Catching up with MAGIC DISHWASHER

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 45390

GreyWolf said:

>>I covered the danger of Vapour!Voldemort in 
both my previous post (45279) and in this one (as well as 
probably a 
dozen others). I repeat enough as it is, so I'm not going to go 
through 
it again.<<


Hmmm, I have the feeling you're losing patience with me. Let me 
entertain you, then, by following Marina's lead and stating what I 
think is the plain text version of Voldemort's exile. Then I'll point 
out where MD diverges from this interpretation, and why I think 
the MD version of events is illogical. I am not arguing that a 
Vapormort such as you describe would not be dangerous. I am 
arguing that  Dumbledore would not have any logical reason to  
know or believe that  any such invulnerable Vapormort existed.  

First the plain text, which I would call KITCHEN SINK except that I 
can't think of an acronym.

When he attacked baby Harry, Voldemort was reduced to a 
formless, powerless entity. Not knowing what he had become, 
and therefore not knowing what his vulnerabilities were, 
Voldemort fled to a distant forest. He discovered that he had no 
powers except that he could possess the minds of other 
creatures. He continued to hide, knowing that the Aurors were 
searching for him, and that they have powers against the 
Undead. (Canon, cf Mrytle's run-in with the Ministry over stalking 
Olive Hornby.)

Voldemort's only hope was that a follower would return  and 
restore him to a body of his own, but his followers  abandoned 
him. There never were more than a few true believers, and they 
were in Azkaban. The rest lost faith after he was beaten by a 
small child.

Desperate and on the verge of dissolution after ten years of 
painful semi-existence, Voldemort ensnared Quirrell and tried to 
steal the Stone, but Dumbledore and Harry defeated him, so he 
fled once more.

After PS/SS, Dumbledore traced Voldemort to Albania, but did not 
attempt to attack him.  Albania is a foreign land  where 
Dumbledore has little influence, and vague references to 
vampires imply that they aren't exactly keen on fighting the Dark 
Forces over there.  Besides  destroying Voldemort is not 
Dumbledore's primary objective. Dumbledore's primary objective 
is to make sure that Harry Potter grows up to do...well, whatever 
it is that the "last Potter" is capable of doing. 

In contrast MD posits that:
Vapor!Voldemort was not suffering and or on the verge of 
dissolution. He was invulnerable to attack and his followers 
were in fact loyal and in touch with him all through his exile. All 
he lacked was a physcial form and the ability to use a wand. 
Dumbledore's agents, rather than Death Eater cowardice, kept 
everyone but Pettigrew from reaching him, though Quirrell 
slipped through the net. 

MD assumes that Dumbledore's primary objective is to destroy 
Voldemort before he gains physical immortality, that Voldemort 
is invulnerable in spirit form and Dumbledore knows it, and that 
this is why he must use Pettigrew to induce him to take a mortal 
body again, instead of atttacking him in his spirit form.

All of this is necessary to explain why Dumbledore would 
consider it a wise course to let  Voldemort regain his powers 
even briefly. 
Whew! I hope I got that right.

  But my question is, why would Dumbledore even think that 
Vapor!Voldemort is invulnerable to attack?  Because he can't be 
killed? Neither can Myrtle.  What canon justification is there for 
supposing that Vapormort was invulnerable? There seems to be 
some circular reasoning at work here: Dumbledore didn't attack 
Vapormort because Vapormort was invulnerable, and we know 
that Vapormort was invulnerable because Dumbledore didn't 
attack him.

 
Pippin