He was the only man Voldemort ever feared. But why?
Heeeey, Brother.
Voldemort's greatest fear, at all, is dying.
In fact, he fears it so much that it's the basis for his entire evil empire.
It may look on the surface like all he cares about are power and ruling.
And sure, on some level, he does. But his core motivation for everything he does is to avoid death.
He goes to greater links than anyone who has ever lived goes to avoid it.
And yet, ironically, ends up the least alive person alive, if that makes sense.
But despite his fear of the abstract concept of death,
he has another, much more concrete, living, breathing fear: Albus Dumbledore.
This is one of the very first things ever established in the entire story.
That Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort ever feared. In fact, when they finally do showdown some five books
later, the chapter is actually called The Only One He Ever Feared. But what is he so afraid of?
The answer probably seems prrrreeettttty obvious. That Dumbledore is just a very
powerful wizard who could possibly defeat Voldemort in combat and put an end to his entire reign.
And yet that doesn't exactly track for a few reasons. I mean, first of all, it's just Voldemort's knowledge of the prophecy which states:
And yada yada. You know it. But it basically goes on to identify baby Harry-
or Neville, I guess-
But definitely not Dumbledore as a person who is capable of vanquishing Voldemort.
And we know Voldemort puts heavy stock in the prophecy, hence his attack on Harry as a baby and his, you know, nonstop attempts to kill him thereafter.
But here's the thing: if Voldemort is so convinced of the prophecy's absoluteness,
then what does he have to fear from Dumbledore? I mean, heck, even without the prophecy, he has the horcruxes.
Like, even if they fight and he loses, he's still fine. Sure, he may have to exist in some astral mist form for a little while,
but we know he'll make it back. And it's not like Dumbledore has any horcruxes.
I mean, we made a video about that that got shot down pretty hard.
But eventually, even if you don't kill Dumbledore yourself, he'll just die of natural causes. He's already really old.
So, if you're Voldemort, you've got the prophecy and the horcruxes and time on your side.
So, why is Voldemort really afraid of Dumbledore? Today we find out.
[Intro music]
Hey, Brother!
So, why is Voldemort afraid of Dumbledore even though he can't die and knows only Harry can defeat him?
Well, I think it, at least, partly comes from their very first encounter
back when young Tom Riddle was still at the orphanage and had no idea he was a wizard.
To that point in his life, young Tom had basically become master of his tiny domain.
Like, he really is already a budding Dark Lord. He's already begun collecting trophies,
threatening and controlling the other kids, and using his magic to cause pain
and intimidation to get whatever he wanted. Until he meets Dumbledore.
When, as ever, he goes for the commanding tone he's so accustomed to using.
And I just love Dumbledore's reaction here, which is to say, he makes no reaction at all.
Like, certainly he is not intimidated. Instead, as if to nip this attitude in the bud right away,
he points his wand at the wardrobe and lights it on fire.
Which, conversely, does draw out a huge reaction from young Tom, who is horrified at the idea
that all of his earthly possessions are about to be destroyed. Of course, they're not.
Dumbledore douses the flame almost immediately and it turns out zero harm has been caused.
But the pièce de résistance is what Dumbledore does next, when he makes all of the stolen objects in the wardrobe
start shaking and tells Tom he must return them. That thievery is not permitted at Hogwarts.
The whole visit seems like it lasts barely 5 minutes, but think of everything that happens.
Like, in the first 10 seconds, Dumbledore confirms everything Tom has ever thought about himself.
That he is special and offers him a home and a school. Best day ever!
But then in the next 20 seconds, he reveals that just by sitting in the room with him,
he already knows about his past misdeeds with the other children, where he's hiding the stolen objects,
and that he could not only destroy them, but also take away everything he just said.
I mean, I'd probably be a little afraid of Dumbledore, too.
I mean, not only is he clearly powerful, but how did he know all that stuff?
He creates this mental fear in Voldemort that not only could he lose Hogwarts and basically all of his specialness,
but that any wrongdoing at all will absolutely not go unnoticed.
So, imagine then getting to Hogwarts and realizing that the same man is considered the most powerful wizard of the age.
Like, geez!
Like, imagine getting to high school and realizing that, like, one of your teachers probably should be the President of the United States
and you accidentally spit in his coffee before he told you you were a wizard.
Whoopsie.
Also it was gin. I guess. Dumbledore wasn't really drinking. I don't know. You get it.
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The point is, the seed of fear is planted very early. The fear that Dumbledore is always watching.
Not that Tom doesn't put that fear to the test. I mean, before the end of his fifth year, he does open the Chamber of Secrets
and successfully kills Myrtle and, by all accounts, gets away with it.
And yet the one teacher he doesn't seem to have fooled is Dumbledore.
Who goes as far as to get the accused Hagrid hired at the school. A constant reminder that Dumbledore doesn't believe Hagrid is guilty
and that he knows the truth. In a way, Hagrid is a living, breathing version of the stolen, shaking trinkets in the wardrobe from the orphanage.
Dumbledore then pulls the same trick out when Tom comes back to interview for the
Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He calls him by the name Voldemort-
a name other people aren't supposed to know yet-
and reveals that he knows the Death Eaters are at Hogsmeade. More information he's not supposed to know.
