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| The defining moment |
It is very important to understand that Voldemort was an outstanding wizard. Sample these particularly exceptional bits of magic performed by Voldemort- the Diary, the Resurrection Potion, Legilimency skills, the curse on the Ring Horcrux, his ability to fly without means, his resistance to Dumbledore’s exceptionally powerful Elder Wand & his ability to perform Avada Kedavra. You will say, what’s with the last point? What am I playing at? But as Dumbledore put it, isn’t killing not nearly as simple as the innocent believe? The killing curse works only if you mean it. Very difficult to do! Remember the look of revulsion Snape artificially generated on his face before his curse could work. Well Voldemort’s works every time because he pretty much hates everything, except Nagini, of course. Magical skill was one thing Dumbledore & Voldemort had in equal measure. For example, had I given both ordinary wands and asked them to do something with them, both would have impressed me in equal measure. Some will disagree. They will say Dumbledore was more skillful. Not quite. Remember the Ministry of Magic duel between these two greats? Dumbledore seems pretty awesome- transfiguring statues, conjuring the mass of water and wrapping it around Voldemort, generating the powerful spell that gave Harry goosebumps. Agreed, but all this was because leaving the Unforgivable curses, Dumbledore’s options to hurt Voldemort were very limited. Voldemort also could have done all those things. But he didn’t bother. He had the most effective weapon with him- the Killing curse. I think even Dumbledore would have been hard put to generate a Killing Curse as powerful as Voldemort’s.
So you see, with such immense aptitude, Voldemort had few roadblocks. Everything had worked like clockwork for him till Harry survived. So Voldemort had few reasons to look beyond his Horcruxes. To look at and study the functioning of wands & their relationship with their masters, to look for the Hallows, to study other forms of magic more powerful than the Killing curse- love! At once, if you consider all these things, Voldemort does not look stupid having died as the book depicts. Voldemort is still menacing, mind you! To study wands and to look for Hallows were two things he seriously didn’t need to do. At the height of his powers, why would he have bothered? This makes a lot of sense. And love, the terribly powerful brand of magic (according to Dumbledore) was a subject of study at the Ministry. This was the among the most obscure magical disciplines. Probably nobody understood it or knew about it. But this was before that fateful night. Dumbledore knew the sequence of events that had transpired that night- when the curse refused to work on Harry. Harry’s mother had shown proof of love for his son. Immediately the automatic magic had shielded little Harry. And how true the prophecy was! You see as Dumbledore got to know Harry better, he understood that Harry was somehow left marked with Lily’s love. Harry loved nearly everyone. And he was exceptionally selfless. He will give his life for his loved ones. Dumbledore who was scarred with the losses of his family members because of his neglect toward them, understood. Harry had the one power that will work against even the Killing Curse- the power that the Dark Lord knows not! And the power now Dumbledore knows exists!
Now let us see how Dumbledore knew and understood the above things (wand, hallows). Dumbledore had a fiery relationship with Grindelwald. He inflamed Dumbledore, led him astray. This was the moment Dumbledore was almost as bad as Voldemort. I say almost because in his letter, he expressed his approval for responsible use of power. Plus one to Dumbledore over Voldemort! Dumbledore had learnt about the hallows, had got infatuated with them. He thought merely laying hands on them will make them his. But as expected it was never that simple with those powerful magical objects. The
hallows themselves would find their worthy possessor. In other words, the ones who hanker after them are unfit to possess them. They will not remain long with such people. Alas, Dumbledore realized this later. Beetle the Bard was true. The owner of the hallows had to be like the third brother. Dumbledore now knew how the hallows actually worked. They yearned to be owned by someone with selfless intentions, the one who will embrace even death when required of him. So Dumbledore dueled Grindelwald, knowing fully well both were evenly matched. But the Elder Wand favoured Dumbledore, because he had waited till a point when the Wand knew Dumbledore didn’t want it for himself. Hence Dumbledore won the duel. This is a standard question among fans. How can Dumbledore defeat evenly skilled Grindelwald with the Elder Wand? The answer is above- selflessness. And Harry had loads of it. Dumbledore had noted this and internally smiled, knowing Harry will be the end of Voldemort. But all these highly advanced and obscure magical nuggets Voldemort had no way of knowing. One, he had never wanted the Hallows. Two, his wand worked so well he didn’t need to understand the it's working. Three, he knew no love so studying it was a bizarre option. And Voldemort’s fallacies only Dumbledore had known. He was the chief instrument in Voldemort’s removal. Frankly, had Dumbledore not been there with his supreme intelligence and experiences, Harry Potter was a piece of meat for Voldemort, with love or without it. Why? Without Dumbledore Harry wouldn’t know about the Horcruxes. Dumbledore even had correct ideas on what they were, too. To top these, Dumbledore had supplied the memories related to Voldemort. Could anything else have been more useful to Harry to finish Voldemort? I think not. Because of Dumbledore, at a certain point close to the end, Harry knew Voldemort inside out. Because of Dumbledore, Harry understood the complex working of wands, power of sacrifice and futility of Horcruxes. Salute to Albus Dumbledore!
Now it becomes so clear why JKR chose this ending. Voldemort didn’t understand love, so was taken in by Snape’s lies. Because he believed Snape could not have loved Lily so much. Even Dumbledore didn’t do so, I believe, till Snape conjured the doe Patronus in front of him. Ok, acceptable. Vodemort neither knew the wands' complexities nor understood the Elder Wand’s ownership. But Harry understood all these after so many months of deliberations and with so much help from Dumbledore. You see, Dumbledore had tried to keep the Hallows from Harry. Instead he prepared Harry to sacrifice himself like a hero. Knowing Harry’s character, he was sure Harry won’t falter. And the Hallows were thus impatient to be owned by this brave selfless boy, not the barbaric maniac bent to kill everyone in his path! Thus the ending is justified and Voldemort seeming so vulnerable is acceptable. After all, in an act of war, it is not always how strong your opponent is that makes the difference; it is whether you attack the enemy's Achilles' heel, too!
There! JKR’s stroke of brilliance never ceases to amaze me. There are ever-emerging vistas, unexplored possibilities, uncharted territories in her writings.
