Voldemort a Puppet?

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 49407

It occurs to me, considering the character of Cornelius Fudge, that
Voldemort himself might be no more than a puppet---manipulated by someone
(high-ranking followers making suggestions in ways that ensure that he'll
likely take them, and selectively feeding him information) to ensure the
domination of the British wizarding world by others---and that Cornelius
Fudge might well be one of the puppet-masters.

Voldemort's actions and motivations have never made much sense to me.  If,
as he states, his goal is immortality---the defeat of death---his campaign
against Muggle-born wizards and witches, and the whole "purebloods rule,
mudbloods drool" meme is, at best, an unnecessary distraction----and at
worst, might actually prevent him from attaining his goal, either by raising
up unnecessary enemies to destroy him, or preventing him from acknowledging
and using the talents of Muggle-born wizards and witches to attain
immortality.

So, let us consider this idea:  A brilliant, but twisted and
permanently-embittered, young mage, Thomas Marvolo Riddle, is spotted,
possibly while he's still at Hogwarts, by a cabal of high-ranking mages who
wish to control British wizarding life.  He is approached, and offered
training in the Dark Arts, by representatives of this cabal, and not being
one to look beyond the surface of things, accepts.  (Remember all the times
that V'mort has stumbled over something that he should have known about?)
His teachers are selected to twist him further and make him the perfect
puppet, reinforcing his dislike of Muggles and Muggle-born mages, and he is
allowed to gather followers, many of whom are in the cabal themselves and
loyal to its goals.

Voldemort's rampages are carefully directed against those mages who most
represent a threat to the cabal, on the grounds that they're too sympathetic
to Muggles, or are Muggle-born or of "impure blood" themselves.  The
Ministry wizards and witches who are targeted are mostly targeted because
they're in the way of the cabal's members themselves rising to power, or are
blocking the cabal's goals.  At the same time, the cabal's members use the
fear of Voldemort among mages to increase their own power and influence,
posing as valiant fighters for the side of Goodness.  Many of Voldemort's
followers, the deluded True Believers *coughLestrangescoughcough* are
considered eminently expendable---worthwhile as long as they're taking out
people the cabal wants out of the way, and also worthwhile scapegoats and
sacrifical lambs when the rest of the Wizard World demands blood for the
suffering that the Death Eaters have brought on them.

Now, whether Voldemort is _still_ a controllable puppet is questionable, but
he could well have started out as one.  From what we see of him at the end
of GoF, he's got the bit between his teeth and is off to the races on his
own account, and I don't think that any surviving cabal members in his inner
circle *coughLuciusMalfoycough* could continue to control him.  He's a long
way from stupid, but has a bad habit of only believing things he wants to
believe, and mistreating even his closest followers (no matter _how_ much I
disliked Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail, if I were dependent on him to keep my
sorry a$$ alive, you can bet I'd be sweet as pie to his face!) so he may be
coming to the end of his usefulness.

Wouldn't it be an interesting twist to have Harry face down and destroy the
evil Dark Lord---and then find out that the real enemy was never Voldemort,
but the people who more-or-less created him and turned him loose on the WW?
_Harry Potter and the Magical Illuminati,_ anyone?