Severus 🐍

Aside from Harry and Hermione, he is arguably the next character whose pov I read about the most (gen or ship wise). Can't help that he's too interesting of a character for me to ignore when written right.

"Tom Riddle effectively destroys the country from the inside out, which I believe was his true goal the entire time" (c) wait a second, so you think that he wasn't going to really take over or anything, just destroy the fuck out of w britain?

I have avoided this ask long enough.

I’ll start by saying that asking me about Tom Riddle is like staring down into a bottomless rabbit hole. We could travel down that path, but it is a dark and perilous journey, and by the end of it I will come out looking like the Mad Hatter.

It also requires a few prerequisites that you’re just going to accept as true (or else got off the crazy train here).

We know very little about Tom Riddle or Voldemort

What we do know of Tom Riddle comes to us from suspect sources

I’m just going to go out there and start with the basis that Tom is not crazy

Elaborating a little on number 1. We never actually see much of Tom Riddle or Voldemort directly. He’s a bit like Thanos in the MCU, or Palpatine in the first two movies of the Original Trilogy, he’s this looming threat that we pass by and glimpse every once in a while but never really get quality time with.

Generally, Voldemort makes an appearance in a moment of crisis.

He and Harry fight over the philosopher’s stone for Tom’s very survival. He and Harry fight over the diary for Tom’s very survival. He resurrects himself with Harry as a witness. We get those very strange dreams from Voldemort’s perspective (half of which we later learn are fabricated).

None of these really lend to our, or Harry’s for that matter, understanding of Tom Riddle. There’s too much going on, it usually happens far too fast, and there’s usually something Tom Riddle desperately wants or needs that eclipses all other concerns or else he has an audience.

This is part of the reason we get those Halfblood Prince pensieve lessons: Harry knows nothing of Tom Riddle and doesn’t understand him at all.

Which leads us, of course, to number 2, most of what we know about Tom Riddle comes from Dumbledore. I’ve talked about this before, so I won’t spend much time on it, but Dumbledore has a very clear agenda in relaying these memories to Harry. Dumbledore already has strong suspicions of what objects are horcruxes and where they’re located, he already has Snape as a very reliable agent to continue work when he’s gone, his job here is to convince Harry there is no path but suicide. And that involves portraying Tom Riddle as the most evil man who ever eviled, was born eviler than the antichrist, and will die eviler than the antichrist. 

Now, does this make Tom necessarily good or bad? No.

However, it does mean when Dumbledore tells us things like, “See, Harry, an impoverished child was upset when I lit all his belongings on fire! What a monster!” (especially given that, in a similar situation, Harry thought it was hilarious when Hagrid gave Dudley a permanent physical deformity and Harry was told he was an angel child) we should take it with a very large grain of salt.

Right, so, with all that backdrop what I’m getting at is that a) we can’t take Dumbledore at his word b) even if we could he could be wrong c) Harry doesn’t have the introspection to be able to figure himself when a or b is happening. I won’t elaborate on this last much, suffice to say that Harry’s world is very black and white, divided into the camps of those who personally like him and those who don’t.

So, why do I think Tom’s goal was not to rule the wizarding world but instead to destroy it?

A few things.

First, there are so many easier ways he could have ended up ruling the wizarding world. More, even when he effectively does rule the wizarding world in book seven, he takes very strange actions so that he’s never directly in power.

Second, I never really bought Tom’s racism. It’s too convenient and too contradictory with his backstory.

The second first, because we’re going out of order today. I’ve gone over this before, but I don’t believe Tom had minions early and I think he was effectively treated as a muggleborn (see here and here) until he took on the Voldemort persona many decades later. I’m hard pressed to believe someone as intelligent, angry, and proud as Tom Riddle would willingly believe and accept he was inferior to the likes of Abraxas Malfoy. More, even if he wished he was a halfblood, I think the evidence of him being muggleborn would be stacked too high against him to deny even to himself (and when he finds out it’s not true, he has maybe a month or so before he realized that he’s the bastard son of a squib). 

And it’s just so convenient. All the people with the power, with the money, who are itching for a cause against a threat that doesn’t really exist believe in blood purity. Ergo, Voldemort shows up suddenly espousing over the top blood purity rhetoric (rhetoric that directly clashes with his “there is only power” philosophy at that). 

