We all know the Harry Potter movies pale in comparison to the books but they do have several gems. One in particular is this scene below from the Order of the Phoenix.
With that being voiced, Voldemort extracts himself from Harry's body and tells him that he is fool who will lose everything. This scene struck me as powerful because it really details why a wizard as powerful as Voldemort was doomed to fail. He cannot understand nor comprehend the bonds of love. Voldemort is evil but when you really take a look at his backstory, it is one of sadness. He is the result of an unnatural union (his mother bewitched his father) and a lonely childhood. His total lack of humanity could be attributed to having virtually no healthy bonds. His mother, Merope Riddle, secretly fell in love with his father, Tom Riddle Senior, who was a wealthy muggle that lived in a nearby village. She most likely used a love potion to cause Tom to become infatuated with her. This right here was foreshadowing. Merope, being unable to have Tom fall in love with her naturally, selfishly forced him into a union with her. She certainly was a sad character with a turbulent backstory but this doesn't excuse her actions. It was the first example of a loveless bond in Voldemort's reality. Once the love potion wore off, Tom came to his senses and left Merope, which set the stage for Voldemort's hatred towards his father.
Fast forward to his years as an orphan. Voldemort was an orphan with little to no knowledge of his mother and father along with prodigious magical talents and no understanding of how to fully control them. These conditions serve as a catalyst that isolates him from the other students while also crafting his mindset of manipulation, coercion and intimidation. Already in his young life he was building bonds through fear and bullying. Utilizing his magical talents for selfish and cruel reasons. When Dumbledore first meets him it is already too late to salvage any trace of decency or humanity within Voldemort. The lack of love and any kind of nurturing presence in his young life had hardened him into a vessel of cruelty, malice with a thirst for dominance.
It is important to know and understand Voldemort's childhood in order to comprehend why his tale is a tragic one. Voldemort's interactions with people were always based in fear, intimidation, and manipulation. The Death Eaters and even his greatest servant, Severus Snape (sorry, Bellatrix Lestrange), were no more than mere pawns used for Voldemort's own personal gain. When Snape was viewed as the only remaining obstacle between Voldemort and mastery of the Elder Wand Voldemort killed him in cold blood without hesitation. Believing in and not underestimating the power of love was something that Dumbledore constantly tried to hammer into Voldemort's mind over there years. It is the most powerful force in the universe. Voldemort could never understand that concept because love isn't something that is tangible. It wasn't something he could physically grasp or conjure up with a spell. To him it was a weakness that lesser beings used to give themselves hope in lieu of having actual power. Even in his greatest defeat (baby Harry), he spoke about the protection of love that Lily gave as if it was just a complicated spell and nothing more. Even in deducing HOW Harry was able to survive his attack as an infant he still never bothered to fully understand WHY something like that could happen. At the end of the Goblet of Fire he used Harry's blood to overcome Lily's protection and thought that was the end of it but he once again failed to grasp the true ramifications of bond's built on love. Someone filled to the brim with hate like Voldemort cannot understand all of the magical properties that love possesses.
Voldemort is a tragic character to me because throughout his entire life he failed to understand that love is the glue that holds people together through even the most turbulent of times. It makes them fight desperately for each other when all hope is lost. Love is what kept Harry and his friends fighting even when they watched those that they loved and cared about for years die right in front of them. It is why love is strong than fear. Voldemort's Death Eaters and his followers were held together by bonds of fear. Fear of torture and death at his hands. That fear is why unless they had the resounding upper hand their teamwork and cohesiveness was weak. Sewed with treachery and posturing for approval. You could see how baffled Voldemort was in the clip that was shown at the beginning of the post. In all his power he doesn't understand his weaknesses. Even though because of those weaknesses he has been thwarted time and time again.
Voldemort was a horrible and evil wizard. Without question. But he was also tragic. He was robbed of any chance to have a life with love and bonds of friendship before he was even born. And because of these deficiencies early on in life he turned into the the darkest wizard of all time. He is the most profound example that to live life without love is a fate worse than death.
