Voldemort's Smarts

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 27057

A lot of people have posted here about how dumb Lord Voldemort's been, like
duelling Harry in GoF instead of just killing him.  It occurs to me that
Lord Voldemort's been through a _lot_ of dangerous magical transformations
since his Tom Riddle days, and that any or all of these could have seriously
affected his brain or his judgement.  You don't necessarily have to be
brilliantly smart to cast spells---otherwise poor Draco Malfoy would be
without his two favorite thugs.

The brain is about the most delicate part of the body, and even a small
injury can, as I have excellent reasons to know, have catastrophic effects.
The transformations were described by Dumbledore as dangerous, and many of
them may have had side effects---in fact, we know they did, since Lord
Voldemort looks very different than an aged, but still hearty,
Tom-Riddle-who-had-never-gone-bad would look.  They may very well have
affected his brain, and he himself might not be aware of this fact---my
mother had serious side-effects from a head injury, but she swore up and
down that she was perfectly fine, thank you, and she was NOT hypomanic, or
in need of tranquilizers.  (At least, this is what she swore to me---after
her death I heard from one of her longtime friends that Mom had admitted to
her that she WAS, after all, hypomanic).  Or Voldemort might be aware of the
changes, and either not care or think that they're improvements.

So Voldemort's spellcasting might be just about as sharp as ever, while his
judgement's severely impaired.  It would be interesting to observe the Death
Eaters if they ever came to the conclusion that Voldemort was not as sharp
as he once had been, and wasn't on the ball as much any more.  They strike
me as a backstabbing lot, and they might very well be pretending to follow
Voldemort until he destroys all opposition (his spellcasting's still good,
after all) at which point they intend to turn on him and destroy him and
take over the wizarding world, which he so kindly cleared of possible
opposition to their rule.

Comments?  Flames?