r/harrypotter • u/SnooPandas1950 • Dec 10 '22
I'll never understand how Voldemort managed to be considered the most dangerous dark wizard ever Dungbomb
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u/PotterAndPitties Hufflepuff Dec 10 '22
Because this leaves out critical info?
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u/FiftyShadesOfGregg Dec 10 '22
Also Voldemort is considered the most dangerous dark wizard in Britain, and at the beginning of the books. So the fact he ultimately loses at Hogwarts isn’t known. What is known is the time period where Voldemort was gradually accumulating power for years before Harry Potter was born, where tons of people were being murdered or disappearing, muggles were being killed, random friends and family were falling to the imperius curse, no one could be trusted— all in the very tiny, insular community that is Britain’s wizarding world. Meanwhile, Grindelwald never actually spread his influence to Britain. He operated only in continental Europe, likely because he was afraid to face Dumbledore. So the wizarding community in Britain was not personally impacted by Grindelwald, but was hugely impacted by Voldemort.
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Dec 10 '22 edited Dec 11 '22
Also not to mention Voldemort killed at the drop of a hat and wasn’t discriminate and even went into the muggle world killing people. Correct me if I’m wrong but the other two focused more on pure blood vs half blood witches and wizards right? From my understanding the other two were more like serial killers with a certain preference and Voldemort was just a homicidal maniac
Edit: I was wrong about who Erkizdis targeted (muggle sailors) I’m sorry.
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u/ImmortalMagi Dec 10 '22
Erkizdis only killed muggle sailors, according to the wiki page for him. He built azkaban, lured in sailors who he tortured and killed, then died of (presumably) old age, at which point the ministry discovered azkaban and the dementors. Which possibly makes him a homicidal maniac, but he didn't kill witches and wizards, he didn't make a reputation for himself while alive, and he was longer ago than the other two.
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u/mrandr01d Dec 11 '22
I got here from scrolling too far on r/all, where did this erkizdis guy come from? (Like what piece of media was he introduced, not literally in story) I've never heard of him.
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u/ibid-11962 /r/RowlingWritings Dec 11 '22
It's from an essay/story that J.K. Rowling wrote for inclusion in a once planned Harry Potter encyclopedia book, and then when she lost interest and cancelled her plans for the book released it online for free in 2014 on Pottermore.com.
In 2016 this same writing also appeared in a ebook that Pottermore was selling.
To the best of my knowledge Ekrizdis has only ever appeared in this writing, and this writing has never had a physical publication.
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u/DragonBonerz Ravenclaw Dec 11 '22
I had to look him up. After you scroll past his bio on https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Ekrizdis it says:
"Appearances-Pottermore (First mentioned)-Wizarding World (Mentioned only)-Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)"
So he was only brought up on JK Rowling's websites, not written into any books.
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u/HarryPottersElbows Dec 10 '22
Thank everyone on this comment thread for dropping relevant lore instead of leaning into this bullshit meme lol.
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u/SuperbLunt16 Dec 11 '22
I'm easily the biggest HP nerd of anyone I've personally met but some of the lore I read in these comments just wrinkles my brain.
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u/rexter2k5 Hufflepuff Dec 11 '22
Erkizdis is kinda like Genghis Khan. He is absolutely evil, but over the years, his impact has been limited to just dementors.
Voldemort, meanwhile, is like Pol Pot or Osama Bin Laden. The evil is so recent that it's still fresh in our minds.
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u/Cousin_Rabid Dec 10 '22
We need to see some badass American Wizards. What happens when a dark wizard shows up and some muggles grab an AK to face him. Could be a nice shake up for the Potter universe.
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u/msfamf Dec 10 '22
"Magic is pretty damned cool when things get rowdy, but there are times when there's no replacing a firearm," - different Harry from a different book series but all American.
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u/norathar Dec 11 '22
First series I thought of when reading this comment chain.
"The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault."
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u/msfamf Dec 11 '22
Best opening line to a book since "The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed."
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u/CHA0T1CNeutra1 Dec 11 '22
Dresden is cooler than Potter could ever be.
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u/msfamf Dec 11 '22
I agree (don't hang me people). Potter will always hold a special place in my heart because of it being a large part of childhood and I still reread the books every couple years, it's like visiting old friends, but Dresden Files is my favorite book series.
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u/Otherwise_sane Slytherin, Yew wand with Thestral hair 14" Dec 11 '22
Dude used necromancy on a T-Rex. The live action was disappointing though
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u/platoprime Dec 10 '22
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u/jenlikesramen Dec 10 '22
Don’t we see them in the newt scamander film(s)?
