Hog’s Head PubCast #27

I haven’t listened to the podcast yet, but the comment above about what could turn Voldemort around reminded me of a fan fiction I wrote once, several years ago before HBP was out. In it, Tom Riddle’s father decided to stay with his mother, rather than abandon her. That was before I knew about the Gaunt family and the history of abuse there, but I wonder if he’d have been shown love early in life, if it might have made a change. You’d think if there had been a chance to reform him, Dumbledore would have been able to accomplish it, so he must have been too far gone by the time he got to Hogwarts, or you’d think Dumbledore would have tried to reach out to him. I’m not saying Dumbledore didn’t try, just that whatever he did didn’t work.

Hmm, Darth Vader ultimately turned back because of his children, but we have no evidence Voldemort has ever been close enough to anyone to even have children.

Mrs Lovegood,

Interesting points. I don’t know that you need to be close to someone to do the deed that leads to children- especially not someone like Voldemort who is all about force and power…

I always felt uncomfortable reading the memory in the pensive where Tom meets with Hepzibah Smith. I think DUmbledore got Harry out before things got… freaky and scary in a way unsuitable for school childern to read about.

Matthew

Mrs. L, even accepting Matthew’s observation that a child can be conceived without a relationship between the parents, it wouldn’t be enough that Voldemort had a child. He would need to have some kind of bond or feeling for the child in order for that child to have a redeeming influence.

Also, Anakin Skywalker, remember, was loved by his mother, and was a loving husband, before he became Darth Vader. For Tom Riddle, there was nothing; and an important reason why there was nothing was because he himself didn’t seem to have the usual need for nurturance and love. Just power and control.

I think Travis is right, the closest Tom Riddle got to normal human needs for love and belonging was during his time at Hogwarts. And, I believe, the closest he got to a human relationship was with Dumbledore. From Tom’s perspective, Dumbledore would be a distant, rejecting, feared and hated father, but the closest to a father he ever had.

Matthew, your comment about the unsavoury interaction between Hepzibah Smith and Voldemort struck a chord with me. I thought she was being completely age inappropriate with him, and was relieved that the curtain came down before the murder and any other events which may have preceded it. It reminded me a little of Slughorn and his collection of bright young people. I’ve never felt comfortable about that, either, or of the way Dumbledore used Harry as “bait” to collect the collector.

JKR’s ability to depict these characters who are scary in adult ways suggests she’ll be able to make the transition from juvenile fiction to adult fiction without difficulty. In fact, I sometimes wish that she had started out in adult fantasy, but then the world would have missed out on Harry Potter.

Lovely podcast, as usual. I’m always so happy when I discover you’ve posted a new one…

Not to go off topic but I was just over at Hogwarts Professor and…am I an Evil!Snape supporter?! ??? I tend to swing a little every once in a while, but I’m pretty sure I’ve consistently argued Good!Snape.

Shadowquill, I checked the Hogwarts Professor site. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the Professor confused you with Seriously Black, who has been a forcefully outspoken proponent of Bad Snape.

Both your noms de plumes (noms de plume?) start with S. They are both sufficiently esoteric that I can see how they could be mixed up.

It could happen to anyone. I, for example, once referred to Travis by a name I dare not repeat for fear of excommunication, but it’s what Neville Longbottom calls his toad.

Interesting how a sexual bent has been cast on Hepzibah and Slugworth. To me, Hepzibah was just a foolish old woman grasping at the last vestiges of youth. Not necessarily sexual, just flirty. Tom played to her vanity. She lusted but didn’t really want substance. I liken her to the Southern belles of old. Flirting was a game and the act of sex was not their aim.

Slugworth probably always wanted (because he wasn’t as a boy) to be a ‘cool guy’ and as an adult, with influence, was able to achieve that in his position as teacher. He’s not interested in these kids as kids, but as the adults they could become and who their parents are now. He enjoys having contacts. He’s a (excuse me) butt kisser. But sinister in a sexual way? I guess I’m naive, but I didn’t sense that. I doubt Jo Rowling was writing of pedophiles.

