Forgiveness

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 188690


> Magpie:
> 
> But him seeming like a sociopath doesn't mean we're dealing with a psychological problem with Voldemort that makes him different from the rest of the characters. If he's a sociopath an injection of virtuous Harry blood shouldn't help him.

Pippin:
 
Technically, of course, he's not a psychopath, he's a wizard with a magical condition that mimics psychopathy, just as dementors produce a condition that mimics clinical depression. And JKR's  magical conditions have magical cures. But  the patronus spell was little use  to Harry as long as he still wanted to hear his parents' voices. And Harry's blood was little use to Voldemort, because he still wanted to be ruthless and cruel, and because he was afraid to be anything else. That, and not his magical condition, made him evil. 

> 
> Pippin:
> There are hints that the reconstructed Voldemort is not quite the person that he was. He does things that seem out of character for his earlier self: forgiving his errant Death Eaters, rescuing Bella from the ministry even after she failed him, and at one point in DH being aware that not trusting is a choice.
> 
> Magpie:
> I think that's working backwards, needing some sign that he's different and making up a past for him that makes him OOC where we never saw the previous character. It never seemed to me that he was being particularly remorseful or compassionate by doing those things.

Pippin:
I don't have to make up Voldemort's past. We see quite a bit of it, in Diary!Riddle, in Gof prior to his rebirth,  in the memories Dumbledore collected, and in the flashback in DH. 
The Voldemort of the past trusted no one, never got angry,  felt no emotional connection to his Death Eaters, and left Quirrell to die when Quirrell failed him, though I see no reason Quirrell couldn't still have been as useful as Peter was. 


> 
> Pippin:
> 
> Anti-depressants can cure the chemical imbalance that causes depression, but until the patient learns (and chooses) to stop thinking like a depressed person, the symptoms don't go away.
> 
> Magpie:
> I really don't see anything like this psychological theory anywhere, with Harry's blood being like some kind of medication. (And even if it was like this theory, thinking like a depressed person would still be the fault of the depression and not the person.) 

Pippin:
We're talking about choices, not fault. It isn't your fault if your car gets buried in the snow, but that doesn't mean you've got no choice but to wait till the snow melts. 

Pippin