Did Voldemort seek out Phoenix tears?

Question

Phoenix tears are able to bring someone back from the brink of death, a position that Voldemort 'lived' in for several years. Did he ever attempt or even consider using phoenix tears to revive himself? Is there any indication of what that would have achieved in his 'half-life' state or whilst possessing Quirrel?

To quote the Harry Potter wikia on Phoenix tears

"It is also capable of reviving a person from any injury, even if the person is at the brink of death, similar to unicorn blood (without the cursed side-effects)."

And the effect of unicorn blood?

"The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price."

The effects are so similar, with the later effective even via Qurriel's body. Would Phoenix tears not have be equally effective?

Answer 1

I'm not sure Voldemort could convince or trick or force a phoenix to give tears to him. He could definitely not make Fawkes do that, and phoenixes are very rare so it's hard to find another one.

Remember what Dumbledore says in Chamber of Secrets chapter 18?

‘You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you.’

Fawkes comes to Harry, pecks the basilisk's eyes, and heals Harry. He continues to serve only Dumbledore's friends in later books as well. Fawkes doesn't just hand out boons to random people, he's taken a side. Just like Dumbledore says in chapter 12,

‘[phoenixes] make highly faithful pets.’

Answer 2

Phoenix tears have healing powers on the body.

Since Voldemort - prior to getting a new body in HP4 - didn't actually have a body and existed as non-corporeal soul, there was nothing for Phoenix tears to heal.

So it would have been useless to him.

Answer 3

There is a reason why not much people has Phoenix as pets. Phoenixes can just escape from any cage. Even if Voldemort was able to catch one, it would just disappear in a blink of an eye.

Only way for Voldemort to catch a phoenix would be to use Killing curse on a phoenix unaware and take it when it is a newborn chick. But again, they will grow in days and would have left Voldemort the instance it can disappear.

Phoenix song will also strike fear into the hearts of the evil(The reason for the name of Order of the "Phoenix"). So I am guessing, Phoenix has some way of detecting evil around it as well.

EDIT: Adding this from the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them" book:

Phoenix M.O.M. Classification: XXXX The phoenix is a magnificent, swan-sized, scarlet bird with a long golden tail, beak, and talons. It nests on mountain peaks and is found in Egypt, India, and China. The phoenix lives to an immense age as it can regenerate, bursting into flames when its body begins to fail and rising again from the ashes as a chick. The phoenix is a gentle creature that has never been known to kill and eats only herbs. Like the Diricawl (see page 9), it can disappear and reappear at will. Phoenix song is magical; it is reputed to increase the courage of the pure of heart and to strike fear into the hearts of the impure. Phoenix tears have powerful healing properties.

With a Foot Note:

The phoenix gains a XXXX rating not because it is aggressive, but because very few wizards have ever succeeded in domesticating it.

So why bother going against something

1. That has a way to weaken you (Strike fear into the hearts of the impure)
2. Can fight you (Fawkes vs Basilisk remember?)
3. can escape your prison at any time even if captured (it can disappear and reappear at will)
4. Highly rare to find (From the Foot Note)
5. Possibly detect you and fly away or bring help (Guessing this as Phoenix songs touch the souls and Fawkes was able to reach Harry based on his unwavered loyalty to Dumbledore. If Phoenix can detect a positive quality in a person from a distance, it might as well detect a negative quality)

NOTE: Point 2) has not happened when Voldemort went for Unicorn blood. But since Voldemort is known to have gathered lot of knowledge through books, he should have read the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" as well(it was first published in 1927).

Answer 4

While it may be true that phoenix tears could help Voldemort, it was also clear that Voldemort was always dependent on someone to do all his tasks during his "undead" state. He was not even matter at the moment. Thus, he needed to do whatever he could using only the things/people he could get access to near civilization (a place where he could find people to manipulate). In the known civilization in the books, we only know of one phoenix and in his state, Voldemort dared not go near its master (Dumbledore himself). So basically, no he could not have considered going after Dumbledore's phoenix a good idea.

As you have rightly pointed out, Sparky is a phoenix that Voldemort could have gone on to fight for but Voldemort had better solution than going to a different continent with which he got help from his minions (Peter).

Answer 5

In the end of Chamber of Secrets, when Fawkes heals Harry with tears , Tom Riddle says:

look even your pet is crying for you.

And then after Harry gets healed Tom says:

I forgot that phoenixes could heal with their tears.

Voldemort forgot that Phoenixes could heal so he did not search for them. He remembers their ability to heal at the end of the second book and drinks unicorn blood in the first book so he had no choice but to use the unicorn blood.

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The quotes are not exact, I read the books in another language. If someone edits the answer with the real english quotes, I will accept it.