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I like the final fight between Harry and Voldemort in the book much more than in the film. Apart from everything else, if you only know the film, there is a lot of information you'll never know.

Reenah wrote: "I like the final fight between Harry and Voldemort in the book much more than in the film. Apart from everything else, if you only know the film, there is a lot of information you'll never know."

I can see that. Things go by quite fast in the film whereas it takes up an entire chapter of the book. I feel the same way about the films in general, and prefer the books in nearly every respect.

Voldemort is quite underwhelming as a villain 😶
I feel that Umbridge was a better villain
People hate her guts
While Voldemort is just there
I never ended up hating him🤷🏽‍♀��
Couldn't care less for him

Umbridge gets much more personal and human. We've all had to deal with evil teachers and bureaucrats, or at least know someone that has - while a Nazi Wizard is a lot more detached and a lot harder to take seriously.

@Juho Pohjalainen
I agree with you...Umbridge is realistic and reminds us the way power can be abused

Mrinmayi wrote: "Voldemort is quite underwhelming as a villain 😶
I feel that Umbridge was a better villain
People hate her guts
While Voldemort is just there
I never ended up hating him🤷🏽‍♀��
Couldn't care less f..."

I agree about Umbridge being a better villain. Her sort of evil is a lot more personal, visceral and relatable. Funny you should bring this up, I was just thinking today that Voldemort's fairly generic, so far as personifications of evil go. I mean, I don't know what his goals are. He wants to take over and subjugate wizards in Britain, that much is clear. But to what end and why? At least with Umbridge it's fairly simple that she enjoys hurting children because she hates children. That's something I can wrap my head around.

Juho wrote: "Umbridge gets much more personal and human. We've all had to deal with evil teachers and bureaucrats, or at least know someone that has - while a Nazi Wizard is a lot more detached and a lot harder..."

Yes, relatable threats trigger memories and fears that existential threats simply aren't able to.

Voldemort is a bland character in my opinion. The only thing remotely interesting about him is his history at Hogwarts and the teenage version of him in book 2

Mrinmayi wrote: "@Juho Pohjalainen
I agree with you...Umbridge is realistic and reminds us the way power can be abused"

Yes, definitely :)

Roel �� wrote: "Voldemort is a bland character in my opinion. The only thing remotely interesting about him is his history at Hogwarts and the teenage version of him in book 2"

I agree, and would have regarded his character a lot better if there was some backstory about what drove him to become his ultimate evil self. Seemingly he goes from student straight to monster with no in-between. I mean, give him a Miltonian treatment: get into his thought process a bit, give me a reason for his evil. Otherwise he's just a caricature.

I got the impression that the whole thing started because his mother used a love potion to conceive him, and then gave in to despair and let herself die instead of holding on for his sake - unlike Harry's mother, who sacrificed herself for him directly. But even then it's not made quite as clear as it should have been.

Juho wrote: "I got the impression that the whole thing started because his mother used a love potion to conceive him, and then gave in to despair and let herself die instead of holding on for his sake - unlike ..."

Yeah, I suppose you can infer that from the books, but it's still a pretty big leap to totalitarian evil. Even if that were spelled out properly, dots still need to be connected.

'Slytherin dads' - dunno why but that really cracks me up! I can just imagine Voldemort's thought process in the graveyard: 'OMGOSH an audience, I can FINALLY talk as myself in my real body and NO ONE is allowed to interrupt, I feel SO validated right now' 😂😂

Sabrina wrote: "'Slytherin dads' - dunno why but that really cracks me up! I can just imagine Voldemort's thought process in the graveyard: 'OMGOSH an audience, I can FINALLY talk as myself in my real body and NO ..."

I find it amusing to think that Lucius Malfoy pals around with dad Crabbe and dad Goyle the same as their kids. Like the Muppet Babies, but in reverse.

