Eye Roll

[Indigo]

No: HPFGUIDX 24746

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Alexandra Y. Kwan" <litalex at y...> wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Actually, I was miffed by Voldemort's (or Wormtail's,
> or any of the bad guys') long speeches.  I kept
> thinking that they must not have read the evil
> overlord list.
> 
> little Alex

The Evil Overlord list was meant as a joke, and IMO shouldn't be 
taken so seriously.

It was in character for Voldemort [Wormtail, et al] to give the long 
speeches.  It was appropriate.

Voldemort's a megalomaniac. 

Megalomania being defined as: 

 1 : a mania for great or grandiose performance

 2 : a delusional mental disorder that is marked by infantile 
feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur

This is not me trying to lord my brilliant vocab over the rest of the 
world -- I'm just posting it here so you know where I'm referring 
from, and why.

It's perfectly in character for a megalomaniac to explain his grand 
scheme to the hero because in the megalomaniac's mind, the hero is 
defeated, powerless, and has no way whatsoever to make any sort of 
comeback.  

And in Voldie's view? He's surrounded by his Death Eaters. Lily 
Potter's dead so she can't protect Harry twice.

Harry's out of his element, away from his protectors, and has just 
seen a classmate die before his eyes. He's only FOURTEEN. This would 
pretty much reduce any other kid to a quivering heap, but Harry's had 
three years of Voldemort-induced prep time.   

As for Wormtail? 

Sycophant. 

: a servile self-seeking flatterer

He'd say anything that would serve him better.

Telling his story bought him time wherein nobody was attempting to 
part his skin from the rest of him, and set him up for what he hoped 
were attempts to garner sympathy for his "plight" -- poor helpless 
Peter siding with Voldemort because he didn't believe the good guys 
would win. Poor Wormtail having needed help all his life, finally 
ending up in something like a position where he wouldn't have to 
fear, because his "friends" the Death Eaters would look out for him.

That's what makes villains villainous. They're flawed. They have 
these huge personality flaws that make them act in ways that [as a 
reader] are laughable but make perfect sense to their skewed mindsets.

Indigo