Character Sketch: Lord Voldemort

[monika at darwin.inka.de]

No: HPFGUIDX 13724

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:

> 1. What is Voldemort's primary motivation?  To live forever?  To 
rid 
> the world of the non-pureblood (I know, he doesn't qualify 
> himself--racism knows no logic)?  Sheer lust for power?

I'd say a bit of all of the above. He wanted the philosopher's stone
to overcome his mortality, which would have given him enough time
to achieve his other goals. He wanted to rid the world of the
non-purblood and opened the chamber of secrets for the first time
(I suppose) after Salazar Slytherin. It doesn't matter that his
father was a Muggle, remember that Hitler didn't exactly look like
the type of human being he favored, that is tall, blonde and fair-
skinned. Lust for power plays a predominant role, too. He likes to
hear himself speaking to his inferiors (or followers) as we have
seen in GoF.

> 2. Can he be killed

I think he can be killed now that he has Harry's blood in him. I
believe that it would have been at least very hard to kill him when
he still was that ghostly being - how do you kill someone who is a
mere shadow? Maybe it could have been done with powerful magic, but
then, why didn't Dumbledore ever try to finish him off before he
regained a new body?


> 3. How will having been restored by Harry's blood affect him?

As I said above, I believe this is the first step leading to his
second (and final) downfall.

> 
> 4. Does he have an heir, and does he want one?  (I hate to ask 
this, 
> but it seems obligatory:) Is he going to prove to be related to 
anyone 
> we know?

Since I am not a Star Wars fan, I would be *very* disappointed if
he would prove to be related to anyone of the good guys. JKR has a
thing for dark-haired men, and the superficial physical resemblance
between the young Riddle and Harry doesn't prove anything to me.
 
> 5. Is he your typical Evil Overlord who repeatedly makes 
unbelievably 
> dumb mistakes, or are we underestimating him?

Hm, difficult question. As I see quite a few parallels between him
and Hitler, I believe that he will finally be so convinced of his
own infallibility that he will commit a dumb mistake that will give
Harry the chance to finish him off.

Monika