Why Did Voldemort Live?

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 129021

 "thyladyanwyn" <beckimajor at y...> wrote:
> When Voldemort killed James and Lily, he didn't kill Harry. 
Instead, 
> the curse backfired onto him.  Why was he left alive after such a 
> powerful curse?  What about it left not only the scar on Harry's 
> forehead, but didn't kill Voldemort?  Voldemort said in the
graveyard 
> he did not know about the ancient magic that protected Harry at the 
> time but will be prepared for it (the next time they meet?)  If he 
> was not prepared for the ancient magic and was acting with the same 
> knowledge and curse, it seems to me that he would have died when it 
> backfired and did not kill Harry.  
> 
> I think we will learn more in Books VI and VII.  JKR herself has 
> stated that we should be asking ourselves why Voldemort lived and
not 
> why Harry lived (or didn't die).  
<snip>

Sophierom:

Actually, Rowling didn't say that we should be asking "Why did
Voldemort live?" Instead, she said that no one's ever asked her this
question: "Why didn't Voldemort die?" (Edinburgh Book Festival
transcript).  This may seem like a nitpick on my part, but I think
it's significant that in her discussion of this topic , she keeps
talking about why Voldemort didn't die instead of talking about why
Voldemort lived. (See the transcript for her full disucssion; here's a
link:
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/news_view.cfm?id=80)

I think Rowling believes there's a critical difference between 
physical death and spiritual death.  In some ways, I think of
Voldemort pre-OotP as existing in a similar sort of state
as the Hogwarts' ghosts (though they're not nearly so powerful nor are
they evil!).  Something kept Sir Nicholas and the other ghosts from
accepting death.  Sir Nicholas says that it was fear that kept him
from truly dying:

**
"I was afraid of death," said Nick. "I chose to remain behind.  I
sometimes wonder whether I oughtn't to have ... Well, that is neither
here nor there .... In fact, I am neither here nor there ..." He gave
a small sad chuckle.  "I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry,
for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead" (OotP, Am. ed.,
861).  
**

I wonder if it wasn't fear in Voldemort's case, as well? In the
exchange between Dumbledore and LV at the DoM, LV indicates that
"there is nothing worse than death" (814).  If death is Voldemort's
greatest fear, then perhaps that will be the key to his destruction.
In PoA, when Lupin and Harry are discussing the Dementors, the DADA
professor alludes to them as the embodiment of fear (PoA, Am. ed.,
155). Hmm, might the Dementors be used to destroy LV? The Dementor's
Kiss, which leaves a living body souless, might very well fit
Dumbledore's description of something "worse than death."  

I'm certain that others on this post have talked about the possible
connections between death, dementors, ghosts, and LV more eloquently
and thoroughly than I have in this post.  Forgive me for not citing
you ... I'm a bit on the run.  But I did want to put in my two cents.  

All the best,
Sophie