The Dark Lord is the most feared person in the wizarding world.
It’s even at a point where no one dares to speak his name.
He now goes by ‘’You-Know-Who’’.
And over many years, he has done unspeakable things.
But what led Voldemort to his dark side?
Read on to learn:
- Who the Dark Lord was before he turned wicked.
- 3 surprising reasons why Voldemort became evil.
- How You-Know-Who’s heritage set him on the wrong path.
- And more…
Why did Voldemort become evil?
Lord Voldemort has quite the reputation amongst all witches and wizards.
And it’s not a good one.
Well, that depends on who you ask. However, most will agree that Voldemort is the embodiment of evil.
But how did he become this way?
For that, we’ll look at the 3 primary reasons for his wickedness.
#1: He had a poor upbringing
Bad family health is proven to be detrimental to any kid. Even in our world.
This study has shown why a poor upbringing can lead to a twisted worldview.
And it’s safe to say that Voldemort’s childhood was far from ideal.
Be warned; you may start to feel bad for the Dark Lord.
Most of the issues he faces now started even before he was born.
His mother, Merope Gaunt, was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. Who’s one of The Hogwarts Four.
One of the founders always believed in the superiority of pure-blood wizards.
While the other 3 disagreed, Slytherin actively showed his disdain for anyone who wasn’t of pure blood.
But Merope grew to like a Muggle, someone with no magical powers. And this angered Morfin, her brother.
So he put a spell on the innocent person, Tom Riddle Sr.
Because of this, her sibling was sent to Azkaban Prison.
But Merope still liked Tom.
So she bewitched him with the use of a love potion.
Naturally, Tom grew obsessed with Merope. They got married and became pregnant.
Merope believed that Tom started to actually like her over the years.
So, she stopped giving him the love potion.
However, as soon as Tom was no longer under the spell, he left her…
Even if she was still pregnant.
So Merope went to Wool’s Orphanage and gave birth there.
Sadly, she died a couple of hours after, leaving the newly-born Tom Marvolo Riddle with no parents.
The poor kid then had to spend his years in the orphanage. And this was during a time when orphans weren’t treated well.
So you see, Voldemort was born out of fake love and never had a family.
And J.K. Rowling often stresses the importance of a mother’s love in her story.
Just take Lily Potter’s protection charm. She ensured Harry’s safety for all those years by simply loving him.
Interesting fact: J.K. Rowling suggested that Voldemort would be a better person if he received his mother’s love.
#2: He had a twisted view of the world
As I’ve mentioned, Voldemort’s mother was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. And that family always believed in superiority.
The family practiced incest to keep their bloodlines pure.
With that, this study shows the disastrous impact that incest may have on a person or family.
What I’m trying to say is that Voldemort was already somewhat twisted.
He grew up in an orphanage where he didn’t receive love or attention.
So naturally, he started to ponder. He was constantly left alone with his thoughts.
And we know it’s not good if your beliefs and ideas are harmful and evil.
Moreover, the incestuous habits of his mother’s side of the family also contributed to his instability.
Lastly, there’s, of course, his poor view of half-bloods and Muggles. This was an ideal of the Slytherin family, and Voldemort agreed.
Even if he, himself, was a half-blood.
Now, I don’t think I need to explain why feeling superior to other races is evil.
#3: His pursuit of power further corrupted him
During Voldemort’s journey to power, he did many horrible things.
Anything from killing, to torturing, to even tearing his soul apart.
All of these acts have made him worse over time.
But I think the most impactful one would be his creation of Horcruxes.
Forming one basically means you store a part of your soul in a certain object. And fracturing your psyche is a recipe for evil.
Voldemort invented his first Horcrux when he was 16 years old. and in his 5th year at Hogwarts.
This scene was shown in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, where a young Lord Voldemort appears from the possessed diary.
A few months later, the second Horcrux was formed. The third one was when he turned 20.
He created a total of 5 up to this point. And he accidentally turned Harry into the sixth.
This happened when he tried to kill Harry.
But the Killing Curse backfired, killing him instead.
And Voldemort’s soul latched onto the one living thing in the room.
Throughout the entire story, a total of 7 Horcruxes were created.
To create one, you first have to murder someone in cold blood. Then, you literally split your soul into fractures.
So you see…
The entire process is so dark and evil that not many wizards ever tried it. They know better than that.
It would take an evil person to even create one. But the act of making one further worsens oneself.
This video nicely explains the entire timeline surrounding Horcruxes:
Who was Voldemort before he was evil?
Lord Voldemort was born as Tom Marvolo Riddle.
His name comes from 2 people:
- His Muggle father Tom Riddle.
- Marvolo Gaunt, his pure-blooded grandfather.
As mentioned, Young Tom grew up in an orphanage.
Naturally, he had a lot of time to himself. And most of that would be spent just getting through the day.
He was 11 when he got his invitation to Hogwarts.
He gladly took this opportunity. But he refused any form of help.
Dumbledore offered to aid him in his shopping for school stuff. But he declined.
That’s the mentality he developed in the orphanage. To learn to fend for himself.
At Hogwarts, he was placed in House Slytherin. Not necessarily a bad place, but Ron summed it up nicely:
‘’There’s not a bad wizard that didn’t come from Slytherin’’.
Tom Riddle quickly showed himself to be very talented in wizardry.
Even to the point where he could create a Horcrux at just age 16.
This is arguably one of the turning points for him. It can be theorized that this is when he became Voldemort.
Did Voldemort choose evil?
This is actually somewhat of a controversial topic.
On the one hand, many people would say he chose evil. After all, it’s his decisions that led to the deaths of many.
But on the other, Voldemort was born this way.
We talked about the circumstances of his birth.
Most notably, his mother used a love potion on his father. And kids born from this are said to be unable to love others. Nor are they incapable of feeling affection for themselves.
So in a way, Voldemort really had no choice. He was born without the ability to love. Similar to how some kids are sadly born blind or deaf.
But that’s not to defend his actions.
After all, he acted on his harmful thoughts. However, the incapacity to feel does not give him a free pass to rain terror on the world.