Grindelwald, Voldemort, and other dark folks

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) <catlady@wicca.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52415

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "manawydan" Ffred wrote:
> But I keep coming back to the question of why dark wizards recur,

Because wizarding culture raises people to put a lot more value on 
power and getting what they want than on ethics ... "proper wizarding 
pride" and all that. It is not only Slytherins who are ambitious.

> and what attracts followers to them. 

Among the things of which we have no evidence, we have no evidence 
that all Dark Wizards want to have followers. Maybe some prefer to be 
*solitary* masked supervillains... 

People have a lot of non-ideological reasons for joining up with a 
Dark Wizard. Some are seeking wealth (their share of the loot), 
slaves, sex (from the slaves), a paycheck, or just think they're 
less likely to be killed if they're on the winning side (like 
Pettigrew). Some seek a position of power ("Lord Voldemort will make 
me supervisor of traffic enforcement for this town") which they can 
use to "punish" the people they don't like. A Dark Wizard can offer 
more than a Dark Muggle can, magic things, of which a potion of 
immortality would be tops ... 

> Surely someone as sophisticated as Lucius Malfoy would not have
> been convinced just by "I'm the dark guy, I hate my parents, it's
> really unfair!" (which I know makes Tom Riddle sound like Kevin the
> Teenager...)

Well, for one thing, I don't think Lucius sees himself as being a 
follower of Voldemort the leader. I think he sees himself as being 
the charioteer of Voldemort the horse, and Voldemort's high level of 
magic power and magic knowledge are what make him useful.