Case Defending Lord Voldemort

by Wajeeha

Abstract: This was written by me in January 2011 for a class assignment in which we had to defend the villain of a story. I chose Harry Potter because I am a huge fan and wanted to see if I could make Voldemort look good. Of course, I support Harry Potter in the story like all the other fans and think that J.K. Rowling is a genius. All the points raised are purely for fun so please don’t take them as my actual opinion.

JUDICIARY OF THE ORDER OF MERLIN – FIRST CLASS
WIZARD COMMUNITY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Your Honor, Judge Fiddlewood, respected jury members, and the prosecuting party, I, Wajeeha, Attorney for Defense present to you the following defending points as a nine-point justification, for my client, Mr. Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort.

1. As a child, Voldemort was extraordinary and talented. Due to his supreme fear of Death, the boy wanted to live forever and was interested in the idea of eternity. Noted names that did the same are Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Flamel and the youngest brother from the story in Beedle the Bard. He asked his teachers about it and thus he came to know about the Horcruxes, which were pieces of one’s soul sealed in objects. There is nothing wrong with the desire to live forever. Plus, he was willing to make the Horcruxes out of his own soul. I, hereby request your honor to question the teachers at Hogwarts School, (such as Professor Slughorn) who are responsible for putting ideas that infested into the mind of such a very talented boy.

2. As a child, Tom Riddle aka Voldemort faced a lot of problems. His dad left his mother just because he came to know that she was a witch. His mother died giving birth to him. These situations affected his mind and created a negative perception of the muggles. His fellow students didn’t like him; his teachers didn’t love and support him and left him all alone. Of course, at such a young age such traumatic events would naturally affect a person’s mind.

3. Voldemort wanted power beyond all powers. There is nothing wrong with the idea of striving for the best. It calls to mind the philosophies of Albus Dumbledore and Gilderwald. Even Mr. Dumbledore was looking for the same power. The only difference was Voldemort was successful whereas Dumbledore was not in pursuit of the objects wanted. Otherwise, it’s plausible there was a great chance that Mr. Dumbledore, himself, would have turned to the dark side. Voldemort, on the other hand, never got a chance to experience ‘love’ so we can never know whether there was a chance he could have turned to the other side.

4. He was striving for knowledge which included both the dark and the bright sides. Because everything has a good and a bad side and to understand something fully, one needs to know everything inside out. I would also like to say that the restricted section of libraries at Hogwarts School is not fully protected. Students at times sneak in for fun or out of curiosity and we all know who entered the restricted section under an invisibility cloak only in his first year. Hogwarts needs to look into these matters of what type of information should be accessible to what age group of students. I would also like to question the authorities at Hogwarts School about the division in the houses. How can an old hat with a segment of brain out of the long-gone founders of Hogwarts decide how a new student’s mind works? People change with time and even if, hypothetically, we believe it works, the idea of putting labels on students, like that Gryffindors are the bravest and that people with brains are in Raveclaw, that Huffflepuffs are the average students and Slytherins are the competitive ones and perceived as the house of evil-doers is not justified. It creates a divide among students and creates stereotypes and judgments.

5. Voldemort was against half-bloods and muggle-borns because he believed:

a. The muggles’ inclusion was exposing the magical world to the other world and it was not a good idea. They didn’t have the same ideologies and rules and perceptions. The systems were quite different, which could have created a rift between the cultures similar to what is happening between different countries and races in Muggle society.

b. The half-bloods were not the pure form of wizards. They were like hybrids. Unnatural. If the muggle-born/ half-bloods were allowed to be a part of the wizarding world, after a while, the two worlds would have merged and again there would be a big chance of a clash of the two cultures.

6. Professor Trelawney should be questioned about her visions. Who is she to declare that one will survive out of the two? She is responsible for creating this idea in the heads of both parties. If it was a prophecy, we all know that Miss Trelawney’s memory is not very strong and she has a habit of exaggeration, even Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr. Weasley had the same views. According to the prophecy, Mr. Riddle would be challenged by a boy (Mr. Snob, Harry Potter) “neither can live, while the other survives.” Voldemort’s life was under threat and all the steps he took were to defend himself. According to the law, it is legal to defend one’s life; if one feels that it is in danger.

7. Because of Mr. Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort was made to live a life of misery for 11 years in limbo surviving with the help of a tree, all alone in the woods. While Mr. Potter got away with just a scar on his forehead.

8. Lord Voldemort was killed by Mr. Harry Potter in cold blood and all his followers – the loyal death eaters – were arrested without any case. Mr. Harry Potter should be questioned about his acts and the Order of the Phoenix should be questioned as well.

9. The book written by Miss JK Rowling is biased. It is Harry Potter and the blah blah blah, not Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort blah blah blah. It is one-sided, which does not give the readers the opportunity to know the other side of the picture and thus, it would be an injustice to declare my client as guilty. He had a terrible upbringing and never had the chance to receive love from his parents. At the end of his life, he just wanted a better life for wizards and wanted to protect them from extinction.

I demand justice for my client! Thank you!