Voldemort's attacks on Harry

[mochajava13]

No: HPFGUIDX 80045

> "c.john":
> Why, oh why does Voldemort attempt to kill Harry in OOTP.
> 
> His first attempt to kill Harry resulted in his 'disappearance' 
for years. 
> 
> His second attempt (after he thought he'd overcome his previous 
problems with Harry) resulted in being on the wrong end of 'Priori 
Incantatem'.
> 
> He then spends the whole of OOTP trying to get hold of the 
prophecy, to allow him to understand his problems with Harry. Then 
after he fails, his response is to perform Avada Kedavra on Harry.
> 
> Is he stupid? How can he be sure the spell won't rebound again? 
And if he is sure he can kill Harry simply with Avada Kedavra, then 
why bother with the prophecy at all??
> 



Sarah:
Voldemort is extremely arrogant.  He continually discredits possible 
threats to him.  He underestimates Harry, and Dumbledore to an 
extent, and is sure that he will defeat anyone and anything that 
stands in his way.  He said he was going to kill Dumbledore (to 
Dumbledore's face, no less), and failed miserable in the process. 
True, it could have been false bravado, but it seems to be in 
character for Voldemort to be over-confident.  He also continually 
underestimates Harry.  He reminds me of Wille E. Coyote in the 
Looney Tunes cartoons: continually pursuing one goal, to kill off 
one person, and continually fails.  I think it might be that killing 
Harry is the one thing that Voldemort has ever failed at.  He was 
one of the brightest/most talented students to ever attend Hogwarts, 
and his knowledge of magic is second to none (if Dumbledore is to be 
believed).  He's never truly experienced failure before trying to 
kill Harry as a baby, and instead of thinking that maybe someone is 
more powerful than himself, he chalks it up to an accident.  PS/SS 
wasn't about killing Harry so much as it was about getting the 
stone.  Harry just got in the way.  Plus, Voldemort could ascribe 
that screw up to Quirrel, not himself.  Then in GoF, he 
underestimates Harry, and probably chalked it up to an accident 
again.  Now he's beginning to realize that Harry keeps thwarting his 
plans in OoP when Harry accidentally smashes the propechy.  
Voldemort probably ascribes Harry's escape this time to Dumbledore.  
Interesting that the only person that Voldemort fears was once a 
teacher and an authority figure of Voldemort's.  (Typical of a 
student/teacher relationship that went sour, Voldemort tries to 
prove that he's better than Dumbledore, and fails every time.)  

Anyway, the whole point of this was to say that Voldemort's believe 
in himself is absolute, and refuses to believe that anyone, save 
possibly Dumbledore, is anywhere near as powerful as he is.  
Considering that he meets his failures at Harry's hands, you'd think 
Voldemort would possible start to think that there is something to 
Harry.  But, true to Voldemort's over-confidence, he believes that 
everything that Harry does is an accident.
Sarah