I think Voldemort is just reliving his high school days

The two types who become obsessed with high school are: 1) the ones who weren't popular but really wanted to be- and want to go back and do it right this time and 2) the popular ones who peaked in h.s., and want to go back and live there forever and ever and ev... Darth Vader ruled an entire galaxy. Voldemort couldn’t even take over a high school… But what if he didn’t want to take over?

I think Voldemort was the best back in high school, being regarded as the strongest and the best wizard of all time (in Hogwarts). But as soon as he left school, his life was not the same anymore.

What if...

Voldemort is a simple, working-class man, forever regretful of the turns his life has taken since the end of high school. He was a star on the Quiddich team. However, marriage and a broken leg prevented him from attending university on a college Quiddich scholarship.

Voldemort is married to Peggy, whom he mistakenly asked to marry him while drunk. They have two children: Kelly, a promiscuous dumb blonde, and Bud, an intelligent but perpetually horny and unpopular schemer named after a brand of beer.

Voldemort lives in a suburb of Chicago and is the proud owner of a 1970s Dodge automobile. He works as a shoe salesman at Gary's Shoes and Accessories for Today's Woman in New Market Mall. He hates his job (where he get minimum wage), loses it several times throughout the series, yet always ends up coming back to it.

Voldemort is continually saddled with massive debts caused by everything from the various disasters he becomes involved in to his wife's extravagant spending habits. However, he never appears to miss a mortgage payment or file for bankruptcy. The "Voldemort Will", passed down from generation to generation as a punishment, indebted the "benefactor" with these debts that Voldemort has incurred. It was stated that his ancestor, Seamus McMort insulted an obese witch, and brought a curse upon the Voldemort ancestral town of Lower Uncton in England.

Voldemort's talents include bowling (he is an extremely gifted bowler), barbecueing (while wearing an apron that says "Kiss the Cook, Kill the Wife"), and getting into and winning fistfights. He can survive incredible injuries ranging from falling off his roof while installing a satellite dish, getting shocked by that same dish, and being pulverized by a massive woman in Las Vegas, to jumping from an airplane without a parachute, and surviving a huge explosion when he accidentally detonates dynamite in his own yard trying to kill a rabbit who has been eating his vegetable garden. He also has an encyclopedic knowledge of sports trivia, which usually demonstrates how he has little interest in anything else. He does however serve his country by joining the U.S. National Guard in which he receives the 'Bronze Dumpster' for service during a garbage strike.

Voldemort dislikes fat women and repeatedly insults them to their faces with one-liners, a behavior he has engaged in since he was a child. He also hates his job, the prospect of having sex with his wife, his feminist neighbor Marcy, and the French. He loves nudie magazines, free beer, bowling and "nudie" bars, and often cherishes the glory moment of his past: scoring four goals "in a single game" while playing for the Hogwarts in the 1966 city championship game versus fictional Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning goal in the final seconds against his old nemesis, "Spare Tire" Dixon.

That being said, his life was not all that great after high school. After talking to some highly intelligent people (Lorena, Jessica and Malcolm), I began to realize that Voldemort might be a victim of what I like to refer to as Glory Day Syndrome, which is basically a nostalgic longing for the so called “good old days.”

Do you remember an old Bruce Springsteen song called Glory Days? The lyrics tell the tale of three people who look back on times gone by with longing. Why? Because their current situation is disappointing and doesn’t measure up to the good old days. The last verse goes like this:

Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture

a little of the glory of, well time slips away

and leaves you with nothing mister but

boring stories of glory days

It can happen to anyone!

In the song there are three completely different scenarios. The first guy was a star baseball player back in high school. Many years later, that’s what he still likes to talk about. The second was a woman who was very popular and could “turn all the boys heads” when she was in school. Now she is divorced with kids and very disappointed by her situation, so she talks about the good old days.

The third guy is a little different. He worked on an assembly line at Ford for twenty years and never had any glory days. In retrospect, his life seems boring without any real highlights to look back on in his old age.

In his lifetime, life just hasn’t lived up to his expectations. he started out excited, energetic, and full of hope, and ended up feeling disappointed and let down. Hopefully, we all have fond memories associated with different times of our lives, times that stood out as special. We think of those times with great fondness and we enjoy reflecting on them. This is normal and healthy, even comforting. It is not Glory Day Syndrome unless we feel that life is not now, or will it ever be that good again.

As long as we can continue to look forward to tomorrow with a positive sense of eager anticipation then we are fine. In this case, our good old days are just the really memorable parts of our living experience. But our focus is still in the here and now, and we expect each coming day to be a positive and worthwhile experience.

OK, so what is it?

It’s all about where we choose to put our focus. If we are so emotionally invested in the past that it prevents us from seeing and appreciating the wonderment of our present life, then we’ve got glory day syndrome.

Imagine being on a journey and spending all your time looking in the rear-view mirror. Instead of seeing what’s all around, you would only see what is behind you. Instead of anticipating what is beyond the next bend, your view would only include the past. We all glance in the rear-view mirror from time to time, but our focus should be on where we are now, and where we are headed.

The past is exactly that, past. In other words, it’s gone and it’s not coming back. You can revisit the people and places, but you cannot relive the experience in the same way. We grow and change. Life is not static, and as the saying goes – time waits for no one.

