**Warning: This article contains references to rape some readers may find triggering**
Harry Potter fans are discussing the disturbing way that Voldemort was conceived.
A Potterhead on Reddit, who is now a teacher and decided to rewatch the film series, said that they now see the films in a ‘much different light’ compared to when they were younger.
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Posting in the Harry Potter thread, they asked 'What is a dark fact about Harry Potter that is rarely addressed?', with thousands of comments from fellow fans listing all the moments in the stories they didn’t initially notice.
And one Reddit user commented: “How Voldemort was conceived”, with their post attracting 1,700 upvotes.
While the story of Voldemort's conception was left largely out of the film, it is explored more in the books.
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In both the books and the films, Harry Potter’s archenemy is well-known for his inability to love, a characteristic which is used to explain his sadistic actions and ultimately leads to his defeat.
And the series does provide a reason as to why Voldemort is unable to understand love.
That is because he was conceived under the influence of a love potion.
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This may go over the heads of younger fans, but those active on Reddit realised that the love potion served the same purpose as a date-rape drug.
This is because while under the influence of a love potion, it’s impossible for someone to give informed consent.
As seen in J.K. Rowling’s books, after taking a love potion, the target become obsessed with the person who gave it to them. And once the Potion wears off, the person affected may feel confused.
Fans will recall Voldemort’s parents were Tom Riddle Sr. and Merope Gaunt, however, their relationship was not consensual. Merope, who was a witch, gave Tom, a Muggle, a love potion and they soon eloped.
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Within three months of the marriage, Merope became pregnant and believed that Tom would still love her even after the potion wore off because she was pregnant, but that wasn’t the case.
After retelling Voldemort’s origin story, a fan on Reddit concluded: “That is why Voldemort never fell in love or felt compassion for anyone because he couldn't have those emotions due being conceived through love potion.
“After Voldemort grew older he went back home and killed his father's side of the family and stole some good.
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“The murders were almost blamed on the housekeeper Frank but when the autopsy showed nothing wrong he was released.
“Those first murders where probably how he split his soul the first time as he used the family heirloom for it."
And fans were pretty uncomfortable with the idea.
“Messed up,” someone else commented. “It’s quite a clever/fitting backstory though, I always thought," while someone else called it 'tragic and super dark'.
And a third commenter described it as 'really bleak', while another said: "His dad was basically magical Roofied."
During a web chat with fans in 2007, Rowling said that the love potion plot was a ‘symbolic way’ of showing that the pathological villain came from a ‘loveless’ union.
“The enchantment under which Tom Riddle fathered Voldemort is important because it shows coercion, and there can’t be many more prejudicial ways to enter the world than as the result of such a union,” Rowling shared.
“It was a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union – but of course, everything would have changed if Merope had survived and raised him herself and loved him.”
Topics: Harry Potter, Reddit
Gregory Robinson