New!TOM - Fight or Rebuild? You be the Judge.

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 117527


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" <delwynmarch at y...>
wrote:
> 
> I, Del, wrote earlier :
> " CoS : even if Diary!Tom had managed to get himself a real body, I
> really don't think he would have been any real adversary to DD...."
 
> Alla answered :
> "We don't know that. He dealt with Ginny pretty easily and who knows 
> what wonderful things he could have started doing if he got a body."

> Del replies :
> Ginny was a first-year ! No comparison with any teacher in school
> (well, any *real* teacher, not Lockhart or Trelawney).
> 
> As for the wonderful things : he would still have been a 16-year-old
> Tom Riddle. Pretty powerful and advanced *for his age*, but no match
> for DD or the Aurors.

bboyminn:

You make is sound as if the very first thing New!Tom would have done
was go looking for a fight; go looking for Dumbledore, or one of the
teachers. Personally, that sounds extremely unlikely.

The first thing he would have done is left that castle as soon as
possible. The second thing would have been to re-unite with his old self.

The combination of Old!Voldemort and New!Tom would have been a
substantial adversary. You would be combining the exprience of a 70
year old, well versed in the Dark Arts, with the youthful body and
idealistic mind of 16 year old Tom. 

Assuming they could actually merge themselves into one corporeal
person, I think the new combined Voldie!Tom would have been more
powerful and dangerous than either of them separately, and I think
that is what JKR was referring to when she made the comment about this
eventuality hypothetically occuring.



> ...edited...
> 
> Alla wrote : 
> "In my book it does count as saving the WW from Voldemort."
 
> Del replies :
> Not in mine. Harry saved Ginny, agreed. He may also have saved the
> world a bit of trouble, but honestly : 16-year-old Tom was NOT a
> threat to the WW at large.  He might have killed a few other people
> ..., granted, but he would eventually have been stopped by DD or the
> Aurors or whoever.
> 
> Del


bboyminn:

I think you are grossly underestimating Tom Riddle. Once he had his
body back, I'm sure he would have sought out his old supporters;
especially, and most likely, Lucius Malfoy. We can speculate that
since it seems to be L.Malfoy who put this whole plan into motion,
that he and Diary!Tom had cooked up the scheme together, both to
discredit Mr.Weasley, to deal with Harry, and to regain a physical
form that Voldemort could use. 

In addition, once Tom Riddle had a body, even if he ignored the
existing Vapormort, there was nothing to stop him from taking 5 or 10
years to learn from his mistakes, to gather data on his previous
transformations, to rebuild his army, and to rebuild himself bigger
and better than he was before.

I really just don't see new!Tom strutting around the wizard world
challenging everyone and anyone to a duel. Having regained his body,
he would have focused on rebuilding himself and his cause.

Sorry, but that's how I see it.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)