Love of Power vs the Power of Love

[sk8maven]

No: HPFGUIDX 174516

One of the central themes in the Harry Potter books would seem to be
the choice between the love of Power and the power of Love. It can be
seen as early as the very first book, where various characters face,
or have faced, that choice in various forms. And this theme is
developed, with variations, over the course of the series.

Harry has known Love and lost it, but has never known Power and has
experienced it - used against him - only as cruel and painful. Thus it
takes a long time (six books) before he is even able to be seriously
tempted by it.

Hermione comes from a loving family, but one in which power has simply
not been an option - and she's tempted by it in petty ways which she
isn't always able to resist. But she never has to face the greater
temptations.

Ron's family has faced that choice, made it and put it firmly behind
them, all but Percy - who makes the wrong choice, but is given, and
seizes with both hands, the chance to reverse it. The Weasleys are a
close family because they are bound to each other by Love.

Dumbledore, brought up in a loving family, finds himself seriously
tempted by the love of Power, teeters on the brink - and loses his
family, after which, having been taught his lesson most harshly, he
renounces the desire for Power. (He remains emotionally scarred by it
for the rest of his life.)

The Malfoys are a loving family, too - we're left no doubt of that -
but one severely tainted by the love of Power. One by one, they come
to a crossroads, hesitate - and take a small step back toward the way
of Love.

Bellatrix Lestrange totally confuses the love of Power with the power
of Love, and it destroys her.

Snape was brought up with very little love in his home (possibly from
his mother, but surely not from his father), but finds the possibility
of it in Lily Evans. Unfortunately, he finds the love of Power too
strong a lure, goes too far down that dark road, loses everything, and
almost loses himself. What sustains and ultimately redeems him is his
choice to live up to the memory of that lost love as best he can (and,
being as deeply flawed as he is, that is very, very difficult).

We aren't told enough about Grindelwald to make much of him, but he
clearly fell to the love of Power - and only after many long powerless
years in prison is he able to see how futile it all was.

And then there's Tom Riddle/Lord Violdemort, who on the surface of it
had everything - good looks, intelligence, charisma - but because
there had never been so much as a jot of love in his life, he knew
nothing of Love and was incapable of loving anyone or anything. For
him there was only the love of Power, and it was as deadly a poison as
basilisk venom. It destroyed everything about him - his intelligence
first (given that he made stupider and stupider mistakes, and never
learned from any of them), then his looks and ability to charm people
(long before we actually meet him in the first book, those who serve
him do so out of fear and greed, and not for any positive qualities he
might once have hat), and finally his soul.

The final confrontation between Voldemort and Harry in DH is as clear
an example of "the love of Power vs. the power of Love" as there is. 

Maven