Voldemort's Smarts

[fourfuries at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27068

Or maybe he's just crazy?
4FR


--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Eric Oppen" <oppen at c...> wrote:
> 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?