Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by

J. K. Rowling

Lord Voldemort Character Analysis

The antagonist of the novel. Voldemort was born Tom Riddle and dedicated his life to the Dark Arts, world domination in the form of a wizard-centric pureblooded society, and the pursuit of immortality. The quest for immortality led Voldemort to create Horcruxes, or objects that house parts of his soul, since he cannot truly die while the Horcruxes exist. Though Voldemort always intended to make seven, he incorrectly believes that he only made six—Harry is the unknown final Horcrux, but having his soul split so many ways means that Voldemort's soul is too fragile for him to recognize this. A person must kill in order to make a Horcrux, and Voldemort in his cruelty has no problem with this. He's known as the most evil wizard in history and kills people for any reason, or no reason at all. He goes about achieving world domination by targeting both Muggles and witches and wizards born to Muggles, as he desperately wants to create a world in which wizards and other Dark creatures, like dementors, reign. Harry knows, however, that this is rooted in a deep desire to belong to the Wizarding world and, specifically, to belong at Hogwarts. This is why Voldemort chose objects that belonged to the four Hogwarts founders to turn into Horcruxes, and it is why he hid the final Horcrux at Hogwarts. Despite Voldemort's competence at Dark magic, he disregards any other kinds of knowledge or magic that he doesn't think are useful or powerful. He thinks that love is silly, though he acknowledges that Lily's sacrifice to save Harry was important, and he abruptly ends his deep dive into wandlore in favor of acquiring the Elder Wand, a powerful wand that he believes will overpower every other kind of magic. This ultimately proves an incorrect assumption, as Voldemort doesn't understand the rules guiding wands' loyalty and can't kill Harry with a wand that Harry is the true master of. Voldemort's final Killing Curse rebounds and kills him because of this.

Lord Voldemort Quotes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows quotes below are all either spoken by Lord Voldemort or refer to Lord Voldemort. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Choices, Redemption, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter Ten Quotes

"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron. "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."

There was silence as Harry digested this. How could Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as he thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy.

"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice, just like all the purebloods who treat them like animals...It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't."

Related Characters: Ron Weasley (speaker), Hermione Granger (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Kreacher
Page Number: 195
Explanation and Analysis:

"Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been alone for a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor and told them everything they wanted to know. I've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did...and so did Sirius."

Related Characters: Hermione Granger (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Kreacher, Sirius Black, Narcissa Malfoy
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eleven Quotes

"Attendance is now compulsory for every young witch and wizard," he replied. "That was announced yesterday. It's a change, because it was never obligatory before. [...] This way, Voldemort will have the whole Wizarding population under his eye from a young age."

Related Characters: Remus Lupin (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort
Page Number: 210
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eighteen Quotes

Dumbledore had left them to grope in the darkness, to wrestle with unknown and undreamed-of terrors, alone and unaided: nothing was explained, nothing was given freely, they had no sword, and now, Harry had no wand. And he had dropped the photograph of the thief, and it would surely be easy now for Voldemort to find out who he was...Voldemort had all the information now...

Related Characters: Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore , Gellert Grindelwald
Page Number: 351
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Thirty-Four Quotes

And Dumbledore had known that Harry would not duck out, that he would keep going to the end, even though it was his end, because he had taken trouble to get to know him, hadn't he? Dumbledore knew, as Voldemort knew, that Harry would not let anyone else die for him now that he had discovered it was in his power to stop it.

Related Characters: Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore
Page Number: 693
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Thirty-Five Quotes

"And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped."

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort
Related Symbols: The Elder Wand
Page Number: 709-10
Explanation and Analysis:

"So Voldemort, instead of asking himself what quality it was in you that had made your wand so strong, what gift you possessed that he did not, naturally set out to find the one wand that, they said, would beat any other. For him, the Elder Wand has become an obsession to rival his obsession with you. He believes that the Elder Wand removes his last weakness and makes him truly invincible."

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort
Related Symbols: The Elder Wand
Page Number: 721
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lord Voldemort Quotes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows quotes below are all either spoken by Lord Voldemort or refer to Lord Voldemort. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Choices, Redemption, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter Ten Quotes

"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron. "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."

There was silence as Harry digested this. How could Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as he thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy.

"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice, just like all the purebloods who treat them like animals...It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't."

Related Characters: Ron Weasley (speaker), Hermione Granger (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Kreacher
Page Number: 195
Explanation and Analysis:

"Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been alone for a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor and told them everything they wanted to know. I've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did...and so did Sirius."

Related Characters: Hermione Granger (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Kreacher, Sirius Black, Narcissa Malfoy
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eleven Quotes

"Attendance is now compulsory for every young witch and wizard," he replied. "That was announced yesterday. It's a change, because it was never obligatory before. [...] This way, Voldemort will have the whole Wizarding population under his eye from a young age."

Related Characters: Remus Lupin (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort
Page Number: 210
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eighteen Quotes

Dumbledore had left them to grope in the darkness, to wrestle with unknown and undreamed-of terrors, alone and unaided: nothing was explained, nothing was given freely, they had no sword, and now, Harry had no wand. And he had dropped the photograph of the thief, and it would surely be easy now for Voldemort to find out who he was...Voldemort had all the information now...

Related Characters: Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore , Gellert Grindelwald
Page Number: 351
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Thirty-Four Quotes

And Dumbledore had known that Harry would not duck out, that he would keep going to the end, even though it was his end, because he had taken trouble to get to know him, hadn't he? Dumbledore knew, as Voldemort knew, that Harry would not let anyone else die for him now that he had discovered it was in his power to stop it.

Related Characters: Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore
Page Number: 693
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Thirty-Five Quotes

"And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped."

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort
Related Symbols: The Elder Wand
Page Number: 709-10
Explanation and Analysis:

"So Voldemort, instead of asking himself what quality it was in you that had made your wand so strong, what gift you possessed that he did not, naturally set out to find the one wand that, they said, would beat any other. For him, the Elder Wand has become an obsession to rival his obsession with you. He believes that the Elder Wand removes his last weakness and makes him truly invincible."

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort
Related Symbols: The Elder Wand
Page Number: 721
Explanation and Analysis: