Sure, Voldemort is cruel beyond all reason, but does he have a small bit of human inside him? His bitterness against his father has propelled him far in his quest to rid the world of Mudbloods and Muggles alike and of immortality to see it through (though he seems to have an irrational fear of death). If you're immortal, do you care about ridding the world of "tainted" people?

Whom did we learn from that there was not enough human left in him to die? Hagrid. As my fellow authors on MuggleNet have pointed out, you have to take Hagrid's words with a grain of salt, lovable and well-meaning as he is. Remember, Dumbledore still calls Voldemort "Tom".

While watching Japanese anime, InuYasha, I realized how Voldemort could be partly human. Admittedly, Jo doesn't watch anime, but it got me thinking. In InuYasha, there is a half-human, half-demon being called Naraku. His quest is to be 100% demon. He was created from the sacrifice of a human to 100 demons. In his quest, he sealed his human part deep inside himself. It was locked up with nowhere to go.

What if Voldemort sealed Tom Riddle (his human side) inside himself; into his own soul? What if he somehow suppressed the human side (Tom) inside himself - one the ways he progressed on the road of immortality. It's possible that when he was in Hogwarts, when his friends started calling him Lord Voldemort, Tom was already shut inside with no way out. We don't know when his transformations started. His continued transformations later on made sure that he lived in spirit before that fateful Halloween night occurred.

But is he now more human than he used to be?

At the end of Goblet of Fire, Voldemort was resurrected (with bone, flesh, and blood from his dad, Peter, and Harry, respectively). He is no longer just a spirit (doesn't have to hop from body to body), he is of this world - he is mortal. He is matter, which means he can be destroyed. That could be the meaning of the mysterious twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes.

Maybe Dumbledore is on to something here, calling Lord Voldemort "Tom". It reminds us that 1) he hasn't achieved immortality (he still is human), thus he can be defeated, and 2) you can appeal to his human side. Maybe a couple of reasons Voldemort fears our beloved Headmaster are because 1) Albus can "see" straight through him, and 2) Voldemort knows that Albus knows that he hasn't achieved immortality.

I know that the following is supposition (we won't know for sure until the series is finished). What if Harry has to connect with Tom Riddle (Voldemort's human side) to destroy Voldemort? Not that Tom's soul/essence is going to say "Sure, Harry, I'll gladly help you destroy my alter-ego". Harry will have to feel something big for Tom, something that Tom has never felt before - unconditional love (love Tom unconditionally). Use "the force he (Voldemort) detests"(p. 844).

Voldemort should have become immortal when he had the chance. His inability to have done so will be his downfall.

12/2/04

Posted by: Nicole