[HPforGrownups] Re: Voldemort's name

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 82029



> <<<In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kneazle255" wrote:..."So you
> think you can take me, Junior?"...">>>
>
> The Sergeant Majorette says
>
> I subscribe to this theory. I've been a little tired of Voldemort
> since I discovered he's been striking fear into the hearts of wizards
> everywhere with an anagram. That's *so* twelve-years-old! That, and
> the fact that he gets his butt handed to him on an annual basis by
> schoolkids.
> Also, why isn't his name Thomas? What kind of name is Marvolo? Could
> his wizard blood be Gypsy? Our boy has too many issues, he's
> vulnerable.
> I've decided that it's Lucius Malfoy who's the real villain. Crazy
> Tom is just a figurehead and a diversionary tactic.
>
> --JDR

I've had a theory for some time now that Lord V. is actually a front-man for
someone else.  A lot of his behavior just doesn't make much sense.

If his goal is immortality, wouldn't it be smarter/better/less hassle to
just replicate Nicholas Flamel's work and make his _own_ Philosopher's
Stone?  Instead, he wastes endless energy persecuting people whose ancestry
he doesn't approve of (got some issues, don't we, Tommy?) and stirring up
perfectly avoidable trouble.

If, OTOH, his goal is to Rule The Wizard World, again, his actions don't
make sense.  He lashes out in ways that anybody above about the age of five
would be able to tell him will make enemies spring out of the woodwork,
devoted to hunting him down.

If his goal's revenge, why not specifically target the people who actually
hurt him?  While I don't _approve of_ his killing his Muggle relatives, if
his story's the truth (and he apparently does believe it) his actions make a
good deal of sense...I mean, even the _Dursleys_ treated Harry better than
the Riddles did little Tom!  Orphanages had and have a sinister
reputation---how much of it is deserved or was at that time I don't know,
but if he happened into a really bad one, he could have come out so badly
twisted inside that even _without_ magic, he'd be out for a lifetime of
revenge.  A lot of serial killers' childhoods make the worst things found in
Dickens' novels look like a long vacation at Disneyland.

He could have a shadowy sponsor, someone who is ostensibly the picture of
pureblood respectability, who gave him the contacts he needed to start or
take over the Death Eaters (I rather like the idea of the organization we
know as "Death Eaters" having started out as a relatively-innocuous wizards'
organization, only to be taken over by Lord V.) and provided him with the
catchwords he needed to make sure his suck...er, his _followers_ would
follow him blindly.  The sponsor's goals could be either power (I will _Rule
The Wizard World,_ bwahahaha!) or pureblood supremacy (Down with the filthy
Mudbloods and half-breeds---and if I can use this filthy halfbreed to take
out the others, only to take _him_ out when the time's ripe, well, that
makes the joke even funnier, bwahahah!).

If Lord V. had taken over a group dedicated to, say, breaking the
purebloods' control of the magical world, a lot of his behavior wouldmake
more sense, IMNSHO.  As things stand, there's a lot we still don't know
about the guy, and from my POV he's a few ingredients short of a Potion
recipe in his goals, his behavior and his actions.