Also, I'm pretty sure Voldemort wrote, revised and rehearsed his return speech every day for the last thirteen years, as you say, just waiting for an audience. It's the performance of a lifetime! Finally his time to shine :)

@ Jayson
Exactly!!!
We never know the reason or the circumstances because of which he becomes power hungry
I get that he wanted to rule the wizarding world but what were his motives???
Atleast Grindelwald had some reason😑
Take Thanos for eg. We know dude is crazy but atleast he makes somewhat sense
His 'solution' for the problem is wrong but we have to appreciate him as a villain
P.S. Sorry for the marvel eg...but l couldn't explain it other way😅

Mrinmayi wrote: "@ Jayson
Exactly!!!
We never know the reason or the circumstances because of which he becomes power hungry
I get that he wanted to rule the wizarding world but what were his motives???
Atleast Grin..."

If someone forced me to make sense of it all, I'd reason that it's because Voldemort wants immortality, but to do that he'd need to practice dark magic, but dark magic is illegal, which means he'd have to make it so that wizard authorities can't stop him from using dark magic, which means becoming the wizarding authority.

To me that's the only logical explanation. But even reasoned out like that, it's missing the crucial piece of the puzzle, which is why immortality is so important to him.

No problem about the Marvel reference. I understand exactly what you mean, even though I'm probably the only one on earth who hasn't seen those movies. Just not a Marvel guy 😁

@Jayson
Your explanation makes more sense than other theories but we do know wizards usually have a longer life span than humans...take Dumbledore for eg
If Voldy had chilled a bit he would have survived much longer 🤦🏽‍♀��

Not a marvel fan??!!😱 Great thing you told me ....l was this 🤏🏽close to making marvel reference( basically use "End Game " Thanos to explain Voldy"s actions )

Also Slytherin Dads😂 lt felt as if almost every Slytherin in HP had dad issues

Mrinmayi wrote: "Your explanation makes more sense than other theories but we do know wizards usually have a longer life span than humans...take Dumbledore for eg
If Voldy had chilled a bit he would have survived much longer 🤦🏽‍♀��"

I suppose so, but there's a significant difference between an expanded lifespan and living forever. I'm guessing that living to upwards of 355 years (as was the case with Dippet) wasn't enough for him. As well, he might not want to age and get old, which might be a thing that comes with immortality.

Mrinmayi wrote: "Not a marvel fan??!!😱 Great thing you told me ....l was this 🤏🏽close to making marvel reference( basically use "End Game " Thanos to explain Voldy"s actions )"

I'm very much a DC Comics partisan. Though of the recent films, I've only seen about three or four of them. Not much of a movie guy either.

Mrinmayi wrote: "Also Slytherin Dads😂 lt felt as if almost every Slytherin in HP had dad issues"

I sort of feel like we don't really know many Slytherin dads. There's Malfoy's dad and Tom Riddle's dad, Certainly the latter was a fraught relationship. Malfoy seems a carbon copy of his dad, which may in itself be a source of issues. We meet Crabbe and Goyle's dads, but they don't say or do anything. I can't really think of any others. We don't know anything about Snape's dad or Slughorn's dad or Pansy Parkinson's dad or Blaise Zabini's dad or Marcus Flint's dad. It's possible dad issues are a Slytherin trait, it does feel that way in the books despite the lack of factual support 🤷‍♂��

I used to find Voldemort a lot scarier before the movies came out...nothing compares to a child’s imagination

Annie wrote: "I used to find Voldemort a lot scarier before the movies came out...nothing compares to a child’s imagination"

Yes, rarely does someone else's interpretation or vision of things meet or surpass your own. Especially, as you say, when you're younger and imagination is much more bold and real.

Do you want to join the cool gang?!

Well, voldemort does excel at wasting time instead with his monologues instead of doing the deed he is meant to do lol

Dorthy Swiftburg wrote: "Do you want to join the cool gang?!"

Not really a gang person, sorry.

