Rowling and Philosophy

[sevenhundredandthirteen]

No: HPFGUIDX 53667

Tom Wall wrote:
> 
> >>>Thus far,we don't know that Riddle betrayed any 
> friends. Sure, he's a killer, but has he actually pulled a Judas or 
> a Lucifer? Uh, not of which we know. Remember, Dante placed 
> Judas Isacariot, Brutus and Cassius in Lucifer's three mouths at 
> the center of the ninth circle of the inferno, which contained the 
> traitors. Treason, the betrayal of a trust, is a pretty hefty 
crime. 
> 

Pippen responded:

> Of course we do!
> 
>  " I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply *loved* me. *No 
> one's ever understood me like you, Tom ... I'm so glad I've got 
> this diary to confide in ... It's like having a friend I can carry
> around in my pocket...." -- CoS ch17.
> 
> Ginny certainly was betrayed.  

Well, I think what Tom meant was that Voldemort has never betrayed a 
*friend* like Wormtail has. Sure, he used Ginny and she was betrayed, 
but that doesn't really make Voldemort the traitor in the same sense 
that Wormtail is. Ginny was never a friend of Voldemort (as much as 
she might have though otherwise at the time). By this I mean that 
from the very first moment he and Ginny 'met' he had every intention 
on using her . He never actually trusted *her* and then decided to go 
against this trust- like Wormtail does. We have every reason to 
believe that Wormtail *really* was a friend of James Potter, and had 
been for years. So when he betrays him it becomes a very serious 
violation and offence. Whereas, in contrast, Voldemort uses Ginny 
from Day One. So, yes, he betrays the trust she has implored in him, 
but I think that because he never trusted her to begin with makes 
his 'betrayal' less of the serious betrayal we see in Wormtail's 
actions.

A reason why we might never see Voldemort actually betray someone who 
he once trusted is because that would mean Voldemort would actually 
have to trust someone. He would have to count someone as a friend. He 
would have to count someone as an *equal.* Voldemort believes himself 
above everyone else, and I doubt if he would *ever* count someone as 
an equal to him. Everyone who he surrounds himself with is expected 
to be loyal to him, but get nothing in return. Look at his treatment 
of his Death Eaters. People who he actually calls *family.* I see no 
level of trust in those people at all. Despite what Wormtail does for 
him during GoF Voldemort has every intention of feeding him to Nagini 
once he has lived out his usefulness.

I don't think we'll ever see Voldemort act the traitor (at this point 
in the series anyway), mainly because we have no indication that he 
is capable of being someone's friend to begin with. Yes, I believe 
that he has betrayed many people, Ginny and Wormtail are both obvious 
examples that come to mind. Both of those people put their trust in 
Voldemort, and in Ginny's case Voldemort actually pretended to be her 
friend. BUT, IMO, seeing as he never actually did care for her it's 
not the same traitor action that Tom is refering to with references 
to Judas and Lucifer etc. All those people were actually 'good' to 
begin with, then they decided to become 'evil' in direct opposition 
to the people they once trusted.

And to a related matter, could Voldemort's intended sparing of Lily's 
life perhaps suggest something? By that I mean that if he indeed 
counted her as a *friend* could that explain why he was reluctant to 
kill her. If this is indeed so, then it would be the one instance of 
true betrayal by Voldemort- killing someone he once trusted, and 
perhaps did at the time. It would be extremely ironic if this ended 
up being the case, as after all, if he didn't kill Lily, then Harry 
wouldn't have had her protection, he would've died and then Voldemort 
would never have suffered any of the problems imbued upon him because 
of the silly little Potter boy. I suppose what this means is that the 
minute Voldemort actually  is the 'traitor' (in the sense that he's 
actually going against what he once believed) he suddenly loses in 
catastrophic proportions.

Of course, there is very little indication that Voldemort ever 
trusted Lily. In fact, everything he says about her is pretty much 
derogatory, so I don't necessarily believe that it is the case, but 
still. 


~<(Laurasia)>~