In other words, I think Tom Riddle gave himself a line that he knew would get him places very quickly.

And now for the first. For a guy who has had the entire country in the palm of his hands twice, one time taking it over in a bloodless coup, he’s really big on causing collateral damage and really small on actually doing the ruling thing.

The first wizarding war, Tom Riddle as Voldemort has the backing of the heirs of the most prestigious and wealthy noble houses save a select few. These are people with seats in the Wizengamot, which has a frightening control over the government itself (including the minister of magic). I imagine, in 1980 had Tom Riddle wanted to be elected as Minister of Magic, he would have been elected as Minister of Magic. If he wanted a friendly face in office then he probably could have made that happen to.

More than even this though, by this point, Tom had already won. By having control over the majority of the Wizengamot he owns the government. He’s done, it’s over, it’s finished, and many of the characters admit as much which is why Harry Potter was such a miracle. So why all the seemingly random, exceptionally pointless, terrorism? 

One answer is that Voldemort is crazy bananas. And sure, I guess we can go with that, except for someone insane he’s oddly effective and very consistent. 

I believe Tom was systematically destroying the very foundations of the country through its core aristocratic families. Within a few short years Tom decimates the Black family, it goes from having five heirs to none, and while some of this isn’t Tom’s fault he does take care of quite a few of them. He brands Lucius for life, while Lucius rises high in politics he never escapes the stigma of being a known Death Eater and in the end cannot escape the consequences for his actions. The Malfoy family is very nearly destroyed by the end of the series, had Draco died in the Fiendfyre. The LeStrange family, presumably decimated as well.

More, this is mostly me headcanoning, but I imagine Tom fuels an extremism that the Wizarding World had never contemplated. I imagine, previously, anti-muggleborn sentiment was probably fairly rampant among purebloods. Oh, some were very pro-muggleborn I’m sure, but I think most were fairly “eh” on the people and felt they were a drain on society (such as requiring constant funding for the obliviation department).

However, when Diagon Alley starts getting blown up every other week, when muggleborns start being tortured and murdered, when purebloods who aren’t anti-muggleborn enough are being tortured and murdered, this starts wigging people out in a way they’ve never wigged out before.

By the time we get to Harry Potter’s canon, it is now only a minority that are anti-muggleborn, and they’re perceived as raving lunatics. Nobody wants to be grouped with these people. Which, just goes to show, how much Voldemort rattles the wizarding world in a very small amount of time.

Then there’s Deathly Hallows, rather than become minister himself Voldemort installs a puppet minister. He shows no signs of wishing to change this and instead does things like destroy the sorting hat (which again shakes the very foundations of the wizarding world as whta will we do if we don’t know who’s a Gryffindor anymore?!)

So, where is this ramble going?

Given the results we see, that more than any others it seems to be the purebloods and often Tom’s own followers that suffer colossal losses, I think Tom’s actions are, in part, a means of vengeance against the entire damn wizarding world (but especially the purebloods).

He makes fools of these people, brands them as his slaves, and has them participate in the most over the top ridiculous rituals (the cloaks, the masks, the entire theatrics of it feels like Tom got drunk one night and planned this whole thing out). He destroys them entirely, and better, enables them to completely destroy themselves and the country they believe they’re trying to save.

Basically, I think by the time the series begins Tom is fueled by a nihilist rage that knows no bounds. But dammit all, the wizarding world is going to burn.

draco deserved that redemption arc WAAAAY more than snape did. draco was a terrified CHILD (definitley gay) who was raised by racists and basically was balckmailed into doing the HBP thing, whereas snape was willingly doing the wizard equivalent of white supremacy for most of his life, if harry had been a girl and looked like lily snape wouldve lusted after her (eww) draco deserved a redemtion arc and to and up gay and married to harry. hinny is hollow crap

🪐 Note: I have not read the books in about 7 years lol so bear with me. Nor have watched the movies in a minute. I probably will soon at some point.

Hoo boy there is a lot to cover here lol.

