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Two reasons why this could be possible (correct me if I'm wrong):

  1. Harry eventually became the owner of all the Hallows. The cloak of invisibility (from his father), the elder wand and the resurrection stone. (is he still the owner if one is broken and one is lost? And does Master of Death mean immortal?)

  2. Trelawney's prophecy is as thus:

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...."

Pay particular attention to,

and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...

Does this mean Harry can only be killed by Voldemort?

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  • In the second response, the accepted answer mentions that they use of "live" and "survive" is more significant than not. Survive, if fairly clear: not dead. Live may have the meaning of living life to the fullest or as the person desires; rather than, the biological meaning of live.
    – Josafoot
    Aug 31, 2017 at 20:31
  • @JasonBaker's comment is a duplicate of the first comment :)
    – Josafoot
    Aug 31, 2017 at 20:32

1 Answer 1

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You forgot the most obvious reason Harry could be immortal: He came back from the dead.

Also, the Elder Wand is only broken in the movie, not the books. Recall, however, that the story of the Deathly Hallows is a fable, a legend that has a bit of truth in it. Do you actually think Death itself created the Hallows? The only think you can say for sure is the Peverill brothers found or created the Hallows. You should know that even in the fable, each of the three brothers died (two of them quickly). So owning the Hallows does not make you immortal.

(This is what I think "Master of Death" means: if you have the Elder Wand, you can kill your enemies before they kill you; if you have the Resurrection Stone, you can still see your loved ones after Death has claimed them; and with the Invisibility Cloak, you can hide from your enemies, avoiding an unnatural death.)

As far as the prophecy goes, you should recall that prophecies, like fables, are never literal. The "neither can live" part is most metaphorical, as most people think it means more a "have a fulfilling life" instead of a more literal interpretation. I don't have my books with me or I'd present a stronger case here in my last paragraph.

EDIT
After watching the Deathly Hallows movies over the weekend, it occurred to me that Harry did not want to be immortal or the "Master of Death." His behavior of giving up the Elder Wand shows he wants to live a normal life.

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    Thanks! This was a great answer, I forgot the wand wasn't broken in the books. And I was hoping that this theory was, well, a theory, because if it wasn't, Harry would never see his parents, or Sirius or Remus again. But, anyway, very informative, thank you. I'd give you a +1 but I haven't gained that ability yet. Aug 31, 2017 at 20:59
  • Each of the Peverill brothers only owned one of the three Hallows, I think, so that could be why two died quickly. Would the fate of them have been different when owning all three together?
    – Alith
    Aug 31, 2017 at 21:07

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