When it comes to bad guys in the movies, Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series must surely rank rather high on the list. As if trying to kill a young boy in his quest for domination wasn’t bad enough, the Dark Lord does plenty of things that suggest he’s one of the big screen’s most-memorable villains, from taking over somebody’s body to manipulating those weaker and younger than himself.
We now take a look at Tom Riddle’s most evil deeds that were seen in cinemas - and also take a look at the one and only moment where Voldemort suggested that, just possibly, he had some sense of honor and decency.
Taking Over Quirrell’s Body
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Voldemort is a weak and broken man. Powers gone, Tom Riddle sought refuge in Albania and spent many years there biding his time, looking for a mind he could manipulate into carrying out his orders.
Fortunately for him, Quirinus Quirrell comes along. Quirrell agrees to let Voldemort share his body, with the villain’s own face covered via a turban. On his orders, the Hogwarts professor tries to obtain Nicholas Flamel’s stone and very nearly succeeds, only for Harry to touch him and accidentally kill him. Voldemort is able to jump ship, leaving Quirrell to die alone and pay the ultimate price for his decision.
Controlling Ginny Weasley
Controlling people has always been something Voldemort has been accomplished at. wWhen Ginny Weasley starts Hogwarts, he senses his chance, with the villain using his charm to manipulate her into petrifying the students around the castle and opening the Chamber of Secrets.
Lucius Malfoy had provided him with the opportunity, planting Tom Riddle’s old diary into Ginny’s cauldron during a confrontation at Diagon Alley. Voldemort then forces Ginny into opening the chamber, releasing the Basilisk onto the pupils of the school and petrifying the likes of Justin Finch-Fletchley, Mrs Norris the cat, Hermione Granger, Colin Creevey and even the school ghost, Nearly Headless Nick.
Placing Barty Crouch Jr. At Hogwarts
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire sees Voldemort place Barty Crouch Jr at Hogwarts to ensure that his plan of getting the Boy Who Lived to the graveyard at Little Hangleton all goes swimmingly. It is Crouch, posing as Auror Mad-Eye Moody via Polyjuice potion, who places Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire.
It’s another dark thing to do, with Voldemort showing his intelligence to hatch a scheme that succeeds in nearly every way. He also has blood on his hands, with Crouch murdering his father, Barty Crouch Jr, when given the chance in the Forbidden Forest.
Killing Cedric Diggory
Ah, Cedric. Even before Robert Pattinson would have just about every girl in the world enchanted in Twilight, he had audiences cooing over him when the Goblet of Fire hit screens 14 years ago. And tears aplenty were shed when Cedric dies via Voldemort’s hand shortly after transporting to Little Hangleton with Harry.
It is not the Dark Lord holding the wand, but it is he who instructs servant Wormtail, into ‘killing the spare’. Cedric’s is the first death seen on-screen in any of the movies. It makes for one of the series’ most-emotional moments where the Hufflepuff student’s father discovers the death of his son and screams into the night as the students of Hogwarts break down in tears.
Trying To Kill Harry At The Graveyard
As if killing Cedric wasn’t enough, Voldemort turns fully bloodthirsty upon being reborn and immediately sets about trying to right the wrongs of years ago and wiping out Harry, who he manages to keep his prisoner. He proceeds to mock him in front of his Death Eaters and takes great pleasure by touching his scar, forcing the Triwizard tournament contestant to scream in agony.
Voldemort and Harry lock wands and the latter is only able to escape with the help of the Dark Lord’s previous victims, through Priori Incantatum. The showdown was to have long-lasted consequences, though, with much of Hogwarts turning their back on the boy, refusing to believe his version of what happened in the graveyard of Little Hangleton.
Tricking Harry And Invading His Mind
In The Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort spends much of his time lying low and giving the wizarding world no reason to believe he has come to power once again. He uses his shadowy position to trick Harry into rushing to the Ministry of Magic to help Sirius Black, who Potter believes to be in danger.
With Harry now even more emotionally fragile, having lost the closest thing to a father he had, audiences sit back in horror as Voldemort tries to take over his mind while a devastated Albus Dumbledore watches on.
Manipulating Draco Malfoy
Quirinus Quirrell and Ginny Weasley are not the only people to fall victim to the Dark Lord’s villainous ways, with Tom Riddle also forcing Draco Malfoy into doing his bidding during the events of The Half Blood Prince.
Furious at his father’s failure to obtain the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Draco is forced into creating a way for Death Eaters to get inside Hogwarts - and then killing Albus Dumbledore. He hesitates when it comes to killing the Hogwarts headmaster himself on top of the Astronomy Tower. To do such a deed would have broken the boy in two, but Severus Snape comes to his aid and kills Dumbledore instead.
Attacking Hogwarts
Aware that Harry and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix are trying to dismantle and destroy his Horcruxes one by one, Voldemort orders his troops into Hogwarts to attack and do anything means necessary if it means stopping them in their tracks.
He gets his wish for blood, too, with the Order sustaining heavy losses. Voldemort’s orders see Fred Weasley perish in the crossfire and Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks wiped out, albeit all three deaths are shown off screen. Voldemort would have murdered more but Harry, after being prepared to sacrifice himself, is able to prevent that from happening.
Killing Severus Snape
Even though it would later emerge that Severus Snape had been a good guy all along, Alan Rickman’s character plays the role of Voldemort loyalist extremely well. It was he, after all, who executed Dumbledore when Draco Malfoy stalled and it was also he who controlled Hogwarts, enforcing a violent and tyranic approach during his reign. But Voldemort, being Voldemort, shows his ruthless and brutal side by wiping out his servant.
Wrongfully thinking that the Elder Wand was not serving him properly because it belonged to Snape, the Dark Lord slashes his follower’s throat and instructs Nagini to attack. Given all the Hogwarts headmaster had done for him, it’s a well and truly brutal moment. But it’s one that is, in the end, pointless: the wand never belonged to Snape. And Snape never belonged to him either…
And The One Good? Showing Respect To The Fighters Of Hogwarts
Obviously, a gesture from Lord Voldemort is never going to be THAT nice. However, the Dark Lord shows a little honor and respect when addressing the defenders of Hogwarts midway through the battle.
It’s just Harry he wants, he says, as he orders his Death Eaters to retreat. He doesn’t want to spill magical blood unnecessarily. He gives Harry a hour to come and meet him in the Forest, during which the valiant defenders (he’s always admired bravery) can retrieve their dead and treat them with dignity. Now, this is hardly super-charitable, but it does at least show that he’s not entirely fixated on needless bloodshed (which is more than can be said for some of his followers).
