Harry v. Tom (was: LV never loved anyone)

[grebniew2004]

No: HPFGUIDX 110655

Del wrote:
> Similarly, Tom knows that other people hold those concepts of right
> and wrong, and of love too, and that they make decisions based on
> those concepts. He also knows that he is expected to make similar
> decisions and so he does as long as he can't escape. But that 
doesn't mean that he knows what right, wrong and love are. If he had 
it his own way, those things wouldn't matter.

I don't think we're giving LV enough credit here. Beyond rules and 
grasping philosophical concepts, there was Tom Riddle's reality. He 
was an extremely talented, skilled wizard who combined specific 
resentment in his life (against the orphanage, his birth father) 
with a sense of his own superiority and intelligence. Ultimately, he 
knowingly placed himself above wizarding laws and chose to become a 
law unto himself. He pursued power in a measured and crafty way, and 
successfully attained much of what he was after.

Orly