I think what’s interesting about Snape’s redemption arc is that it’s all been planned out from the very beginning so every action and decision he made happened knowingly with the purpose of a redemption arc (fun fact: Alan Rickman knew of Snape’s arc before the movies finished filming or the books were even released lol). I think that both Snape and Draco could have had redemption arcs... I don’t understand why JKR couldn’t have done that ? A lot of ppl feel that Snape shouldn’t have had one and I do agree with that; personally tho he isn’t very much redeemed in my eyes. Like sure, we find out his true intentions as a “good guy” but I find him too selfish to actually be redeemed. Treating Harry and the other children like dirt and bullying them was pure selfishness and acted out as pettiness and revenge for Harry looking like, acting like and being James’ son. I think u r right that things would have gone so differently if Harry was a girl; Snape would have seen Lily in her and protected her (to the point of creepy). His “good guy” intentions could have just been fueled by his love of Lily and only that, which is inherently selfish. He did have a preference for the dark arts after all and willingly chose that; what else would have kept him on the good side other than her? There is no excuse for him being mentally, emotionally and physically abusive towards children despite his so-called “good intentions”; if he needed an outlet for his stress he could have just started a hobby like .... gobstones ? But I digress.

(Tho I have to admit... James and Sirius were lil bitches towards Snape akskdjdkdkdkdkck they aren’t completely off the hook either! )

Draco, Draco, Draco... I have always had a very much hate-love relationship with him since I was young lol but now that I’m an adult I understand him so much better. the headcanon of him being gay is likely (I mean, Harry & Draco were abnormally obsessed with each other lol especially Draco. I refuse 2 believe his obsession was pure hatred and jealousy - the dude’s favourite conversation topic with Crabbe and Goyle is “Saint Potter”. ) Draco has said some very NASTY things, and has had a very elitist, classist, racist mindset since young BUT it’s so important to take into account that as you said, he was indeed indoctrinated by his parents and grew up not knowing anything else. He truly believed he was better than everybody for being rich and a pure blood and that everybody should worship him and bow down at his feet; if not, they were doing morally wrong for not respecting their “superior”. Malfoy saw himself as a God that deserved love and respect solely for existing. And it may sound ridiculous but I get that, because he knew absolutely nothing else growing up and it was drilled into him before his brain had even started to form ! Malfoy sure was a lil bitch and I hate the awful things he would say to the trio and about Hagrid but I believe that deep inside his heart was good. His actions and words were a direct result of how he was raised and I believe if he was raised differently and with the freedom to actually make the right choices, he would make them. Malfoy was simply a child raised in a toxic, abusive household with disgusting ideals. He didn’t know anything else but knew that if he stepped out of line of what he was taught, he would get punished. he deserved the chance to redeem himself (which is seen in a deleted scene in the movie) and to make his own choices and break free from the chains his family put around him. He was only a child when Voldemort asked him to kill Dumbledore; he was terrified of having to do it but even more terrified of dealing with the consequences if he didn’t (getting killed himself). What’s worse tho is that he felt like there was no other way out. We all deserved the chance to see Draco live happily and freely, to see where his heart was actually really set without any sort of outer influence and to see how much he can change with the mindset he chose himself. Such a waste that we canonically could never.

(also can i just say? tom felton did a phenomenal job portraying draco; i remember i couldn’t get that bathroom sectumsepra scene out of my head for weeks. i love him ~)

Although I would fight Malfoy on sight if we ever went to school together, something that will always break my heart about him is how lonely he is. Malfoy is by far the LONELIEST person in the series. He has never had a friend in his ENTIRE LIFE and with no redemption arc, we don’t see if he ever gains one even now. Crabbe and Goyle collectively have .5 of a brain cell and were just his lil minions to have power and control over. But could Malfoy ever talk to them ? Rant to them ? Let them know of his emotions and troubles and demons ? No ! Pansy was very smart and calculative but she probably hung around Draco for a similar reason to Crabbe and Goyle; purebloods stick together to maximize their power. She would have probably seen Malfoy’s emotions as a weakness. Which leaves Malfoy to have to deal with everything alone and seem fine on the outside but completely destroyed within. Nobody would understand the pressures he would have to go through from his family, the toxicity and abuse from his father, how he wasn’t so sure of the reality his family had crafted around him anymore. He had nobody to help him deal with this, nobody to listen to him and understand. He deserves a hug.

Tbh the only ship I’m completely onboard with is Romione lol. Hinny is okay; I think JKR did that mainly to have Ron, Hermione and Harry to collectively all be in the same family (it’s so cute how their kids are cousins ! 🥺) drarry would be a much more interesting dynamic; enemies-to-lovers + redemption arc would have been dope !