Follow me on Twitter at @DarkSideScribe and subscribe to my Patreon
This scene is
where, after the Voldemort/Dumbledore battle, Voldemort possesses
Harry's body. Voldemort fills Harry's mind with visions of pain and suffering
from his past. His mother, Lily Potter, and Sirius Black dying. Cedric Diggory in
the graveyard. Voldemort also mocked Harry for being weak. As you can recall,
for much of the book/movie, Harry thought he was transforming into Voldemort
and adopting his traits so there are also visions of Harry looking into a
mirror and seeing Voldemort reflected back at him. Dumbledore sees the intense, painful struggle
Harry is going through with the possession and reminds him, "It is not how
you are alike. It is how you are different." Right after this is said, Hermoine, Ron and the other members of the Order
show up and watch in sadness at Harry's inner battle. Harry locks eyes with
them and latches on to positive happy memories of laughter, hugs, friendship
and love. It is a pivotal moment for Harry in the overall series and he
responds to all the hatred and pain that Voldemort is unleashing on him by
saying, "You're the weak one. And you'll never know love. Or friendship.
And I feel sorry for you."
With that being voiced, Voldemort extracts himself from Harry's body and tells him that he is fool who will lose everything. This scene struck me as powerful because it really details why a wizard as powerful as Voldemort was doomed to fail. He cannot understand nor comprehend the bonds of love. Voldemort is evil but when you really take a look at his backstory, it is one of sadness. He is the result of an unnatural union (his mother bewitched his father) and a lonely childhood. His total lack of humanity could be attributed to having virtually no healthy bonds. His mother, Merope Riddle, secretly fell in love with his father, Tom Riddle Senior, who was a wealthy muggle that lived in a nearby village. She most likely used a love potion to cause Tom to become infatuated with her. This right here was foreshadowing. Merope, being unable to have Tom fall in love with her naturally, selfishly forced him into a union with her. She certainly was a sad character with a turbulent backstory but this doesn't excuse her actions. It was the first example of a loveless bond in Voldemort's reality. Once the love potion wore off, Tom came to his senses and left Merope, which set the stage for Voldemort's hatred towards his father.
Fast forward to his years as an orphan. Voldemort was an orphan with little to no knowledge of his mother and father along with prodigious magical talents and no understanding of how to fully control them. These conditions serve as a catalyst that isolates him from the other students while also crafting his mindset of manipulation, coercion and intimidation. Already in his young life he was building bonds through fear and bullying. Utilizing his magical talents for selfish and cruel reasons. When Dumbledore first meets him it is already too late to salvage any trace of decency or humanity within Voldemort. The lack of love and any kind of nurturing presence in his young life had hardened him into a vessel of cruelty, malice with a thirst for dominance.
It is important to know and understand Voldemort's childhood in order to comprehend why his tale is a tragic one. Voldemort's interactions with people were always based in fear, intimidation, and manipulation. The Death Eaters and even his greatest servant, Severus Snape (sorry, Bellatrix Lestrange), were no more than mere pawns used for Voldemort's own personal gain. When Snape was viewed as the only remaining obstacle between Voldemort and mastery of the Elder Wand Voldemort killed him in cold blood without hesitation. Believing in and not underestimating the power of love was something that Dumbledore constantly tried to hammer into Voldemort's mind over there years. It is the most powerful force in the universe. Voldemort could never understand that concept because love isn't something that is tangible. It wasn't something he could physically grasp or conjure up with a spell. To him it was a weakness that lesser beings used to give themselves hope in lieu of having actual power. Even in his greatest defeat (baby Harry), he spoke about the protection of love that Lily gave as if it was just a complicated spell and nothing more. Even in deducing HOW Harry was able to survive his attack as an infant he still never bothered to fully understand WHY something like that could happen. At the end of the Goblet of Fire he used Harry's blood to overcome Lily's protection and thought that was the end of it but he once again failed to grasp the true ramifications of bond's built on love. Someone filled to the brim with hate like Voldemort cannot understand all of the magical properties that love possesses.
Voldemort is a tragic character to me because throughout his entire life he failed to understand that love is the glue that holds people together through even the most turbulent of times. It makes them fight desperately for each other when all hope is lost. Love is what kept Harry and his friends fighting even when they watched those that they loved and cared about for years die right in front of them. It is why love is strong than fear. Voldemort's Death Eaters and his followers were held together by bonds of fear. Fear of torture and death at his hands. That fear is why unless they had the resounding upper hand their teamwork and cohesiveness was weak. Sewed with treachery and posturing for approval. You could see how baffled Voldemort was in the clip that was shown at the beginning of the post. In all his power he doesn't understand his weaknesses. Even though because of those weaknesses he has been thwarted time and time again.
Voldemort was a horrible and evil wizard. Without question. But he was also tragic. He was robbed of any chance to have a life with love and bonds of friendship before he was even born. And because of these deficiencies early on in life he turned into the the darkest wizard of all time. He is the most profound example that to live life without love is a fate worse than death.
Follow me on Twitter at @DarkSideScribe and subscribe to my Patreon
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