The only one he ever feared?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 117108


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, chnc1024 at A... wrote:
> A thought came to me as I was reading some other posts, and 
> at the risk of sounding very stupid I figured I'd go ahead and 
> throw this on out there.
> 
>     Why is DD the only wizard Voldemort feared?  
> 
> I know that DD is an EXTREMELY powerful wizard, and I'm
> sure that does have something to do with it, but Voldemort 
> isn't exactly weak.  ...edited... 
> 
> Chancie ~ who hopes she doesn't sound as stupid as she feels!


bboyminn:

I think the answer is as simple as Voldemort fears Dumbledore because
Dumbledore doesn't fear Voldemort. Dumbledore isn't impressed by
Voldemorts stylings. He's not intimidated. He's not threatened. The
old law of the jungle says that you chase anything that runs from you
and run from anything that chases you. Well, the problem is that
Voldemort is chasing, or at least trying, but Dumbledore isn't running.

True Dumbledore fears the horrible things that Voldemort can and will
do in general, but he's not personally afraid of him. Look at how
confidently he face Voldemort in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic
in OotP. In that scene Harry is stunned by how casually Dumbledore
strolls into battle. 

- OotP AM HB PG 814 -

Dumbledore ...continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he had not
a fear in the world, as though nothing has happened to interrupt his
stroll up the hall.

[Dumbledore] ...still closing in upon Voldemort and speaking as
lightly as though they were discussing a matter over drinks. Harry
felt scared to see him walking along, undefended, shieldless. He  
wanted to cry out a warning...

- - end quote - - 

Who does the bully fear? He fears the one he can't bully and intimidate.

In addition, Voldemort at a mere 70-ish is a young man compared to
Dumbledore at the ripe age of +150. A man of Dumbledore's experience
is not beguiled or befuddled by the follies of man. He has seen them
all before. He's seen the self-appointed and usually self-serving
savoirs. He met the /right/ people who see themselves as far better an
dmore deserving than the lowly /others/. He seen the self-deluded
megalomanical tyrants before. He's seen war. He seen self-deluded
politicians like Fudge. 

Been there; seen that; ho hum, nothing new.

He's seen it all enough times that he recognises it for what it is,
sheer folly. To continue with one of the many cliches in my list,
'Tyranny is the architect of it's own doom'. Dumbledore is wise enough
to know that even if a self-deluded man like Voldemort wins,
ultimately he loses. 

I've said many times before that Voldemort has a grand vision of
himself standing on a balcony looking out over the wizard world as
they bow at his feet. But to run an effective functional practical
government, you can't spend all you time standing on the balcony
waiting for people to bow. Voldemort's world would be a world in ruin,
its underpinings crumbling under the ineptitude of tyranny. Commerce
and international relations destroyed, the economy in ruin. 

In addition, Dumbledore sees the flaw of megalomania. Voldemort's is
so convinced of his own god-like superiority, that any plan he may
comes up with is automatically the perfect plan by no reason other
than the fact that he thought of it. And who among his flock dare
point out any obvious flaw in /the perfect plan/. Only those who want
to embrace pain and death. 

How many people here have pointed out what a hopeless villain
Voldemort is? How many of his wacky, ill-conceived, poorly formed,
poorly excecuted plans have we seen so far? I mean damn, hasn't this
quy ever read The Evil Overlord's Handbook? 

So, because Dumbledore sees Voldemort for what he is, because he's not
impressed or the least bit intimidated, because he sees behind
Voldemort's mask where he finds a poor misguided boy name Tom, he can
fight Voldemort easily without fear or emotion. Any martial arts
student will tell you that your own fear and emotions are you
opponents greatest weapons, and conversely, your own lack of fear and
emotion, your own inner calm, is your greatest weapon.

Sorry, I rambled so much, but there must be a point in there somewhere.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)