LV is the monkey, but who is grinding the organ?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 85501

tigerpatronus wrote:
<snip>
> 
> It has been stated before in this group that LV is too cartoonish, 
> too outlandish, with his crimson, slit-pupil eyes and albino skin
and 
> swirling capes, to be the *real* evil villian. Let us, for the 
> purposes of this thread, assume this is so. 
> 
> But who, then, is the real villian, who is truly the enemy? 
> 
> Some offerings: 
> 
> Lucius Malfoy: who may be pulling Fudge's strings at the MoM.
> 
> Fudge: who isn't as thick as he seems to be.
> 
> Dumbledore: who gives Harry just enough info to make the wrong 
> decision every time, and in whose eyes that enigmatic triumph
glinted 
> upon LV's return to the corporal. 


Re Dumbledore: He has actually given Harry just enough information to
*succeed* every time except the last, and it's Dumbledore who rescues
Harry from Voldemort and Bellatrix in the battle at the MoM. He also
provides the Phoenix and the sword in CS. (Of course, Harry was helped
out in GoF by Lupin, who taught him how to deal with boggarts and
Dementors and indirectly by Snape, who taught him the Expelliarmus
spell in the Duelling Club scene of CS, but that doesn't make
Dumbledore at fault for not providing this information himself.) I
admit that Dumbledore has been wrong a surprising number of times
(regarding Sirius and Imposter!Moody, most notably), but that doesn't
make him evil. In fact, if he were omniscient and omnipotent, he'd be
a pretty dull character--and there'd be no need for a battle between
Harry and Voldemort.

I do with that LV still looked like Tom Riddle. He might seem more
like the "real" villain then. But he's been directly responsible for
enough murders, starting with Moaning Myrtle and his own parents, to
qualify for full villain status. At this point, though, he seems to me
more like a serial killer/mass murderer (with willing accomplices who
are equally evil) than a threat to the whole WW (with Muggle England
thrown in for starters). His "weapon" in OoP turned out to be a
prophecy and the giants turned out to be more dangerous to themselves
than to wizards or Muggles. So far all he has is about a dozen
unimprisoned Death Eaters (one of whom has a silver hand), Nagini, and
the Dementors, who may be as difficult for him to control as they were
for Fudge.

So where do I stand? I think LV *is* the real villain (after all, only
Harry can kill him), but I think we'll see a lot more of the Dementors
and Lucius Malfoy. Fudge, on the other hand, is a puppet or a
nonentity, who has made so many mistakes that his chances of retaining
his post as Minister of Magic are equally slim no matter who wins VW2
(and since we know that at least some of the main characters will
survive to have their futures summarized in the Epilogue to Book 7,
it's a safe bet that the winner won't be Voldemort.)

Carol