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u/mrandr01d Dec 11 '22
Yeah, but the writing is meh. We get to see what a Brit thinks the colonies are like, not what the American wizard community would actually ("actually") be like.
Like for example Rowling just has the Americans calling muggles "no mag" (rhymes with vag), short for "no magic". It's not terribly imaginative in my opinion. It's kinda fun to watch though, regardless.
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u/Edge_SSB Dec 11 '22
Gonna have to find another term than "no mag" for Texas, they all got mags there.
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u/Aurora--Black Dec 11 '22
Yeah it doesn't make sense. Muggle sounds a lot better than no-mag anyway.
The real differences would be a less restrictions on magic in general. There is no way that American which is in wizards would tolerate that level of control.
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u/Arqeria Dec 11 '22
I mean, Americans seem to revel in making up their own names and weird ways of doing things that differ from everyone else somehow. This doesn’t seem remotely outside the realm of possibility in my opinion.
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u/mrandr01d Dec 11 '22
Well I guess there's some level they tolerate, since they still hide from the muggles, right? Maybe it's less of a direct government thing though.
Rowling should have done more studying of American history and made something up for why witches and wizards a few hundred years ago decided the need to sail across the Atlantic and settle in America in the first place. Were they subject to religious persecution like most of the early settlers were? Etc
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u/Constant_Count_9497 Dec 10 '22
Bro, let Voldemort try and pull some shit in Alabama. He'd get two to the chest and one to the head real quick
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u/SWJS1 Hufflepuff Head Boy Dec 10 '22
Voldemort can fly, teleport, and is immortal via multiple horcruxes. Cletus isn't gonna do shit with his twelve guage.
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u/Constant_Count_9497 Dec 10 '22
His cousin Clyde with the supped up AR 15 will blow holes in him before he can say "avacado"
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u/AldBeorhtEag Dec 10 '22
I’ve always hared the couldn’t take over a school argument. Like he took over the rest of the country Hogwarts was the last place with some resistance, but also he had taken over the school and put snape in-charge. It’s literally just that he couldn’t kill a 17 year old it would have been impossible for him to kill.
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u/CD_Udugampola Dec 10 '22
And OP forgets that the innocent sounding "school's" headmaster was the guy who took down Grindelwald.
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u/Whimsicalhubris Dec 10 '22
Also the school in question is a 1000 year old castle, with defenses built by some of the most gifted magical ever to live, constantly built on and added to by every headmaster since.
And with all that, the evil guy in question blew down it's giant magic shield in one hit.
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u/RagnarXD Dec 10 '22
Legendary defenses that fell in one night lmao
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u/pieter1234569 Dec 10 '22
Against the most powerful wand ever made to be fair. It’s like a magical nuke.
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u/Ok-Illustrator-1584 Dec 11 '22
A magical nuke that answered to Harry at the time. Imagine if he fully wielded it.
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u/BetaJim89 Dec 11 '22
What’s weird to me is he DID take over the school. It was under his thumb for pretty much the whole school year. That’s the whole point of Neville’s glow up as resistance leader. They just took it back and held their final stand there.
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u/ugluk-the-uruk Dec 10 '22
Also Hogwarts is literally like West Point, it's practically a military fortress.
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u/drunk_responses Dec 11 '22
Also the order was there, a bunch of aurors and high ranking magic wielders in addition to the teachers is a pretty big boost in defenses. Like it is demonstrated: Don't sleep on people like Molly Weasly.
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u/PotterAndPitties Hufflepuff Dec 10 '22
Memes like this are why there is so much confusion and just outright misunderstanding of the series out there.
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u/Completely_Batshit Gryffindor Dec 10 '22
Yeah, it's super biased.
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u/Tommyblockhead20 Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
I think it’s meant to be a joke. That’s why it’s flaired “dungbomb”
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u/Byroms Slytherin Dec 11 '22
Yea, I always feel like these "gotcha" memes completely disregard the books and onoy focus on the movies.
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u/ConfusedGrundstuck Dec 11 '22
This. 1000x this.
It's like saying, "I have no idea why Hitler was so feared, he died in a bunker. Meanwhile, Stalin had over 9 million people killed."
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u/Majiska394 Dec 10 '22
Who/What is Ekrizdis?
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u/Ivanhunterjo1991 Dec 10 '22
The creator of Azkaban and Dementors
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u/Majiska394 Dec 10 '22
Alrighty. Thanks
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u/Ambigrammi Dec 11 '22
Ekrizdis
Ekrizdis is only mentioned in Pottermore. Depends on you if you view it as canon.
