Voldemort: Born or Made Evil?

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 131257

Tamara:
> Do you think Lord Voldemort was born so terribly evil, or was he 
made 
> that way by his circumstances?


Jen: We know he wasn't born evil from the World Book Day chat in 2004:

mnich: "Was Voldemort born evil?"
JK Rowling replies -> "I don't believe that anybody was born evil. You 
will find out more about the circumstances of his birth in the next 
book."

But that leaves alot of room to determine exactly how Riddle evolved 
into Lord Voldemort! 

I can't tell if JKR's comment implies that the mysterious 
circumstances of Riddle's birth *contributed* to his evil path, or if 
those are separate issues: 'He wasn't born evil. But since you ask 
about his birth, yes, there is more to the story' vs. 'He wasn't born 
evil, but there were circumstances during his birth that contributed 
to the path he chose later.'  

Given his young age when he starts evolving into the Dark Lord, the 
ideas contributed by Kneasy et. al. re: possession by Salazar when 
Riddle visits the COS are intriguing. I don't believe he was actually 
possessed by Slytherin, more that he visited the COS and probably did 
talk to Salazar's ghost, who said things he wanted to hear about Power 
and Immortality. An old plot twist, seduction by promises of power, 
but a goodie.

Hey, at least we don't have long to wait now!

Jen