Layla wrote: "Well, voldemort does excel at wasting time instead with his monologues instead of doing the deed he is meant to do lol"

Yeah, like many James Bond villains, he does seem to suffer from "why don't you just shoot him" disease. Possibly he was a theater kid. 🤷‍♂��

I prefer Tom Riddle over Voldemort, honestly. A sociopathic teenager who wants to be immortal is actually pretty creepy. I was super disappointed with the movie version of Voldemort. I agree book Voldemort is not the best villain, but there were moments when he was truly calculating and menacing. I felt the movies kind of ruined our impressions of him, by making him too theatrical and cartoonish.

Janhavi wrote: "I prefer Tom Riddle over Voldemort, honestly. A sociopathic teenager who wants to be immortal is actually pretty creepy. I was super disappointed with the movie version of Voldemort. I agree book V..."

Yeah, I agree. It's been touched on in this thread already about Umbridge, that relatable villainy cuts deeper than existential evil. Monsters might frighten you to begin with, but once you get used to monsters, they lose all their power. Whereas regular everyday evil has a staying power. As well, it's tough to take Voldemort seriously when his first film appearance was horrible CGI on the back of a head. That, as you say, was cartoonish.

Speaking of ruined impressions, who can forget this incredible moment from the evil wizard who started 2 Wizarding Wars...

Sophia wrote: "Speaking of ruined impressions, who can forget this incredible moment from the evil wizard who started 2 Wizarding Wars..."

Yeah, Voldemort shouldn't be a hugger. Genuine or not, that he's seen to show care or affection for anyone, even his pet snake, just breaks the illusion of him as a force of pure malevolence. Homicidal maniacs shouldn't be telling people to "c'mon, bring it in."

I think for the snake it's different because they literally share a body at one point. But I agree, the whole reason why people are so terrified of him is because he lacks such basic emotions.

Sophia wrote: "I think for the snake it's different because they literally share a body at one point. But I agree, the whole reason why people are so terrified of him is because he lacks such basic emotions."

True enough about Nagini... I suppose that's like a permanent hug. Voldemort mentions that he survived by possessing one animal body after another, which says something about his relationship with Nagini, that he never formed any similar bond with other animals. Though, I'll admit, not having watched the post-Potter films or read the books, I'm not exactly up on my Nagini lore, so "animal" may not be the right term.

Jayson wrote: "Sophia wrote: "I think for the snake it's different because they literally share a body at one point. But I agree, the whole reason why people are so terrified of him is because he lacks such basic..."

Definitely! Plus all the other animals kept dying :/ The second Fantastic Beasts film actually addresses what exactly Nagini is!

Sophia wrote: "Definitely! Plus all the other animals kept dying :/ The second Fantastic Beasts film actually addresses what exactly Nagini is!"

Thanks for the info, Sophia. That's good to know. I look forward to getting to that. Even if the film's not so great, the information would certainly be worth the time 😁👍

Jayson wrote: "Thanks for the info, Sophia. That's good to know. I look forward to getting to that. Even if the film's not so great, the information would certainly be worth the time 😁👍"

No problem 😊 There is quite a lot of information in that film, so be prepared lol

Sophia wrote: "No problem 😊 There is quite a lot of information in that film, so be prepared lol"

I will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks again :)

I don't remember the Fantastic Beast movies very much. I should re-watch them.

Audrey wrote: "I don't remember the Fantastic Beast movies very much. I should re-watch them."

Glad to know you enjoyed them enough to rewatch them :)

Cat would be an extremely useful animal language to know. 😂

Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ wrote: "Cat would be an extremely useful animal language to know. 😂"

I'm sure McGonagall enjoys many interesting and pleasant conversations. Possibly she pals around with Crookshanks 😁

Jayson wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I don't remember the Fantastic Beast movies very much. I should re-watch them."

Glad to know you enjoyed them enough to rewatch them :)"

Enough to rewatch maybe once. :)

Audrey wrote: "Enough to rewatch maybe once. :)"

Ah, I see, gotcha 😁👍