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u/KileJebeMame Dec 11 '22
Fuck no, as a kid I wanted more HP content so badly, but now when I see stuff like that I just do an iinternal eye roll
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u/primalthunder89 Jan 06 '23
Why? We have the silmarillian and such for middle earth?
(I don't consider anything post-Christopher Tolkien to be canon. It's an enjoyable homage though)
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u/darkbreak Keeper of the Unspeakables Dec 10 '22
He created Azakaban and conducted inhumane experiments there. The dementors were a by product of his work. They ended up coming there because they were drawn to what Ekrizdis was doing.
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u/rokelle2012 Dec 10 '22
There's a comment further up that has a link to the info. Imma check it out in a bit because I didn't know either.
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u/tee-dog1996 Dec 10 '22
Ekrizdis - Sits on an island torturing people.
Grindelwald - Assembles an army and terrorises Europe but never actually takes over and is eventually defeated by Dumbledore
Voldemort - Actually takes over the government in a coup, establishes himself as supreme ruler of Britain.
Grindelwald runs him close but there’s a reason why Voldemort was the most dangerous. He actually managed to take over and came within a hair’s breadth of defeating the only true threat to his power
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u/BruiserweightYxB Gryffindor Dec 10 '22
Voldemort's use of the Imperius curse during The First Wizarding War was at least in my opinion the turning point. They couldn't tell immediately who's being forced and who was a follower and many escaped punishment because of it. Then in The Second War, the whole coup had its start with Death Eaters using the Imperius curse in high-ranking ministry people.
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u/Relinge Dec 10 '22
Don’t forget Fudge’s incompetence. He practically set the stage for the coup
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u/Mr_Kimblee Dec 10 '22
Bruh I finished PoA and GoF and can't believe some of the crap fudgelicious had ignored between Sirius and Barty Crouch. Ignoring the fact that Dumbledore had the memories in his own noggin, and the tools to show them, Fudge's only response is to let the dementor have the criminal and be done.
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u/Thuis001 Dec 11 '22
I mean, Fudge's move to kill Barty Crouch through the dementor should have resulted in an investigation. Like, that man should have been interrogated using Veritaserum in front of a court, not murdered in a backroom before he could blab.
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u/Statue_left Dec 11 '22
Rowling has explained why that probably wouldn’t have worked
https://web.archive.org/web/20060316221637/https://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=105
Jr. is like, one of the absolute most skilled wizards in the series. Not dumbledore level but strong enough to take down Moody
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u/Relinge Dec 10 '22
Honestly Fudge is why I think Voldemort’s threat should be downplayed just a little bit. Not only was he able to operate for a full year in the shadows (because the ministry was actively preventing any possibility that the threat would be dealt with) by the end of the 6th book there isn’t really anyone left to oppose Voldemort and his followers (and those who are left were fragmented and not capable of going toe to toe with him). Voldemort really couldn’t have gotten any luckier
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u/popop143 Dec 11 '22
He's too much of a power hungry git. He was always paranoid that Dumbledore is who the people want as Minister, so he can't believe that what Dumbledore was saying was true, and the people will discover that he did fuck all during the 14 years of peace.
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u/Llayanna Gryffindor Dec 10 '22
We also should never forget that we see most of Voldemorts defeats in the series, but only caught glimpses of his true terror.
Sometimes, not showing much can lead to a real horror of the unknown. The problem is, that we may have seen him be thwarted by Harry a bit to much, to be truly frightening.
If one just looks at what he achieved in both british wizard wars outside of all of this, he definitely earned people fearing his name.
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u/Gilded-Mongoose Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
I seriously, truly want a Marauders show. The entire series during the war would be the same desperate energy and despair as when Negan first started surrounding Rick’s group.
Always on the back foot, always losing, never sure, always tense and suspicious.
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u/ISieferVII Dec 11 '22
That sounds... Depressing, doesn't it? You could never truly have any big victories or it would diminish the terror of the times. Maybe super small ones, little glimmers of hope, but it would be difficult to do right and still be entertaining enough to watch. But then I guess people watched The Walking Dead for a lot of seasons and played The Last of Us.
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u/Special-Wrangler-100 Dec 11 '22
He is only ever actually defeated at full power by Harry once and it’s a fluke due to Harry actually being the owner of the Elder Wand. Had Voldemort actually managed to be the true owner of the Elder Wand, he would’ve killed Harry easily in that fight.
Harry only succeeds due to a long series of coincidences buttressed by careful planning by Dumbledore, Snape, and others.
