Harry's Lightning Scar

Category

item

First appears

Book 1

Books

2

Harry's lightning-bolt scar, left on his forehead when Lord Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounded on the night his parents died, begins as a mark of fame that makes him instantly recognizable throughout the wizarding world. In his first year it starts to burn whenever Voldemort is near, hinting at a deeper link between them. By the fourth book it has become an early-warning system and a window into Voldemort's mind, flaring with pain as the Dark Lord grows stronger and then searing as Voldemort is reborn in the Little Hangleton graveyard. The series later reveals the scar's darkest secret: it marks the fragment of Voldemort's soul lodged within Harry, which makes Harry an unintended Horcrux.