes through Severus Snape's memories, he understands that he needs to die for his peers to be able to kill the Dark Lord once and for all. Since Voldemort was waiting for Harry to turn himself in, the Boy Who Lived decided to allow the villain to finally kill him. Voldemort, predictably, uses the Avada Kedavra on Harry for a second time, and thinking him dead, makes Hagrid take his body to Hogwarts to celebrate his victory.

However, after a brief interaction in his head with Albus Dumbledore in King's Cross Station, Harry returns to life, to the surprise of not only his friends but Lord Voldemort himself. This moment, which isn't as widely explained in the film as it is in the books, confuses a lot of fans, who don't fully understand how Harry managed to come back from the curse. The explanation has to do with the logistics of Horcruxes, which not even Dumbledore, one of the brightest wizards ever born, fully understood, as he wasn't sure Harry would survive the killing curse for a second time. But he did.

Harry's Survival Had Nothing to Do with the Resurrection Stone

The Resurrection Stone's Ability To Bring The Dead Back Isn't That Simple

Many Harry Potter fans have speculated that the Resurrection Stone's power was able to help Harry survive the killing curse and return to living status. Except, that's not how the Resurrection Stone works. While it can "recall loved ones from the grave," the Stone cannot fully restore someone to life. As told in "The Tale of the Three Brothers," the Resurrection Stone brought the second brother's loved one back to the living world, but because she didn't belong there, she soon turned cold and sad.

The theory about Harry's survival was connected to his use of the Stone before his encounter with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Recovering the Stone from the Golden Snitch, Harry recalled his mother and the Marauders for emotional support and then dropped it to the ground. As shown, he could see and hear his dead loved ones, but they remained incorporeal, and no one else could perceive them. Thus, bringing Harry back to life doesn't appear to be within the Stone's power.

Why Voldemort Wasn't a Horcrux for Harry

Horcruxes May Be A Mystery, But Fans Know Enough About Them To Recognize This Isn't Possible

All 7 Of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes:

• Tom Riddle's Diary
• Slytherin's Locket
• Marvolo Gaunt's Ring
• Hufflepuff's Cup
• Ravenclaw's Diadem
• Nagini
• Harry Potter (unintentionally)

Nobody knows exactly how Horcruxes are made in Harry Potter, as that information has never been fully divulged. While Voldemort used Harry's blood to regain his full body with dark magic, he could have become a Horcrux, of sorts. But the theory has some holes. To begin with, a Horcrux is connected to someone's soul, not their blood. Furthermore, to create a Horcrux, one has to first split one's soul by murdering someone, and Harry Potter had never murdered anyone.

Murder is the worst act a wizard can inflict on another, and Voldemort creates Horcruxes by killing and storing pieces of his soul in objects and other living beings. Harry did not kill anyone, thus, he could not have made a Horcrux out of Voldemort. Taking Harry's blood allowed Voldemort to negate the effects of Lily's protection over Harry and strengthened their connection, but unless a person's soul is in their blood, this would not make Voldemort a Horcrux.

Furthermore, if Voldemort had been Harry's Horcrux, Harry still wouldn't have come back to life in his original body. His soul would have been wandering around until he had found a way to create a body of his own. When everyone thought Voldemort had died after the Avada Kedavra he aimed at baby Harry bounced back to him, he spent several years living as a sort of spirit and had to become a parasite in Quirinus Quirrell's body for a while.

So, How Did Harry Potter Survive the Second Killing Curse?

Voldemort's Killing Curse Struck The Last Remaining Piece Of His Own Fractured Soul