Voldemort Regenerates Every Few Decades

Originally, I planned for today's post to be about how easy it is to stalk people on the internet and how we share information. But Bin Laden's death together with today being Harry Potter Day, to commemorate the day Voldemort fell, kind of messed with my plans. As most of the US knows by now, Osama Bin Laden was located and killed yesterday in a planned strike. A founder of Al-Qaeda, the group responsible for the attacks on the Trade Towers and Pentagon, and the tragic deaths of thousands (including the brave souls on flight United 93 (by the way, never watch that movie unless you want to bawl)), Bin Laden falls firmly in the category of "villain".

It's always a joyous occasion in movies when the villain is finally vanquished. The world has been saved from evil; who wouldn't want to celebrate? I completely agree, let us rejoice that a little less evil is loose in the world. There's no way I want Bin Laden to live and continue orchestrating the deaths of thousands.

But at the same time, I can't feel the same kind of joy in the celebrations on TV. Yes, we've eliminated a truly bad person. But part of me still thinks, "We hunted this man down and murdered him. Are we always so blasé about the deaths of others?" I am not arguing that Bin Laden didn't deserve to be punished for what he's done (believe me, in no way am I advocating leniency for him). And maybe I just am overly sensitive or compassionate, but treating this event like New Years in Times Square feels wrong.

When Harry killed Voldemort, I know there was celebration. The wizarding world had been saved, an evil that threatened the world for more than twenty years was finally vanquished for good. But even at the end, Harry offered Voldemort compassion. Harry asked him to look inside himself for even the tiniest shred of remorse. And even when it came right down to it, Harry couldn't use the Killing Curse on Voldemort. It was the rebound of the curse from Voldemort's own wand that killed him.

The wizarding world celebrated the fall, but I think Harry, the person who had lost so much because of this man (or whatever he was by the time he died), still felt compassion for him. A lot of anger and hate for what he'd done, but still some compassion. A life taken, even a truly evil one, is not meant to be viewed so coldly. Everybody has somebody who will mourn them, a fact that's easy to forget when someone has wreaked so much havoc and pain.

Today is May 2, the day that Voldemort fell finally to death. I find it peculiar that so close to Voldemort's death date is also the death of Osama Bin Laden. Even eerier? Hilter also died around May 1st. Is the first part of May just a particularly unlucky time to be a villain? Perhaps.

My (much more intriguing) theory? Voldemort regenerates every few decades. Think about it. Hitler created a network of followers who committed atrocities in the name of the man's prejudice. He was charismatic and for a while even well liked. He died in 1945. In the 70s, Voldemort rises to power, establishing his reign with followers who share his prejudices and terrorize the world. He's finally vanquished in 1998.

That same year, Osama Bin Laden lands on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for his part in the US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Again, here's a man who's collected a group of followers to carry out horrible plans in the name of his prejudices. Coincidence? Maybe. But it's a kind of eerie coincidence.

*Note on Voldemort: I know that he is at least partly based on Hitler. But still, perhaps he was Hitler. And maybe JKR knows more than she's telling.