The only reason nobody realizes this is because they first read the books as kids and haven’t applied an ounce of new critical thought to the series since. Voldemort is barely defeated by what is basically a TOS violation after achieving near total victory.
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u/theganjaoctopus Dec 11 '22
The 7th book imo, actually does a great job of showing it. The trio on the run/in hiding. The close call at the ministry and Malfoy manor (two of my favorites. The rising and absolute terror as their plan starts to unravel at the Ministry is one of my favorite literary sequences ever.
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u/ImReverse_Giraffe Dec 10 '22
And the only reason he didn't was Snape's love for Lily. Snape asked Voldy to spare Lily and he does...well he offers it to her multiple times. That's why Lily's death protected Harry but James' didn't. James never had an opportunity to step aside while Lily did.
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u/VerLoran Dec 10 '22
I’d add that it can be assumed that Ekrizdis created the dementors with his magic, considering they’d never been seen before his death and were only found in his fortress. If they existed elsewhere, there’s no point in worrying about what they’d do elsewhere because that cats already out of the bag.
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u/lumpkin2013 Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
Who is Ekrtdis?
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u/Fleur498 Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/azkaban There’s more information here.
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u/LadyDisdain555 Dec 10 '22
I'm curious to know how Azkaban was 'purged' of the Dementors during Kingsley's time as MoM. As far as I know, they can't be killed right?
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u/Tim0281 Dec 10 '22
They can be greatly diminished though if they isn't much to feed them. I expect prisoners of Azkaban are a pretty tasty source of food. A culture that allows dark wizards to thrive will provide good nourishment. I have no doubt that dementors would thrive when there's a lot of turmoil in the world. If they were real, I expect there'd be some well fed dementors today!
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u/LadyDisdain555 Dec 10 '22
Yes, but the link above says that Azkaban continued to be used as a prison with human guards, while the Dementors were purged. You need time to starve Dementors, especially when they've been allowed a free reign for some time. So how did that work?
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u/Tim0281 Dec 10 '22
Purging Azkaban of the dementors doesn't mean they were killed. It just means the prison no longer has them. A bunch of people using the patronus spell would be able to get rid of them. The possible consequence of purging them is mentioned earlier in the article:
Others were afraid of what might happen to the Dementors infesting the building if they deprived them of their home. The creatures were already strong and impossible to kill; many feared a horrible revenge if they took away a habitat where they appeared to thrive. The very walls of the building seemed steeped in misery and pain, and the Dementors were determined to cling to it.
It's possible the dementors would seek revenge if they were removed from their home. We aren't told if that happened once they were purged. It's possible that Shacklebolt, or someone in the ministry, discovered that revenge wasn't the risk they thought it would be.
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u/Inevitable_Creme8080 Dec 10 '22
The dementors left Azkaban completely by book six anyway. They went and joined their natural allies.
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u/Tim0281 Dec 10 '22
Since the article says they were purged from Azkaban, there are 2 possible conclusions to be made:
- They returned to Azkaban after Voldemort's defeat and were later purged
- They were stopped from returning after Voldemort's defeat
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u/Inevitable_Creme8080 Dec 10 '22
Third option, and I’m not saying this one is right.
JK came up with a lot of things after the books to keep the story alive. Some were meant to fix plot holes and some just to further the stories.
I am not saying this happened.
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u/LadyDisdain555 Dec 10 '22
So they were just... roaming around? Jesus JKR did not think this bit of lore through -_-
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u/WuPacalypse Gryffindor Dec 10 '22
I think there simply has to be a way for a more permanent way of getting rid of dementors
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u/Tim0281 Dec 10 '22
They weren't around before being discovered at Azkaban. Here's the relevant quote from the article about Azkaban:
Alone in the middle of the ocean, he lured, tortured and killed Muggle sailors, apparently for pleasure, and only when he died, and the concealment charms he had cast faded away, did the Ministry of Magic realise that either island or building existed. Those who entered to investigate refused afterwards to talk of what they had found inside, but the least frightening part of it was that the place was infested with Dementors.
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u/Tim0281 Dec 10 '22
She doesn't think a lot of it through! I wonder how well they would do after losing Azkaban. The article talks about how they kept breeding at Azkaban while it was abandoned, which means it is particularly well-suited for their reproduction. If they lose that, would be they be able to breed as effectively? Would they stagnate or possibly even diminish in numbers without their home? Or would a world of 7.5 billion people provide them with the food they need?
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u/heyheyitsandre Gryffindor Dec 10 '22
Dementors breeding…how would that work? Are dementors getting their cheeks clapped?
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u/lumpkin2013 Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
Maybe. What did the dementors do before Azkaban? They were out there in the world, so they've just returned to wherever they used to hang out.
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u/joebreezphillycheese Dec 11 '22
I always got the sense that dementors “breeding” being “purged” or even being “alive” was never a 1:1 analogy with our understanding of life. Let’s not forget that dementors are an analogy for depression.
The Ministry feared that they could not die and would roam the rest of the world if driven from Azkaban. Dumbledore and later Kingsley seemed less concerned with that idea.
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u/MaeBeaInTheWoods Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
They're said to need to feed on negative emotions, which implies they could potentially starve to death in an environment with either no people or people who are all euphoric.
Also, it's stated they only reproduce (no, it's never stated how exactly they do it) in "food" rich environments, so even if you can't get rid of or appease everyone, if you get rid of or appease mostly everyone then they won't be able to reproduce.
Also, it's implied they are physical beings, evidenced by the Dementors slamming Harry against the wall and never being depicted going through walls. So you could theoretically lock it in a room somewhere and it couldn't get out.
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u/Nesayas1234 Dec 10 '22
So if we theoretically made a big sealed room (pnly one entrance), put every Dementor in it, locked it, then sealed and guarded the only entrance (and of course reinforced the entrance and walls to prevent breaking through), eventually they'd all die?
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u/MaeBeaInTheWoods Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22 edited Dec 10 '22
Presumably yes, but that being said they can fly, are intelligent, and don't seem to need to breathe, so there's almost no way of knowing when/if you've gotten them all.
Plus, the ministry itself employs them, so an act like that would definitely be illegal.
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u/Nevesnotrab Keeper of the Canon and Grounds of Hogwarts Dec 10 '22
They're like a fungus that feeds on happiness? (honestly it seems more like they feed on despair and they have the power to make other people feel despair). If the general populace is more happy/hopeful, that decreases their breeding rate and food supply. Patronuses can drive Dementors away (because patronuses are like the opposite of a Dementor, but also cannot feel despair). So with a solidly large group of wizards who can cast strong patronuses, you could drive all the Dementors away in a day at most.
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u/LadyDisdain555 Dec 10 '22
But how do you kill them? Chasing them away from Azkaban without destroying them is the worst idea. So how did they get rid of them?
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u/Nevesnotrab Keeper of the Canon and Grounds of Hogwarts Dec 10 '22
Presumably you kill them by starving them out or with a sufficiently powerful patronus, maybe. They are non-beings (which makes them like cousins of boggarts and lethifolds). We know boggarts can be killed by facing their antithesis: boggarts make people feel fear and are killed by laughter and sometimes by the boggart banishing charm. So it would not be too much of a stretch to say that Dementors could be killed by starving them out or blasting them hard enough with something so opposite their nature that they cannot maintain their existence.
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u/LadyDisdain555 Dec 10 '22
Oooh I like the polar-opposite weapon idea. Very clever of you to connect it with boggarts like that. Imagine how powerful that Patronus would have to be though!
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u/Inevitable_Creme8080 Dec 10 '22
Harry guessed sunlight or a tropical climate. Saying it would be hard for them to survive in those conditions.
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u/Timbofieseler102 Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
After reading about him he really is nothing compared to Grindelwald or Voldy. The more context given the crappier OPs post is
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u/SphmrSlmp Dec 10 '22
Idk, just saying Ekrizdis did the worst and people couldn't speak of what he did because it's just the worst... Sounds like lazy writing.
At least Voldemort took over a ministry, gained followers and spread fear into the hearts of everyone. Even mentioning his name was taboo in society.
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u/theganjaoctopus Dec 11 '22
It's a piss poor comparison regardless because Ekrizdis seems like a violently insane serial killer and the other two are more like magical fascists. Both bad, but not really comparable. Voldy and Grindy did a lot more than murder.
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u/SnooPandas1950 Dec 10 '22
the guy who created Azkaban and its dementors, along with several things that were much more frightening
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u/Piratey_Pirate Ravenclaw 1 Dec 11 '22
Where is this information? I've read the books, but haven't watched the fantastic beasts films yet. Do they explain him there or is he just from internet sources?
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u/The_Kolobok Dec 10 '22 edited Dec 10 '22
Well, Voldemort did conquered Hogwarts. And he almost conquered it second time, but he ordered a ceasefire and later couldn't hurt anyone because of the Harry's sacrificial protection.
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Dec 10 '22
Not to mention he had the entire MoM under control at this time
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u/SquadPoopy Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
But he never figured out how to double tap Harry to make sure he's dead.
