Voldemort vs. Riddle

[Veritabatim]

No: HPFGUIDX 77601


This thread reminded me of a series of postings I read about a week before OOP came out that questioned whether Voldemort was a lich. Paul Prideaux started the fun in post 60060. I suggest going back and reading the post, but the two vital pieces of information pertinent to the discussion at hand are this:

Pryd. X writes:

For those who don't know, a Lich is a powerful wizard has used dark magic to gain a form of immortality. This seems to agree with what DD says to Harry in CoS when discussing Riddle's journey after leaving school.

Pryd. X quotes:

"Few liches call themselves by their old names when the years have drained the last vestiges of their humanity from them. Instead, they often adopt pseudonyms like 'the Black Hand' or 'the Forgotten King.'

"Learning the true name of a lich is rumored to confer power over the creature."

Back to me, Veritabatim:

Assuming, then, that Dumbledore has this knowledge of what Voldemort could possibly be, it would only make sense that he would call him "Tom" during their showdown in the Ministry of Magic. In battle, Dumbledore could draw some power over Lord Thingy by calling him Tom Riddle. While reading the scene the first time, I thought, "Bingo! Lich!" as soon as Dumbledore started with all the Tom business. This lich theory would perhaps rectify his insisting in PS/SS that the Wizarding World should call him by his name -- Voldemort. For after all, Voldemort *is* his new identity. 

If this theory is true, though, the one thing that doesn't fit is this: If one can gain power over a lich by confronting the, uh, being with the true name, wouldn't Dumbledore tell everyone in the Order -- heck, everyone he met -- to call Voldemort Tom Riddle? It gets me thinking that there's a reason for Dumbledore to keep Voldemort's previous identity to himself. But I don't feel like thinking about that right now. The conspiracy theorists can run amok.

Veritabatim, who has been meaning to bring up this lich post for awhile but never got around to it until now



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