Why didn't DD reveal Voldemort's identity? Some Tigana spoilers

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 186915

> Magpie:
> I can see some sense in it too. It's not as illogical as for instance (imo) Voldemort's plan in GoF, for instance. But it's just I would never buy it as Dumbledore's actual motivation, because being Dumbledore he'd jump on this reason because it was the one that led him keep the secret. I can't imagine him giving the alternative any fair consideration--he probably wouldn't even realize he wasn't. The choice where he keeps the secret is always the obvious choice for Dumbledore since he, personally, feels safer, more secure, happier, whatever when he's got more knowledge than everyone else. I think the whole idea would inspire a general unease in him he could easily tell himself was about other people rather than his own issues.
> <snip>

lizzyben:

Jumping back in here, just wanted to say I agree w/Magpie's points. IMO the real reason DD kept the secret of Voldemort's identity is just that - DD can't not keep secrets. It's his nature. The more potentially powerful or important the information, the more DD will feel driven to keep it to himself, because doing so increases his *own* power and importance. For DD, his need for secrets is bound up in his need for power, and one feeds the other. 

The secret of Voldemort's identity is arguably THE biggest secret in the Wizarding World, so of course DD will not want to share it. If only DD knows Voldemort's real identity, DD becomes "the only one Voldemort fears" & that's quite a powerful position. In a world where everyone else can't even speak the name, DD is the only one able to call him "Tom" w/complete nonchalance. While people fear LV, they will stand in awe of DD. This makes him better than others, which feeds his ego, & also gives him a power over both Voldemort & the rest of the wizarding world. Why *would* DD share that information? 

And of course he's got rationalizations, etc. but none of them really hold water. And it's all revealed in that telling little moment, when DD insists that everyone else call Riddle by his "proper name": "Lord Voldemort". Why? DD says it is because "fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." And this is true. "Lord Voldemort" is the name Riddle created for *himself* to inspire fear & horror, thereby increasing people's fear of him. The name of "Tom Riddle", half-blood, Head Boy at Hogwarts, does not inspire the same terror.

So DD insists that all others use the fearsome, horrifying name Riddle created, thereby increasing fear of the thing itself. DD alone does not fear him, and so keeps the "proper name" of Tom Riddle to himself. By insisting that "Lord Voldemort" is his "proper name," DD feeds into the persona that Riddle has created - that Voldemort is a monster, inhuman, aristocratic, invincible. So, in the guise of trying to stop popular fear of Voldemort, DD is actually encouraging it. All while probably believing that he is doing everything possible to end Voldemort's regime. What I love about DD is the way he keeps secrets & lies from *himself* & that's what makes him such an interesting character.


lizzyben