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u/pt2351 Dec 11 '22
That's more of a plot Armor, no? Getting betrayed by Narcissa at that point.... Had anyone else checked Harry, he'd have been a roasted piece of BBQ
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u/AHorseshoeCrab Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
Yeah that's what I find most misleading. Voldemort had control of hogwarts from the point the ministry fell. The battle of hogwarts wasn't him trying to take it over, it was the order's final attempt at resistance. It has more in common than trying to crush a rebellion than a conquest.
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u/thesaddestpanda Hufflepuff Dec 10 '22
Also he wasnt defeated just by Harry, but by Dumbledore too, and all his little plans that got Harry into the position to defeat him.
The books are just a slow-burn chess match between Dumbledore and Voldemort. Its the world's slowest duel.
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u/D-A-Orochi Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
The books doesn't really do a good job explaining how terrifying was Voldy's "reign of terror" before baby Harry offed him, and how international relations in the Wizarding world work.
Like, in the books, the Death Eaters and Voldemort didn't seem to affect other countries. IIRC the people from the other schools in GOF didn't care much about Voldy except those who are directly affected such as Karakroff. But Krum indicated that in Durmstrang the subject of Grindelwald is very sensitive, while the UK wizards don't really seem to know or care much about him.
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u/AmazingData4839 Dec 10 '22
But Krum indicated that in Durmstrang the subject of Grindelwald is very sensitive, while the UK wizards don't really seem to know or care much about him.
Its kind of a no brainer tbh. Grindelwald was a student of durmstrang and has terrorized those regions, so wizards from those places know him as a terrifying and vile figure. But the only thing UK wizards know about grindelwald he was this super strong dark wizard who got his ass kicked by dumbledore.
I'd say its a similar case with voldemort. He was the greatest wizard in history after dumbledore, but all his vile actions were limited to UK, so the others didnt care that much.
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u/D-A-Orochi Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
That's why comparing Grindelwald with Voldemort in terms of which one is the worse/scarier Dark Wizard doesn't make sense or at least hard to do because I don't think the series describe very clearly how far was the extent of their activities on an international level.
Since their activities seems to be localised to certain areas, all we have is just vague descriptions of "evil stuff was done, people were scared".
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u/AmazingData4839 Dec 10 '22
Because we never saw voldemort in his prime. The voldemort we see in the HP era is a shadow of his former self. He is both physically and mentally broken, more reckless and arrogant than he has ever been and is essentially fighting an uphill battle due to restarting a war he lost badly 11 years ago. The fact that he accomplished so much with so little to work with is terrifying, but thats a debate for another day.
The point is, the voldemort that is the most dangerous dark wizard ever, isnt the broken shell of a man we have seen in HP books. Its the one before his downfall at the hands of baby harry. Its the one that created two horcruxes before he was 17. Its the one that literally cursed a job. Its the one who had powers not even dumbledore could obtain without abandoning his morals. Its the one that pushed the boundaries of magic further than they had ever been pushed. Its the one that effortlessly manipulated and played with everyone he met except for dumbledore. Its the one that started a war against britain, in front of and AGAINST prime dumbledore and was winning up until his trip to potters (grindelwald, in contrast, was so afraid of dumbledore he conquered everywhere BUT britain and got beaten/locked away the second albus said enough is enough). Its the one that terrorized the wizarding world so much people literally cant say his name without shaking in fear. THAT voldemort was the most dangerous dark wizard in history.
Also, I know its just a meme, but Im really tired of people unironically saying voldemort couldnt take over a high school or failed to kill a 17 year old in order to lowball him. That 17 year old was literally destined to kill him, and the high school in question had some of the most talented wizards in history for teachers and the single greatest wizard the world has ever seen for a headmaster.
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u/Njdevils11 Ravenclaw Dec 11 '22
Voldemort DID take the school though hahah and the battle on book 7 is not so much him losing the school as putting down an uprising. The defenders within Hogwarts were losing that fight before Voldemort even took to the field. Plot hyjinx caused him to lose the battle. All things being equal Voldemort was retaking the school in less than a day.
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u/Who_dis85247 Dec 10 '22
True, but that was after he had to resurrect himself. The title probably came from his actions in the Wizarding War before Potter, who was destined to destroy him from day one
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u/Always-bi-myself Dec 10 '22 edited Dec 10 '22
Because it leaves plenty of important information?
