125
votes
Accepted
Why did Voldemort want Florean Fortescue captured and subsequently killed?
It's a left-over bit from a dropped plot point. The following quote from Rowling I found at the Harry Potter wiki, originally from Pottermore:
Florean is a descendant of Dexter, and I originally ...
- 13.1k
124
votes
Why did Voldemort kill Lily Potter instead of stunning her?
Well we know essentially why, because we see the murder from Voldemort's own eyes.
'Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!'
'Stand aside, you silly girl ... stand aside, now ...'
'Not Harry, please ...
- 29.3k
108
votes
Accepted
Why did Voldemort kill Lily Potter instead of stunning her?
There are a couple of reasons:
So he didn't have to deal with her. If he got past her without killing her and then killed her son, her life would be ruined--and she would probably go into the ...
- 18.6k
105
votes
How can Ron know that Voldemort was in Slytherin if nobody knows his real identity?
The Dark Lord himself might have said he was in Slytherin.
When the Dark Lord was at the height of his power, though he might not have wanted to talk much about his father or Muggle heritage, he was ...
- 105k
93
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Snape just kill Voldemort to buy more time while the latter was recuperating as a Horcrux?
Well you are of course right to suggest in your question that robbing Voldemort of his mortal body isn't a bad plan; he could not be a general, he could not set about acquiring the Elder Wand, he ...
- 29.3k
90
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Voldemort know what Grindelwald looked like?
Grindelwald stole the wand before he started his reign of terror. From the books:
Gregorovitch burst into the room at the end of the passage and his lantern illuminated what looked like a workshop;...
- 4,820
81
votes
Accepted
When did Voldemort find out that Harry was hunting Horcruxes?
After Harry & friends raided the Lestrange's Gringotts vault and took Hufflepuffs cup. When Voldemort found out, he killed all that delivered the message in Gringotts.
What did you say to me?&...
- 1,114
80
votes
Accepted
What is Voldemort's Boggart?
His own corpse
This is what JKR said:
ES: MuggleNet “Ask Jo” contest winner Asrial, who’s 22, asks, “If Voldemort saw a boggart, what would it be?”
JKR: Voldemort's fear is death, ignominious death. ...
- 38.2k
79
votes
Accepted
What good did Snape do anyone by infiltrating the Death Eaters?
He was invaluable as a spy.
As a double (triple, quadruple) agent, Snape served two purposes:
As an Order agent in Voldemort's ranks, he could pass information about Voldemort's plans to Dumbledore ...
- 134k
79
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Voldemort show up on the Marauders Map?
Voldemort's name would have shown up as "Quirinus Quirrell" because he was in Quirrell's body and not his own.
He was sharing a body with Quirrell. He was not in his own body - therefore he wouldn't ...
- 26.2k
76
votes
Why does Voldemort always attack at the end of a year?
Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone
Professor Quirrell is captured by Voldemort while on holiday. The first time he can attempt to take the Stone is when it is placed in Hogwarts at the start of the ...
- 4,886
73
votes
Accepted
How did Slughorn's information on horcruxes actually help Voldemort?
Ron wondered this too, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
"This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art - it's a horrible book, really ...
- 38.2k
72
votes
Accepted
Does Voldemort know about the Invisibility Cloak?
“And Voldemort never knew about the Hallows?”
“I do not think so, because he did not recognize the Resurrection Stone he turned into a Horcrux. But even if he had known about them, Harry, I ...
- 66k
71
votes
Accepted
How would Snape have justified helping Harry in book 1 to Voldemort?
Snape answers this, and many other questions regarding his DE activities, at the beginning of HBP, when Bellatrix accuses him of disloyalty.
"Do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me ...
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68
votes
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Why did Voldemort hide two Horcruxes in Hogwarts?
He didn’t leave the diary at Hogwarts.
He left the diary with Lucius Malfoy for safekeeping, thinking that he would later pass the diary to another Hogwarts student, and open the Chamber of Secrets ...
- 102k
67
votes
Accepted
Is Voldemort a liar?
From Chapter 33 of HP7, "The Flaw in the Plan":
Voldemort and company, with Hagrid carrying supposedly-dead Harry, approach Hogwarts in full victory mode. After the defenders come out of the castle ...
- 1,128
65
votes
Why would Dementors torture a Death Eater if they are loyal to Voldemort?
The Dementors joined the Dark Lord after.
When a Dementor sucked the soul out of Barty Crouch Jr., that was before the Dementors joined the Dark Lord. They only joined him after his return. When he ...
- 105k
65
votes
Why would Voldemort put a boat in the Horcrux cave lake if he can fly?
Because a boat was not obvious. Why put the Horcrux on an island if any competent witch or wizard could just fly over on a broom? There must, therefore, be a curse on flying within the cavern, as A ...
63
votes
How can Ron know that Voldemort was in Slytherin if nobody knows his real identity?
I don't think we can exclude the possibility that Ron - and more-or-less everyone, actually - simply assumed that he was in Slytherin. It obviously has a reputation for generating villains. Recall ...
- 631
63
votes
Accepted
Why did Voldemort give Harry the choice to sacrifice himself for everyone if Voldemort already had witnessed how useful that protection would be?
It never actually happened before Harry.
Though it is mentioned that a sacrificial protection magic is known to exist, Harry is the only one to ever actually have it cast upon him (until he casts it ...
- 105k
60
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Voldemort perform Priori Incantatem on Dumbledore's wand to see if he had discovered or destroyed any of his Horcruxes, after Gringotts?
We don't know that the Dark Lord didn't use Priori Incantatem on the Elder Wand.
It would be a very logical course of action for the Dark Lord to use Priori Incantatem on the Elder Wand sometime after ...
- 105k
60
votes
Did Voldemort kill his father before finding out about Horcruxes?
The information Voldemort is asking Slughorn is not help for how to create a Horcrux, but for an idea of what would happen if a wizard created multiple of them, or more specifically if the wizard ...
- 4,496
58
votes
Accepted
Is there any evidence that Voldemort was a nationalist?
Voldemort's nationalism does not necessitate a connection to the UK.
The term nation is often used as a shorthand for nation state. However, in itself it does not necessarily imply a shared ...
- 13.3k
57
votes
Accepted
In Deathly Hallows, why didn't the Death Eaters (and Voldemort) go immediately to the Burrow after trying to get Harry at Privet Drive?
In addition to Richard's correct answer, there is this observation by Snape:
'Where are they going to hide the boy next?'
'At the home of one of the Order,' said Snape. 'The place, according to the ...
- 29.3k
54
votes
Accepted
What really happened to Voldemort's nose?
It was degraded by Dark Magic.
Slytherincess is quite right to mention the meeting between Voldemort and Dumbledore as a midpoint between the youthful Riddle and the You-Know-Who that subsequently ...
- 61.7k
54
votes
Why didn't Voldemort recognize that Dumbledore was affected by his curse?
Voldemort never knew Dumbledore found his Horcrux
The last time Voldemort saw Dumbledore was when he dueled him in the Ministry of Magic, at the end of Book 5. Dumbledore acquired the Resurrection ...
- 2,380
53
votes
How did Slughorn's information on horcruxes actually help Voldemort?
Mithrandir's answer already provides one relevant quote, but I'd say it lacks interpretation. What helped Tom Riddle was not so much what Slughorn said, but the two things he did not say:
Something ...
- 4,574
53
votes
Accepted
Why always Albania?
Ravenclaw, the Dark Lord, and Quirrell had connected reasons.
Though it’s true that four people choose to go to Albania, it’s not a coincidence for three of them. Helena Ravenclaw, the Dark Lord, and ...
- 105k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible