[HPforGrownups] Mortality question

[Magda Grantwich]

No: HPFGUIDX 153596

> One of my questions concerns GoF. In the cemetery scene, in his
> speech
> to DEs, LV describes his return to a human body and says:"But I was
> willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I
> set my sights lower...I would settle for my old body back again,
> and my old strength." (GoF,p.656 US ed. or p.569 UK ed.)
> 
> This is very frustrating, but I can't figure out why he is talking
> about mortality here. He still has his Horcruxes, hasn't he? Until
> they are destroyed, he is immortal, right? 
>
> zanooda


Welcome Zanooda.  

We should keep in mind that VOldemort has a certain image to maintain
in the eyes of his followers - especially in the cemetary scene in
GOF when he's reappeared in front of them after more than a dozen
years - especially when he (and they) are aware that they didn't lift
a finger to find him or help him when he needed it.

So I'm assuming that when he was powerful he didn't tell them about
the horcruxes but let them assume that he was immortal because he was
such a great wizard and they were useless bits of walking compost who
could never come close to emulating his powers.  After all, anyone
with sufficient ruthlessness and knowledge of the spell could make
horcruxes and that's not exactly awe-inspiring, is it?

(And fwiw, I think Voldemort did spend a lot of time looking for the
equivalent of the Philosophers Stone to attain true immortality and
that the horcruxes were more of a guarantee against extinction rather
than his sole option.  As well as a bizarre method of memorializing
his trophies.)

So the short answer for me is that he's trying to re-establish his
bona fides as a great wizard and remind them that they're sheep, not
leaders, regardless of what they might presume.  (Nudge, nudge, wink,
wink, eh Lucius?)  He's telling enough of the truth so that we get an
insight into his character, Harry gets some idea of the past and the
DE's get good and scared again. But he's very conscious of the image
he's projecting the whole time, so he's not about to tell the truth.

Magda

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