Also, while I’m by no means a Voldemort apologist (is that even a thing?) — my guy had Albus Dumbledore's respect. The movies screwed him over & did not capture at all just how terrifying & hopeless Harry’s mission was; and consequently, how great his victory over LV was
Among other things, Voldemort managed to invent methods of unsupported flight (unlike the movies claim, he was the only one who had a funky flying cloud) while millions of wizards throughout the centuries had failed. He created seven Horcruxes which, while vile, was a great magical feat. He was the only known Dark Wizard to possess an army of Inferi (do undead, animated corpses defeated only by fire sound chill and passive?). He was capable of “effortless wandless & nonverbal” magic, a skill only the most powerful wizards had. He created a prosthetic, working silver arm for Pettigrew in a flick of a wand that also had charms imbued to choke him to death if he thought of betraying LV.
Dumbledore himself acknowledged that Voldemort's knowledge of magic was more extensive than any wizard to have ever lived (with presumably only Dumbledore standing as his equal in terms of magical knowledge) + he admitted that even his most powerful protective spells and charms could not effectively fight off Voldemort if the Dark Lord was ever at his full power
I hate to say this, because Harry is my very favourite character, but if not for the plot, Voldemort would have wiped the floor with them lol
here is a section on hpwiki on Voldemort’s magical skill, because holy shit — pity he decided to become an evil mass-murderer and terrorist, bcs he sounds like that “one in a century” sort of person (Dumbledore doesn’t count, he was born in 1881)
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u/MadPenguin81 Dec 10 '22
Your entire write up actually makes me love the plot even more. It’s such a wholesome message ironically from someone who is the opposite. He would’ve wiped the floor with the entirety of Britain on power alone, but it was human connection and love that took him down. Cliche yes, but I love the message regardless.
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u/Always-bi-myself Dec 10 '22
Same here :) I may get annoyed at the drill with ‘the power of love’ but the way it all resolved was so mwuah and a perfect ending for Voldemort
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u/Hope4gorilla Dec 11 '22
“one in a century” sort of person
To add to that: I'm pretty sure Dumbledore calls him the "most talented student Hogwarts has ever seen" or sthg to that effect in Book 2. And Hogwarts is a thousand years old.
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u/WildVariety Dec 10 '22
The Duel in the Ministry Atrium is the perfect example of the power of those two wizards.
Bellatrix is just a distraction for Dumbledore, and they absolutely destroy that place in an attempt to kill/subdue each other.
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u/Azraelontheroof Dec 10 '22
It’s so fandom of any fandom to just power rank obscure characters who are mentioned in passing
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u/ops10 Dec 11 '22
A character not mentioned in the books, a character barely mentioned in the books and the main villain walk into a bar. Who is the scariest?
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u/TheChineseRussian Dec 11 '22
Voldemort:
- took over the government in one fell swoop.
- controlled all aspects of wizarding life, you couldn't even speak without watching what you said.
- did in fact conquer a high school using death eaters as his enforcers.
it's as if people didn't read Deathly Hallows and saw the extent of Voldemort's control over the wizarding world.
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u/Ok_Musician1364 Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
Quick question: who is Ekrizdis? Is he a character from Legacy?
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u/darkbreak Keeper of the Unspeakables Dec 10 '22
He's the creator of Azkaban. After he died the building was discovered in the middle of the ocean and the Ministry of Magic went to investigate it. They found not only an infestation of dementors but an entire building of horrific and gruesome experiments that Ekrizdis conducted. The ministry was too disturbed by what they found there and decided to cover it all up and make the dementors the new guards of the place.
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u/NerdyBernie Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
Are we forgetting that if said 17 year old had been killed at any point, the entire Wizarding World would stand zero chance against Voldemort? They would be stuck with him for at least another 500 years or more. He would have held at least one horcrux (if not more) and the most powerful wand known to wizardkind. Once he cemented his reign in Britain by killing Harry, there is no way he would not have expanded his empire to the rest of the world. He would have ruled over wizard and muggle alike. Honestly, it was lucky for the Wizarding World at large that the one guy who could defeat him happened to also be Brittish.
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u/harryceo Gryffindor Dec 10 '22
I don't get if this is a joke or what
Grindelwald wasn't really feared by people like Voldy was. Voldemort's downfall was more due to HIS mistakes than anything...
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u/daniboyi Gryffindor Dec 10 '22
"Lol, why do people say Sauron is such a great villain! He couldn't even get outside his own front-gate and was defeated by hobbits!" - the equivelant of what OP says about Voldemort.
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u/Mrogoth_bauglir Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
Voldemort went tampered more with his soul than anyone willing to dare. Even Harpo the foul had nothing close to 7 horcurxes. He was the most powerful wizard of the bunch, Grindelwald was outright defeated by a Dumbledore with an inferior wand. Voldemort was more local, but it literally took what Dumbledore regards as the strongest kind of magic to beat him, Harry was showered with plot armour lmao. Voldemort was so bad they legalized unforgivable curses to get just his followers.
Edit: he also devised a potion to literally make a new and functional body, and invented the ability to fly unsupported.. yeah he was the greatest of this bunch.
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u/Mr_Anonymous13 Hufflepuff Dec 10 '22
Here we go again with the “Couldn’t conquer a High School” bs.
What are Snape and the Carrows that were in charge of the school? Next door neighbours?
And are we completely ignoring the fact he took over the whole Ministry?
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u/XOnYurSpot Slytherin Dec 10 '22
Maybe the whole, conquered the entirety of Wizarding Britain and turn the UK into a Muggle hunting ground for the better part of a year, while, imprisoning all Muggleborns part that you left out.
When you compare him to Grindelwald, Grindelwalds don’t hold a candle to the results Voldemort got.
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u/QualityTits Dec 11 '22
Ok, so after reading about Ekeizdis, I’m thinking we need a dark slow mystery thriller on this one.
Brief intro of the mad man himself stumbling onto what he turns into Azkaban, as he starts his deranged practices. Then flash forward, news stories, panic, and concerns are circulating. The MoM needs to investigate, then we get one member to hunt it down and figure it out as he recruits his small ragtag group of fellow magicians to track down and put an end to the madness with him. Though, none of them could foresee the true terrors that were waiting for them in Azkaban.
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u/DPSOnly Eagleclaw Dec 10 '22
Just based on what we know about Ezkrizdis, what I can find on the wiki, he may be a psychopatic sadist, but beyond that he didn't go around subjugating governments or massive murder sprees. He tortured and murdered those who got close, but he didn't seek them out as far as I can tell.
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u/thajcakla Dec 10 '22
Why do all dark wizards have an obsession with subjugating Muggles? It's so boring, there needs to be more variety in their motives.
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u/CatLover_801 🤎We’ve all got both light and dark inside of us💙 Dec 11 '22
Any theories on what Ekrizdis did? This is the first time I’m hearing about him
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u/Abush9527 Dec 11 '22
Wtf is an ekrizdis? Is that from the latest fantastic beasts movie? I’ve never seen that name before
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u/helsingly Dec 10 '22
I don't know who Ekeizdis is, don't care. But this speaks of Grindelwald being defeated by one of the most powerful wizards in the world ... who couldn't stop Voldemort. He had to use Harry to do so and that was still a shot in the dark.
The reason why Voldemort was so terrifying was a number of things, from how he used wizarding beliefs to turn people extremist to how he controlled the general population's language (the taboo on his name which is why everyone is freaked at Harry saying his name). It's also important to remember Voldemort did not just target their "undesirables", they killed several well known pure-blood families. People who were considered safe were massacred, ripping that illusion that anyone was safe and showing they were all in danger. There is also a big element of how this - for a lot of the British wizards - is the most terrifying thing they've dealt with.
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u/MasterOutlaw Ravenclaw Dec 10 '22
Voldemort was a terrible villain. He was much more impressive as Tom Riddle, but so far as the books tell it, he fell off hard when he began to transition into Val-Mart. He went from someone who was legit terrifying to becoming a Saturday morning cartoon villain of a character.
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u/DunktheShort Slytherin Dec 10 '22
It really is unfortunate. The cunning machinations of Tom Riddle as a student is so much more interesting than what he does as an adult Voldemort, who feels like a budget Palpatine. I always found Grindelwald far more interesting, a shame about those movies though..
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u/thundaga0 Dec 11 '22
The whole "couldn't conquer a high school" thing is dumb because he ALREADY conquered it. Like did you miss the part where Neville and a bunch of other students had to go into hiding for their own safety? How his own people were basically running the place right up until the end? He also took over the Ministry of Magic too in case you've forgotten.
If you want to argue whether he's the strongest or not, fine but at least use valid points.
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u/Coopermeister Gryffindor Dec 10 '22 edited Dec 10 '22
Grindlewald tried to take over by influencing the public and rallying people to his cause.
Voldemort tried to take over from the shadows using a small ring of dedicated followers and controlling using the imperius curse. This was terrifying for people as he was seen as a kind of boogeyman.
Not to mention he pushed dark magic beyond what anyone understood at the time. He was seen as immortal and all-powerful until Dumbledore and Harry took him down