Voldemort (Was: avada kedavra)

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 57981

Greicy wrote:
> I believe Voldemort is completely stupid.  He's planning this "I'm 
> Going To Kill Harry Once and For All" plan and not thinking fulling 
> about the consequences and side effects.

I have to object to this. Stealing a page right out of Darrin's book, I 
don't like Stupid!EvilOverlord!Voldemort anymore he likes 
Omniscient!Dumbledore. And I have canon to prove that he isn't that 
nearsighted *at all*. Most of my arguments, of course, many of you have 
seen before. After all, Spymaster!Voldemort in Magic Dishwasher can 
hardly be stupid if the theory is to float, so you can find most of the 
arguments about Voldemort's rationality in post 40044, complete with 
quotations from the EvilOverlord manual.

But let me tackle your comment, Grace. I'm afraid that the "I'm Going 
To Kill Harry Once and For All" plan is far from canonical. The opening 
chapter of GoF is a long ramble were we get glimpses of Voldemort's 
plan, and not *once* those he suggest trying to kill Harry - and it is 
not due to political correctness. "Kill" gets used a lot, in connection 
with Bertha Jorkins, for example, but Harry is only mentioned as a 
means, as something Voldemort needs to achieve his purposes. And by the 
end of the book, we know exactly what: Voldemort needs his blood, and 
nothing else, as part of a potion. He could've used anyone else, but 
uses Harry for his own reasons.

No, Voldemort isn't trying to kill Harry. He tried once, and that went 
*very* wrong. When the game is up and what he wants is in reach, he 
tries to kill him, but it has never been part of the plan. In PS, Harry 
is at his mercy the whole year, but Voldemort is going for the stone, 
not revenge. Of course, when Harry has the stone, he's fair game and 
Voldemort makes an attempt. Which, incidently, works no better than the 
first time.

If we asume that the idea of the diary in CoS came from Voldemort (and 
not independently by Malfoy; a not altogether far shot, and in fact one 
that is deemed probable by MD), then once again the objective isn't 
Harry (who isn't a mudblood), but closing the school, which is a very 
good idea, since Voldemort doesn't need a new generation of aurors. And 
of course, Voldemort could've used the body possesed by the diary as a 
new home, or reach some other arrangement with himself.

Finally, in GoF, Voldemort is focusing once again in what is, 
ultimately, his main objective: immortality. In the GG (Graveyard 
Gathering) he explicitly mentions that this is a step back in his 
search for immortality, and that Harry is chosen because he expects 
Harry's protection to be copied onto the new body. Although we cannot 
disregard the possibility of this being missinformation aimed at 
Dumbledore (see 40044), it is clear from chapter one that Voldemort 
has, indeed, good reasons for using Harry and no other, but this 
reasons don't include "and since he's handy already, I'll kill him 
afterwards because that is all I can think of".

Only when the main objective has been achieved (getting a new body), 
and he has given Harry a bucketfull of information that wasn't 
necessary for him to know (thus getting once again the faint odour of 
subterfuge that leads into the missinformation theory of MD) does he 
attempt to destroy the brat. But carefully, trying out Harry's 
defenses. Logically too, since Harry has demonstrated in three previous 
occasions that he is perfectly capable of surviving an encounter with 
Voldemort. Not to mention the dragons, giant spiders, 1000 massed 
dementors, etc, etc ad endless nauseam.

Yes, killing Harry would've been a nice end of party motive for the GG, 
but it was hardly the main point, as we can see from ch. 1. Voldemort 
doesn't plan to kill Harry, he plans to get a body. If the occasion to 
kill Harry presents itself, he tries to take it, but -and I want to 
make this clear, since it is my point- it is *not* Voldemorts main and 
only plan.

> Voldemort has become 
> maniacal in his quest, he's not focusing at all.  Isn't this the 
> case for all Evil characters?  They focus so much on one thing that 
> they forget about everything else.

It is indeed a stereotype that evil guys are egomaniacs that cannot see 
past the end of their noses. I, however, don't see Voldemort as one of 
them - thankfully. There is nothing more trite and boring than a stupid 
bad guy. Not even an omniscient mentor :D . Voldemort is focused, 
absolutely. His plans have found at least two ways of penetrating 
Hogwarts, maybe three, and Hogwarts is suposed to be the safest place 
in the WW. The second safest, Gringotts, was penetrated so easily it 
merely got a passing reference. Voldemort has very clear priorities. 
Since he thinks he cannot take on Dumbledore, he is looking for 
inmortality. Notice that while it is assumed he wants to take over the 
WW, he hasn't made any steps in that direction since he came back. 
Instead, he bids his time, draws his allies close and continues to 
search for the ultimate weapon - inmortality (ultimate weapon for 
someone with his powers, that is. Giving, say, a simple rat immortality 
isn't going to alter the face of the world).

> Do you guys think that maybe the DE's will turn against Voldemort 
> because all he cares about is killing Harry?  Wasn't his main 
> concern at some point taking over the WW, killing Mudbloods; 
> Mudblood sympathizers; and anti-Voldemortists?
> 
> Greicy

Again, I insist: his main concern is *not* killing Harry. The plans he 
reveals in the GG are not oriented towards that, they are oriented 
toward grasping power: liberating their companions, getting hold of 
allies, weakening the WW. And there *is* a grain (and more, I'm sure) 
of truth in them - Dumbledore isn't going to swallow it otherwise. I 
imagine that pretty soon the Dark Mark will reappear to start once 
again breaking down the social structure of the WW, and otherwise 
allowing his DEs to have fun and get their hands on profit. My own 
private theory is that he'll attempt to get Fudge expelled from the MoM 
and get Lucius in his place. And of course, he will continue to 
experiment with his body to finally achieve immortality.

What about Harry? Well, Harry is indeed getting dangerous. He's made of 
the same sort of moral fibre Dumbledore is made of, and he is gaining 
abilities very quickly. Until now, he's been an inconvinience, 
something that gets in the way and foils plans. Soon it will become a 
menace, so Voldemort should start planning his death. But Voldemort 
managed to put the WW on its collective knees 15 years ago, even with 
Dumbledore around. He might do it again, even with Harry in the 
picture. So in the future, there might be plans to finish Harry off, 
but so far there haven't been, not in canon.

At any rate, Voldemort isn't one of the stereotypical bad guys. He 
knows what he wants, and has good, solid plans and experience to make 
it happen. He's not obsessed with killing Harry. He might be a little 
too obsessed with becoming immortal, or becoming overlord of the 
universe, but that is a character flaw. So far, he hasn't made any 
stupid mistakes - in the sense of "hey, no (immoral) intelligent person 
would do that". He has made mistakes - like AK'ing Harry when he was a 
baby, but no-one could guess that would be the result. Entering 
Gringotts was logical, as was attempting to steal the stone from 
Hogwarts. Dangerous, of course, but logical, if he could pull it off. 
And so on. All his moves have been carefully considered and, although 
driven by an immoral mind, there is a mind and not some sort of moronic 
dribble behind those actions.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf