Emily, he didn't. He used that ancient spell. I'm guessing cause he couldn't get to the Horcruxes.

eta: GOOD CALL PETE.

Oh, I remember what's been bugging me! What horcrux did Voldemort use to come back to life in GoF?

He didn't use a Horcrux. He used flesh and blood. I think the existence of the Horcruxes is what caused him not to die at Godric's Hollow to begin with, but they're more safekeeping for his soul; I don't think he could actually use one to regain life.

It's mentioned a couple of times a little up-thread, and again even earlier when people started counting off who destroyed which Horcrux in sequence and it always ended with Neville at 6 and Harry/Voldemort at 7.

Ah, that's weird. Because it's pretty clear in the book.

He wasn't dead, he was just sort of in a larval stage.

Hmm. I'd been assuming that the reason the Kedavra rebound didn't outright kill him was because of the Horcruxes. No? Then why should this one have killed him?

Honestly, I'm still hung up on the whole "Lily's death protecting Harry" thing. Really? In all the wizarding world, no mother's ever died trying to save her child before? Ever? I still enjoy the books. I just find that a little weak.

Aims, what does Daniel R in a bra do for you? Inquiring minds want to know.

Does a lot for me of it's *my* bra he's in.

I'll be in my bunk.

Then why should this one have killed him?

Because all the Horcruxes were destroyed. His soul was no longer split; it was all right there in Voldemort.

Honestly, I'm still hung up on the whole "Lily's death protecting Harry" thing. Really? In all the wizarding world, no mother's ever died trying to save her child before? Ever?

Heh. That is a thing, it is.

I think the existence of the Horcruxes is what caused him not to die at Godric's Hollow to begin with, but they're more safekeeping for his soul; I don't think he could actually use one to regain life.

But then why would you bother having 7? He split his soul that many times purely for the purposes of misdirection? I thought it was so he could come back that many times. Which, granted, doesn't make a lot of sense either. He was just batshit crazy, wasn't he?

Sure, in the book Nagini's actually the ultimate Horcrux, but, well, Harry/Voldemort is so the ultimate Horcrux in another way...

He didn't use a Horcrux. He used flesh and blood. I think the existence of the Horcruxes is what caused him not to die at Godric's Hollow to begin with, but they're more safekeeping for his soul; I don't think he could actually use one to regain life.

I agree with P-C here, but he did unintentionally use a part of a Horcrux to bring himself back.

Hmm. I'd been assuming that the reason the Kedavra rebound didn't outright kill him was because of the Horcruxes. No? Then why should this one have killed him?

Yes, I think that's correct. The Horcruxes are a tether to this world. The reason that the last rebounded killing curse actually killed him is because he had no horcruxes left.

What I do find unlikely is that the Death Eaters apparently left the wand behind? How strange.

Well, it spun off the top of the tower, so I'm guessing it landed somewhere near Dumbledore, well out of reach of the Death Eaters who were sprinting their way out of Hogwarts.

I guess I'd been assuming that the Horcruxes were sort of one-use deals -- survive a fatal curse, use up a Horcrux.