The Hog's Head

Because, I was silly enough to check ...eh, other sites, and found ...eh ...some people (no comment on how smart I think they are) comparing Voldemort and Dumbledore and making the point that they were almost the same thing, and I need some real, intelligent discussion where no one brings up the Bible or Hitler unless you're doing it to actually make a point and not to fill up space so your post is longer.

We won't mention the fact that Voldemort killed a lot of people for no good reason at all, since that doesn't seem to be important in the discussion.  So, let's just stick with the fact that we found out in DH that Dumbledore had a plan for Harry, from the beginning. Does that affect your view of him, and how?

Yes, I'm asking if you think he's secretly evil.  In what other ways can we compare him to Voldemort? In fact, in what way, any way, can we compare the two?

For me, it's rather simple. He's the Obi-Wan type, if you will. Sure, he's not perfect, but he really cared about the hero, and, in the end, everything he did was for a good reason. And, Obi-Wan is my favorite SW character. 

Dumbledore, evil? Yeah, sure and the Pope's baptist! See, I've seen this tact from other idiots in the fandom before DH, that DD was a schemer thus he's evil! EVIL!!!!! It just amazes me that people could learn about Albus' youth, when he actually did want to take over the world, for its own good, but learned at the cost of his sister's life and an estrangement from his only living relative, that such power isn't worth it. Thus why he refused appointment several times as Minister and stayed as a teacher instead. Yep, evil all right, Evilest of the evil

OK, I hope this doesn't get me lynched. . .

I think some amount of comparison between Voldemort and Dumbledore is valid.  Not the kind of comparison that is frequently found at *ahem* certain other sites (because that's just people looking for something to bitch and moan about).  But the comparisons should stop once you get passed the whole idea of them both believing in wizarding superiority, and here's why:

1) Dumbledore grew up and out of that belief - Voldemort grew ever more entrenched in it.
2) Dumbledore believed that wizarding superiority could only be beneficial to Muggles - Voldemort wanted to eliminate Muggles, period end of sentence.
3) Dumbledore may have been somewhat manipulative in his handling of Harry, but at a cost in guilt and torment - Voldemort never felt guilty for a damned thing in his life.

It never ceases to amaze me that the people who most frequently complain about these things are the same ones that say they like "analyzing" things, yet have the most horrible black-and-white view of the entire world.  I'd pity them if I wasn't so disposed to laugh at them.

I hear they wear different coloured hats... 

I was actually tempted to ask what coloured hat Dumbledore wore! Maybe purple. Would that mean purple is a good color? And Voldie would have to be black. I mean, it only makes sense. 

Oh, I agree that there are certain comparisons to be made, especially when they were younger. I think JKR meant for us to see it this way, too. But the comparisons end way before Voldemort started murdering people for fun.

Could it possibly be that in book seven Jo was trying to show how DD could have been just like Voldemort but he made a different choice? Surely not! Surely Voldmort was even from the very second of his conception and he couldn't do one damned thing about murdering all those people for fun. Poor, ickle little thing. He just couldn't help himself!

  NO WAI!

Ya know, I've come to a conclusion regarding a lot of the haters/moaners/whiners/wankers.  Their inability to accept the most obvious and most logical explanation for certain things reminds me of conspiracy "theorists" - they have to dig deeper, even when there is nothing to find.  God only knows why.

Ah conspiracy theorists, a favorite TV show of mine addressed these nutters in regards to the 9/11 Tragedy, The nutters believed our own government was responsible for that tragedy, directly and the show had a simple response to that, they're retards. I think a correlation can be made here too 

*snUrk* It was a show about 9/11 conspiracy nutters that brought the comparison to my mind. . .

But anyway, more or less back to the topic at hand, I definitely think the DD/Voldemort parallels were deliberate, just like the Harry/Voldemort ones were.  For all that the haters insist that Riddle was "born evil" and never had a choice I see the exact opposite, and the comparisons drawn only hammer the point home even harder.  What makes us who were are is our choices.  That's as true in real life as it is in the Harry Potter books.