And this is all incredibly bad news because Voldemort loves operating in secrecy. And yet, at every turn, Dumbledore is onto him.
He knows what he's up to. Or at least, seems to. So, to a man who fears death more than anything,
and has been in the process of slowly killing people and collecting rare artifacts and hiding them,
you can see why Dumbledore would appear as a huge threat. It's the orphanage all over again.
Like, he must know, mustn't he? Like, am I successfully hiding these horcruxes away?
Or does Dumbledore just know about them? Hilariously, though, that is, like, the one thing Dumbledore does not know.
At least not for a very long time. But the fact is, Tom must always be afraid that Dumbledore knows.
And I absolutely believe he's afraid Dumbledore knows. But I don't think that's the the main
thing that makes him fear Dumbledore. I think the big clue comes right here:
Now, when Voldemort says "old argument", perhaps he means they have literally
discussed this between themselves. Or just that this is a known argument amongst wizard kind.
That love is actually more powerful than any other form of magic.
Either way, though, as much faith as Voldemort has in the prophecy, Dumbledore has in this.
And that is what really scares Voldemort: that this man, the most powerful and smartest wizard he's ever known-
although he would definitely never admit that-
Ahhh heh ha!
-believes there is something more powerful than magic.
And since he always seems to know everything, what if he's right about this?
It is Voldemort's fear of that knowledge that scares him more than anything about Dumbledore.
That he, Voldemort, might be wrong. That no matter what he does,
there will always be a force out there capable of taking him down.
And what's worse is that there's nothing he can do about it. Because his soul has already been split.
He's drunk the unicorn blood and there is no going back to try and love.
He has given everything he has to gain more power, but it turns out,
the one thing he can't do is the key to the most amount of power out there?
And Dumbledore is quick to point out the irony of such a situation when he talks to Harry in King's Cross.
Gosh, so frustrating if you're Voldemort, right? Like, the way to have the most amount of power
is to possess a ton of love and compassion that makes you not care if you're powerful? What a scam.
Mmm. Indeed, Dumbledore. Indeed.
But speaking of poignant things Dumbledore says in King's Cross, I think there is also a parallel
between how Voldemort fears Dumbledore and how Dumbledore himself feared Grindelwald.
And so it is with Voldemort. He fears the truth. The knowledge that Dumbledore is right.
And this is also why he fears Dumbledore the man, because, to Voldemort,
Dumbledore's beliefs are only as powerful as the man who's preaching them. Which, to him,
is why it's then so essential to kill Dumbledore, because if he could just get rid of him,
if he could just stop telling people love is so powerful, then maybe it wouldn't be true.
Maybe if Dumbledore is dead, love won't be more powerful. And I know, that's a ridiculous way of thinking.
I mean, obviously just because Dumbledore isn't there to remind people love is powerful doesn't mean it loses any of its power.
But you can see why Voldemort would think this way, because it is true of his own regime and beliefs,
which are all based on hatred and lies. If, he, Voldemort dies, then so does what he built
because none of it's based on truth or makes any sense. Like Muggleborns are not stealing magic. Pure Bloods are not superior.
Heck, he's not even a pure blood.
Ahhh heh ha!
While he's alive, though, he is the guy with the biggest stick, so he can at least enforce his lies.
Except for there's that other guy with the big stick, Dumbledore. And Dumbledore leads by such example, is such a walking embodiment
of the power of love, that he gives the resistance a foothold, and something to believe in. So, is Voldemort afraid of losing a duel to Dumbledore?
No, not really, because he really can't die anyway. Even if he lost, he'd just come back.
He's afraid Dumbledore is right about love, because if he is, then Voldemort's entire life's mission, his whole purpose, is in vain.
And there are some serious mental gymnastics he is having to do to justify that Dumbledore isn't right.
Because, like, Voldemort knows a pretty good deal about the department of mysteries.
Like, he knows the kinds of things they study in there. Which means he should know
that there is a door they never open and keep locked at all times because of the power behind it,
and that power is love. Meaning in order for Voldemort to justify his own beliefs,
he has to delude himself to the point that he is the single most powerful and important entity to have ever existed.
That he is truly singular. To the point that he is right and Dumbledore is wrong.
Which honestly, for Voldemort, sounds about right. But there is always that seed of doubt planted the day he met Dumbledore.
And if it was anyone else preaching against him- and plenty are - he could probably let it go.
But Dumbledore is just so powerful and wise that maybe, just maybe, he, Voldemort, is wrong.
And that scares the pants off him.
[Outro Music]
Hey, Brother!
Guys, thanks for watching today's video. Don't forget to leave a like if you haven't already,
and leave a unicorn emoji down in the comments if you agree that this is why Voldemort is afraid of Dumbledore.
If you have been following along on our Through the Gryffindor podcast, we are about to launch the finale of book one.
Chapter 17, The Man with Two Faces.
So, if you haven't caught up yet, now is a great time to do so, because we're going to have the entire first book complete
and we'll be starting Chamber of Secrets very soon. You can click right here to catch up on all of that.
But otherwise, Ben, until next time, I will see you in another life, Brother.