7

We know a fair deal about Voldemort's obsession with eternal life and world domination but do we know anything about his off-the-clock activities?

Did he have any outside interests that weren't connected to evil?

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    I though "collecting historical artifacts" but then I realised he was only interested in turning them into objects of pure evil. Damn you, Voldemort. Why d'ya have to make things so hard! – Valorum Nov 5 '16 at 10:10
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    I think that Immortality and World Domination are such cumbersome life goals that any "hobbies" he might have time for are byproducts of his two main passion projects. For instance, killing, torturing etc. are part of the package, imo. – Ghoti and Chips Nov 5 '16 at 12:40
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    I feel like if Voldemort had normal hobbies, he wouldn't be who he was. He really only felt joy in the Dark Arts, and couldn't feel love in any normal capacity. If he could be happy like an average person and love something non-evil, he may not have ended up torturing and killing to gain power. – Dumbledorality Nov 6 '16 at 0:21
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    @Dumbledorality - Hitler painted and sketched. He even doodled Disney characters. Stalin was a film fanatic, watching a couple of films every evening. – Valorum Nov 6 '16 at 0:26
  • @Valorum True, but they were plain ol' muggles, still technically human. As a teenager, Voldemort had literally split his soul, making his first Horcrux. He could barely be considered human after that, on top of splitting his soul several more times. – Dumbledorality Nov 6 '16 at 0:41
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If I recall correctly, as a boy, he liked stealing and collecting.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, chapter 13:

“Open it,” said Dumbledore.

Riddle took off the lid and tipped the contents onto his bed without looking at them. Harry, who had expected something much more exciting, saw a mess of small, everyday objects: a yo-yo, a silver thimble, and a tarnished mouth organ among them. Once free of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still upon the thin blankets.
“You will return them to their owners with your apologies,” said Dumbledore calmly, putting his wand back into his jacket. “I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: Thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts.”
Riddle did not look remotely abashed; he was still staring coldly and appraisingly at Dumbledore. At last he said in a colorless voice, “Yes, sir.”

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    I was thinking more as an adult. Also, I'm not sure you could class "stealing" as a hobby. Unless you're a celeb, obviously. – Valorum Nov 5 '16 at 13:08
  • Stealing (and collecting thieved items) absolutely qualifies as a hobby. If you're only interested in Voldemort's adult life, you might wanna specify that in your question. The first thing that came to mind as possible places to look for hobbies were his youth (not just orphanage, but as a sixteen year old later on, also) – Ghoti and Chips Nov 5 '16 at 13:36
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    I'll concede the point. As an adult he seems to have translated this love of collecting into an enduring interest in 'art de valeur', historical research and antiquities. – Valorum Apr 6 '17 at 8:48
10

Some of his main interests, apart from world domination, killing people, and eternal life were Nagini and Bellatrix.

Of course, in both cases it wasn't real love and, as for Nagini, his interest was largely motivated by the fact that it was a Horcrux.

Outside of this, he spent a lot of time studying magic and researching new spells or potions.

Even if his studies were mostly oriented to evil, Voldemort seems to have a research and a self-study attitude which is not strictly related to world domination (mastering the three Unforgivable Curses would have been enough for that), nor to his quest for eternal life (think about the silver hand spell).

Let's not forget that Dumbledore explicitly said, in CoS, that

he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen.

Voldemort may also have had an interest toward puzzles. His very name was the result of an anagram, and he may have helped Quirrell in getting past the chess set.

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    Well, we know they had sex at least once, that's not necessarily the same as having an enduring interest in her, but I'll concede the point. – Valorum Nov 5 '16 at 11:26
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    @Valorum Sex? I don't remember that! Which book? – Ghoti and Chips Nov 5 '16 at 12:43
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    @Skooba Not everything Voldemort learned was evil. Take for example his unique ability of flying unsupported. Did he need that in order to be super-evil or immortal? No. Did he learn it because "it was cool" to be the only known wizard capable of flying? Yes. This shows that he liked studying new kinds of magic, even when there was no practical, evil application. – A. Darwin Nov 5 '16 at 13:26
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    @A.Darwin Super cool as an intimidation factor I would reckon :) – Skooba Nov 5 '16 at 13:31
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    @Skooba I guess if you're a dark wizard well known for throwing Killing Curses at anyone you don't like, and you have a non-human face, and you have a mark you can throw in the sky to scare people, you are intimidating enough, whether or not you can fly. But your mileage may vary:) – A. Darwin Nov 5 '16 at 13:33

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