Was LV a teacher in Hogwarts ?

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 88796

"frost_indri" wrote:

> How about this quote from DD in CoS:
>   	"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called 
> Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He 
> disappeared after leaving the school...traveled far and wide... 
> sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of 
> our kind underwent so many dangerous magical transformations that 
> when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable.  
> Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome 
> boy who was once Head Boy here."
> 
> 	 Basically DD is telling Harry (and us) that Before he 
> became the Dark Lord, Tom spent his time studying, learning, and 
> changing himself in to his "beloved" snake-faced self today. So 
> while the idea of Voldemort teaching at Hogwarts is plausible (you 
> do have a good point in that he could have gotten away with it), I 
> don't think the cannon agrees with it.  

I remember that quote, but I also remember that it is Dumbledore who 
said that. And by now, I've grown *very* suspicious of anything DD 
might say, because he's proven in the past that he says only the 
parts of the truth that he doesn't mind revealing. So just because he 
seems to say that Tom Riddle left school, disappeared for years, 
resurfaced as LV, and started the War immediately, doesn't mean that 
is necessarily all that happened. If, in the meantinme, LV had taught 
at Hogwarts, right under DD's nose, under a false identity, I would 
understand that DD might not be too willing to reveal that to Harry. 
After all, we have to remember, for example, that nobody told Harry 
about Sirius Black being his godfather, not even DD. They all knew 
it, but noone told him. What other dark secrets are people keeping ?

> 	   As Hargrid says in PS/SS, "Anyways, this -- this wizard, 
> about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers.  Got 'em 
> too -- some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his 
> power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right."  

That doesn't mean anything. Hagrid might not have known that 
Professor Smith at Hogwarts also happened to be LV. With all the 
appearance-changing methods we've seen (transfiguration, polyjuice 
potion, metamorphagi, etc...), we simply cannot be certain that LV 
wasn't living a double-life : the public one as snake-faced LV, and a 
private one as normal-faced whoever.

>   	Witches and Wizards are in the end, human.  And if they feel 
> threatened (i.e. the "purebloods" have noticed that there are less 
> and less of them, and more and more of the "mudbloods" and "half-
> bloods."  Thus they are loosing control in the WW) they will follow 
> a strong leader.  Most notably in recent history, Hitler, Stalin 
> and General Mau. 

Well, I don't know much about General Mao, but what I do know about 
Hitler and Staline is that they didn't come right on the scene as 
murderous crazy war leaders. They seemed "pretty normal" at first, 
they gathered followers the natural way, they gained power gradually, 
and they revealed the extent of their blood-thirst only after years 
of power. And I think LV did the same. He don't think he could come 
right away saying : "I want to kill all the Mudbloods, I want all the 
power for myself, I'll kill whoever doesn't obey me, now bow to 
me !!" If he had done that, he would most likely have been killed or 
imprisonned and completely discredited. He had to spread his word 
first, to convince some influent people, to plant the seeds of fear, 
of distrust, of hatred, in people's hearts. The way I see it, for 
example, he could have used his low-profile persona and the few 
supporters he might have brought back with him from abroad, to gather 
sympathizers for the hidden LV.

> So by the time he got back, DD was probably headmaster, and he did 
> have control over who his teachers were.  

Not really. First because LV started gathering followers at about the 
same time DD became Headmaster, so as I said in my previous post, LV 
could already have been a teacher at Hogwarts for several years under 
another Headmaster before starting the war. And as for DD having some 
control over who his teachers are, I'll have only 2 words about 
that : Quirrell, and Impostor!Moody (and even Lockhart...).

> 	Not to mention, youth led movements tend to antagonize the 
> older generation, but the older generation (at first at least, and 
> some till the last) agreed with Voldemort.  

They agreed with him, but they wouldn't fight. As Sirius explained, 
his parents agreed with LV, but only his brother enrolled in LV's 
army.
Moreover, I'm not sure LV's army was youth-led. It was full of young 
people all right, because they are full of energy and easily 
manipulated, but I'm pretty sure there were a few older people 
guiding and leading all the young ones.

As for American politics, sorry you lost me on that one :-) I'm 
French, and History never was my cup of tea. I actually remember 
falling asleep during a History class in my last highschool year, 
lol !

> 	  As for the spy!Snape theory, why wouldn't Voldemort want a 
> DE that was working under DD?  That just means that he has someone 
> on the inside of Hogwarts who can gather information for him, start 
> a secret "Voldemort Youth"  club, and spread dissent, place 
> paintings with DE sympathies around (spies), etc. etc.  So 
> Basically, that would make Snape a double agent.  And cue 
> the "James Bond Music!"  

You got me wrong on that one. I'm saying that according to my theory, 
LV would actually *very much* want Snape there, to continue what he 
had himself been doing for years !

Thanks for your answers !

Del