Contents page and spoilers warning
Voldemort's Transformations and Alchemy
Does the popular anime, Full Metal Alchemist, hold the key to undertanding what happened to Voldemort in Harry Potter?
Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school... traveled far and wide.. sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable.
--Dumbledore, HPCoS, p. 329
Did Voldemort ever use the Philosopher's Stone?
October 31 and Voldemort's Curiously Missing Body
"I miscalculated my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah... pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost... but still, I was alive." --Voldemort (HPGoF, p. 653)
As far as we know, Voldemort's body disappeared completely after he tried the Avada Kedavra on baby Harry Potter. In Goblet of Fire, Voldemort tells us how he had to flee and share bodies with snakes in the forest. That's very odd. From what we know of Avada Kedavra, it kills without any other noticeable side effect. That's why it puzzled the Muggles who investigated the murder of Voldemort's grandparents and father. Voldemort has killed his own family, Harry's parents, and Cedric, but their bodies all remained.
Why did Voldemort's body disappear? When people think of October 31, they usually wonder what happened to Voldemort's wand, assuming that the body just dissentigrated or something. Avada Kedavra is not supposed to do that, however! While I acknowledge that the killing curse did not do what it was supposed to the night of October 31, assuming it dissentigrated a body a bit of a stretch. In the series, it is always Harry's survival that is seen as odd; what happened to Voldemort is de-emphasized or, at best, mystified — perhaps deliberately? Harry's scar could be a red herring to take the focus off Voldemort.
JK Rowling has not given us all the details regarding the events surrounding the Potter murders, but why haven't we heard more people speculate about them in the series? Surely the missing corpse of the powerful, finally-defeated Dark Lord is not something people overlook? In Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid tells Harry that not everyone believes Voldemort is gone. This shows that part of the Wizarding World wonders over the missing evidence, at least in hindsight. Just recently, in Order of the Phoenix, JK Rowling has begun to explore the link between Harry and Voldemort, but we have not learned much more about what happened to Voldemort specifically. His missing body should be more of an issue! What happened to it?
I do not think that Voldemort's body was taken by a Death Eater. If that were the case, it would have been a huge scandal in the Wizarding community and Harry would have heard about it from Ron or Dumbledore during his first year at Hogwarts. If that were the case, Voldemort could have demanded that someone bring forth his original body at the end of Goblet of Fire. He did not. His body was gone and he knew it. Is it possible that the Ministry kept it hidden from the public? Perhaps the Order of the Phoenix? That would not have stopped rumors either. Nothing short of a public funeral would have (or should have) stopped rumors.
Hagrid and Sirius were at least among the first people to come upon the place of the Voldemort's downfall. They are not fools. They were distraught over the deaths of Lily and James Potter, but they had endured the sorrows of war for over a decade. They would have been more alert. They marveled at Harry's survival. Did they not wonder what happened to Voldemort, too?
Minerva McGonagall was more skeptical. She did not believe that Voldemort was defeated until she heard it from Dumbledore. She, at least, might have wondered about the missing evidence.
Vapormort - Transfers and the Philosopher's Stone
In Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone) and Goblet of Fire, Voldemort tells Harry that he survived by transfering bodies.
"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapor... I have form only when I can share another's body." (HPSS, p. 293)
"Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were sill abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals — snakes, of course, being my preference — but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic... and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long...." --Voldemort (HPGoF, p. 653-654)
In Full Metal Alchemist, that is exactly how the Philosopher's Stone gives "eternal" life. When someone's body is old and/or dying, the Stone can be used to transfer the soul and mind to another body. A person can excend his or her life by centuries this way. Voldermort has always stroven for immortality and, as Dumbledore tells us, he did experiment with obscure branches of magic.
It is interesting to note that the Dementor's Kiss seems to take the mind and soul of a person, not just the soul. If they just took the soul, wouldn't what was left behind be something like a vampire? A Being able to act, but no longer human. Dementors leave Beings unable to act, however, so something must happen to the mind, too. It could be that Dementors are JK Rowling's version of the Homunculi in Full Metal Alchemist. More on that later.
Getting back on track, however, Full Metal Alchemist makes a fascinating point. While the Stone increases life by allowing the user to move from body to body, it does not really guarantee eternal life. As Hohenheim of Light (the Elric Brothers' father) discovers, the soul is destroyed a little with every transfer. When the soul, erm, "rots" like this, the new bodies start rotting faster, too. This means that the alchemist who uses the Philosopher's Stone needs to transfer bodies more often as time goes on. Since the Stone is destroyed a little with every use, eventually the alchemist will not be able keep up with the necessary transfers. He or she will die.
This is fascinating stuff since not only does JK Rowling make Voldemort tranfer bodies, she also specifically states that they do not last:
"I sometimes inhabited animals — snakes, of course, being my preference — but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic... and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long...." --Voldemort (HPGoF, p. 654)
Vaportmort - Differences Between the Series
"Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of... for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school... he was easy to bend to my will... he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body." --Voldemort (HPGoF, p. 654)
In Full Metal Alchemist, the Stone allows someone to take over another person's body completely. In Harry Potter, Voldemort only shares the body. Quirell is influenced by Voldemort, but he still retains some individuality. Quirell doesn't "become" Voldemort.
"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been."
--Voldemort (HPGof, p. 654)
In Harry Potter, Voldemort can float around on his own without a body. He's weak, but he can live. In Full Metal Alchemist, an alchemist needs a body to remain alive. (*Mutters aloud* Well... there's that whole thing about the Gate in FMA... maybe... no...)
But Only Flamel and Dumbledore Know How to Create the Stone...
Impossible. This is neither logical nor canon, it is just fanon invention. This is what the book Hermione found said:
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existance belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight). (HPSS, p. 220)
The precise wording — "the only stone currently in existance" — says that the Philosopher's Stone has been created before. If it had not been, the book would have emphasized that it was the first Stone to be created or at least the first one to be recorded.
And in any case, Dumbledore may not have worked on the Philosopher's Stone specifically. His Chocolate Frog Card says:
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling. (HPSS, p. 102)
If Voldemort Had the Philosopher's Stone, Why Did He Want Another One?
If Voldemort had it, he might have lost it. It could have been stolen or, more likely, it could have dissolved. In Full Metal Alchemist, a little part of the Stone disappears every time it is used. In order for Voldemort to transfer his soul and extend his life again, he would have had to find another one.
NEXT: Did Voldemort Die? Part 1: "Death as we know it"
Back to FMA/HP Contents - Part of The Hogwarts Tower of Time
Created March 2005