Doug,
I would suggest reading the Ollivander/house elf theory posted if you haven’t already. It seems to me not just plausible, but very, very possible.

So are we ever going to learn what the Easter Egg scene is?

The only thing I could think of was when Ginny give Harry Easter candy in the library, and Madam Pince chases them out. That one doesn’t seem to fit.

I agree that Hepzibah was doting on Tom but I think Tom way trying to seduce her. It was just a feeling I had that seemed, to me, to be reenforced by how Dumbledore got Harry out of there in a hurry. I don’t think Tom had any consideration for anything except getting what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted. He strikes me as someone, like Sauron with the ring, who would punish anyone who had held what he considered to be his.

I didn’t feel that Slughorn was being entirely inappropriate just exclusive. As a former teacher myself (and having been trained that spending time alone with a student is a no-no) I find myself cringing at the possible repercussions to a teacher who gives one-on-one meetings or lessons to students. I know it’s entirely innocent in the stories – but I feel that I’ve been conditioned to feel that something dirty and wrong is happening. It makes me sad that that’s where the world’s going ie. the first reaction (or my first) is “there must be something innapropriate going on”.

Matthew

I believe the comment IS about the library scene where Ginny brings Harry the Easter egg. I remember reading an essay about this scene once where the author was trying to describe why an Easter egg would bring about the strange emotion that this author assumed was coming from Harry’s connection with Voldemort. In chapter 29 of OotP, after Ginny hands him the chocolate Easter egg:

” Harry looked at it for a moment, then, to his horror, felt a hard lump rise in his throat”

‘Are you okay, Harry?’ asked Ginny quietly.

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ said Herry gruffly. The lump in his throat was painful. He did not understand why an Easter egg should have made him feel like this.”

Re: Voldemort’s redemption.

I definitely agree that Voldemort is the embodiment of evil in the HP world, and as such, is beyond redemption. The E-Owl referred to Darth Vader, but maybe a better parallel from the Star Wars series is Emperor Palpatine. He’s just a bad guy, and we don’t really see anything redeeming about him. (Granted, the Emperor is a far less-developed character than Voldemort.)

A smooth talking, attractive predator and an easily flattered rich old woman – a recipe for disaster, one would say. This is one of the few occasions in the saga that I’m willing to absolve Tom Riddle of some of the blame. Not for the murder or falsely pinning the blame on the elf, of course, but for conning Hepzibah Smith into showing him her treasures. She was willing to use him; he used her instead. JKR writes:

“‘I wonder whether you know what it is, Tom? Pick it up, have a good look!’ whispered Hepzibah, and Voldemort stretched out a long-fingered hand and lifeted the cup by one handle out of its snug silken wrappings. Harry thought he saw a red gleam in his dark eyes. His greedy expression was curiously mirrored on Hepzibah’s face, except that her tiny eyes were fixed upon Voldemort’s handsome features.”

Not very motherly, I think, unless you’re thinking of Jocasta.

And she seeems to have been completely indifferent as to the provenance of what must be, in her world, an artefact of no little value: Slytherin’s locket. There were two possibilities: either the locket was stolen, in which case it should have been returned to the rightful owner; or the rightful owner was defrauded by Burke, in which case Hepzibah was accessory to that fraud.

I’m not trying to make a case for Voldemort, or to justify his actions. But, the evil that he does is supported by the selfishness, blindness, meanness, cruelty and callousness of others around him: Slughorn, Smith, Pettigrew, Malfoy, Crouch Jr and Sr, and many others, including, we must suppose, Severus Snape, at least up to a certain point.

I think JKR’s talent is nowhere more apparent than in how she depicts the shades of evil in these characters. She may be writing a juvenile fantasy story, but she writes with the sensibility which surpasses her niche.

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