The Harry Potter series portrays a longstanding rivalry between Harry and Voldemort. In the beginning, Harry is blindsided by this status.
Watching the storylines and getting involved leads us to wonder why Voldemort so badly wanted to kill Harry. Here is what I found on the subject.
Why Does Voldemort Want To Kill Harry?
1. The Parents
The most that we can gather about Voldemort stems heavily from his parents. We know in the stories that Harry’s parents strongly opposed Voldemort.
Voldemort was evil and Harry’s parents fought against his desire for control. Voldemort did not like being questioned.
Harry’s parents were also very powerful, which means they were a threat to Voldemort. He couldn’t stand the thought of a threat.
Since the parents were a powerful threat, this meant that Harry was also a threat. It could only be assumed that he would be just as powerful carrying pieces of both parents.
2. Prophecy Proclamations
Voldemort was threatened by a prophecy that was made about Harry. It was more of a prediction or perhaps a vision of someone.
The prophecy indicated that Voldemort would a boy would come and his powers would have the ability to do away with Voldemort.
At that point, Voldemort knew he would meet his demise if he did not get rid of this power. Of course, the prophecy never mentioned who.
Voldemort observed and listened. He had suspicions but held little to no proof of the real threat initially. He used the power of deduction to determine whether Harry would be the boy.
The other potential boy was Neville Longbottom. This prophecy is poorly displayed in the movies so reading the books is the best way to learn about the details.
3. Pure Evil
Voldemort was evil at his very core. He desired power. He desired control. You see magic was intended for specified use and they had restrictions.
Voldemort tended towards using dark magic, which was a direct violation of their rules. He intended to harm and wreak havoc.
He twisted the very foundation of wizardry to use it for evil. Perhaps the dark magic overtook his mind the more he used it. It’s hard to know for sure.
There are snippets of the past and the things leading up to his demise. There are some brief illustrations of his history as well as the feuds that he was a part of.
4. Certain Defeat
With Harry alive and thriving, Voldemort faced certain defeat. As it was, he was heavily weakened when he killed Harry’s parents and attempted to kill Harry as a baby.
It was only a matter of time before Voldemort would be defeated unless he took matters into his own hands.
From the beginning, Harry was hidden away. However, the wizarding world always kept a close eye on him. As rumblings of Voldemort grew, they knew Harry would need to be protected.
Voldemort only wanted to defeat his certain defeat. However, he hoped to do so before Harry strengthened enough to defeat him.
5. Casualty Of War
As it happens, Voldemort was in the midst of a war. He was directing havoc upon the world. He had no moral ground and wanted to overthrow humans ultimately.
Many wizards went into hiding or refused to oppose him. He was a force to be reckoned with and his dark magic made him terribly powerful.
When Harry was born, the war was already in progress. They attempted to hide him away but nothing could be hidden from Voldemort’s power. He learned of it and acted.
Harry was caught in a war that he had no knowledge of. Voldemort never gave up on his war. It was simply delayed after he was injured.
6. His Own Beliefs
All of these things are true. But when you dig a little bit deeper, you see that Voldemort selected Harry.
We spoke of the prophecy. But remember that never dedicated Harry as the boy. Voldemort chose the potential himself and determined it would be him.
Overall, this was a personal choice made by Voldemort and it was based on a prophecy that was not necessarily a prediction of the future.
He latched onto the prophecy and then ruled his life based on it.
7. Harry Held Voldemort’s Soul
When Voldemort killed Harry’s parents, he was really after Harry. He had a strong curse that he intended to use on the baby.
However, Harry’s mother defended him. Her last act was to use a spell to protect him. As she gave her life, Voldemort’s spell worked against him.
An interesting take on this is that a part of Voldemort’s soul entered into Harry at that time. No one ever knew this occurred until they later had a match.
Voldemort’s soul was discovered at the time and it saved Harry’s life in the attack.
8. Harry’s Power
As time went on, Voldemort never lost the desire to rid the world of Harry. However, he never really knew how Harry’s power would grow either.
Harry did inherit power from his parents. However, he might have never found that power if Voldemort wasn’t hunting for him and he ended up at Hogwarts.
Harry’s power grew as he trained at Hogwarts and discovered who he was. He had power that matched Voldemort’s.
Harry also had other elements such as loyalty, friends, family, and love that worked in his favor.
9. Jealousy
While there is much behind the prophecy and the ability of Harry’s magic, there is also some level of jealousy at play.
Voldemort was jealous of Harry before he ever grew into a powerful wizard. He was jealous of the love his parents had and the care with which he was born and hidden away.
Voldemort was unlikely to ever capture that type of life for himself because of his evil capacity.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on why Voldemort wanted the prophecy, why Voldemort is evil, and why Harry Potter is so popular.
Conclusion
The books about Harry Potter portray quite a bit more than the movies. However, you can get a clear picture from the movies as well.
Voldemort primarily was afraid he would lose his powers and be defeated. He chose Harry based on a prophecy.