He Who Must Not Be Named

Just who is this Dark Lord that’s terrorizing Harry’s life? We saw him living off as a parasite on the back of a professor’s head on Harry’s first year. In the Chamber of Secrets, all we saw was his sixteen-year old memory from a fifty year-old diary – is it just a memory? He’s been silent on Harry’s third year at Hogwarts; but, now, he has put the boy who lived under a terrible danger – an elaborate plot to finally kill the boy who hindered his rise to power.



Who is Tom Marvolo Riddle, the one who fashioned himself to be called Lord Voldemort? When do we finally get to really know him? Is he pure evil or just a poor boy gone bad? Oh, you’ll have to wait for the sixth film, but here are some quick facts. He is, indeed, a descendent of Salazar Slytherin (as he claimed in Chamber of Secrets). His mother, Merope Gaunt, is a witch, while his father (Tom Riddle) is a rich Muggle who abandoned his wife upon learning who she really is. The young Tom was raised in an orphanage in London after his mother died an hour after giving birth. According to Dumbledore, “he is one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has ever seen."

For now, just be scared that he is finally back, and wait for his remarkable duel with Dumbledore on the fifth movie, Order of the Phoenix. See him here after his rebirth, and how fabulous Ralph Fiennes is.

Why is it such a big thing when Voldemort said that he could touch Harry now? Well, the young boy was protected by an old charm when his mother died to save his liFe (as explained by Dumbledore in Philosopher’s Stone). The blood of his mother, which runs through his veins, protects him – the same way that he has to stay with the Dursleys, for his Aunt Petunia, the only sister of Lily Evans, could protect Harry from the dark wizards. In taking the blood of his enemy (Harry’s), Voldemort is now sharing that same blood with Harry.

People have asked why is he so freakin’ after a young baby? Blame Trelawney – that hag professor of Divination whom you have met in Prisoner of Azkaban. She made her very first prophecy, and somebody overheard it and told Voldemort.

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ...
Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...
And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.”

The sad thing is that Voldemort only heard of the first two lines.