Voldemort terrorizes the school because he does not want to be a memory in people’s minds because a memory means you’re gone physically (either kick out forever or even worse, dead), or even worse… A faded memory. Yes, the Dark Lord is obsessed with blood purity and wanting get rid of the muggle heritage and control the wizard and the other world… Basically, he wants to be known everywhere as the supreme leader, the top dog, the “Man”. But first and foremost, he just wants to be known.

When Harry was one year old, the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed his parents, and then he tried to kill Harry — he tried to curse him… But, for some mysterious reason the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard, who has been in hiding ever since.

Voldemort's fear is death, ignominious death. I mean, he regards death itself as ignominious. He thinks that it's a shameful human weakness, as you know. His worst fear is death.

Voldemort did not intend to kill Harry's parents. He set out to kill Harry in response to the prophecy which predicted that he would be killed by Harry Potter. Lily and James Potter just happened to be victims who died trying to protect Harry. Killing a great man means you become great and therefore forget about the ones that was killed… His worst fear. So, why wasn’t Voldemort able to kill Harry?

Voldemort doesn't initially kill Harry as a child because of the protection that Lily, his mother gave Harry. It was her love that saved him… A magic spell that is not studied and not understood in the wizarding world.

So what is love?

(baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more)

Love is a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection ("I love my mother") to pleasure ("I loved that meal"). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.

“What is love" was the most searched phrase on Google in 2012… Voldemort for sure googled in plenty of time to try and understand it… In an attempt to get to the bottom of the question once and for all, the Guardian has gathered writers from the fields of science, psychotherapy, literature, religion and philosophy to give their definition of the much-pondered word.

Biologically, love is a powerful neurological condition like hunger or thirst, only more permanent. We talk about love being blind or unconditional, in the sense that we have no control over it. But then, that is not so surprising since love is basically chemistry. While lust is a temporary passionate sexual desire involving the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and oestrogen, in true love, or attachment and bonding, the brain can release a whole set of chemicals: pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin. However, from an evolutionary perspective, love can be viewed as a survival tool – a mechanism we have evolved to promote long-term relationships, mutual defence and parental support of children and to promote feelings of safety and security.

The answer remains elusive in part because love is not one thing. Love for parents, partners, children, country, neighbour, God and so on all have different qualities. Each has its variants – blind, one-sided, tragic, steadfast, fickle, reciprocated, misguided, unconditional. At its best, however, all love is a kind a passionate commitment that we nurture and develop, even though it usually arrives in our lives unbidden. That's why it is more than just a powerful feeling. Without the commitment, it is mere infatuation. Without the passion, it is mere dedication. Without nurturing, even the best can wither and die.

Love is more easily experienced than defined. As a theological virtue, by which we love God above all things and our neighbours as ourselves for his sake, it seems remote until we encounter it enfleshed, so to say, in the life of another – in acts of kindness, generosity and self-sacrifice. Love's the one thing that can never hurt anyone, although it may cost dearly. The paradox of love is that it is supremely free yet attaches us with bonds stronger than death. It cannot be bought or sold; there is nothing it cannot face; love is life's greatest blessing.

In some ways, love can be explained and defined; and we can try and figure out what it is ( just like Voldemort tried to google the word “Love” without having any success in find the true meaning of it). But, sometimes, it’s hard to find the right definition or the chemical composition of “Love” or how to properly execute a love spell (Amortentia – which is a potion… not really a spell, but it is the most powerful love potion in existence. It's considered to be a powerful and highly dangerous potion. As stated it's dangerous to underestimate a powerful infatuation. Despite its power, Amortentia doesn't create actual love; it's impossible to manufacture or imitate love. The person under the effect of the potion will only hold an obsession for the person who administered it). But even the strongest love potion wears off and it’s not true love. Just like synthetic weed is not the same as real marijuana… Yes, look it up people. It’s dangerous stuff. Stick with the pure stuff… whether it’s pure marijuana or pure love.

So, Harry Potter was saved by his mother’s love… And it protected him from the curse. Love… this strange “thing” that cannot be explained or studied. This dark matter in the wizard world (as well as the muggle world) is a strange thing. And no one was able to conquer it or control it… Not even the Dark Lord himself. He never experienced love from him mother, maybe because she was an alcohol and always cussed him out and called him a mistake and blaming him for taking her perfect-beach-body away from her… Maybe that is why after killing his parents and witnessing Lily sacrificing her life for the life of her child and protecting Harry with the spell of love… He ran away and hid.

The acrimonious late-night showdown between Jay Leno and Conan was surely about a lot of things. Money, ratings, television. But it was also about a man who couldn’t get over his glory days. Who decided to step down, but then missed his old life and was desperate to return to it.

It’s happened before to high-profile men like, Brett Favre who tearfully said goodbye to football and then hello and then goodbye and then hello again.

Sometimes trying to get back to your glory days actually works. Mr. Favre had a great season. But typically it ends up hurting the them and those who are left in their wake.

While most of us will never play professional football or host a late-night talk show, we all can struggle from time to time with wanting to return to our “glory days” and missing some bygone period in our lives. This can hit in middle-age and inspire a man to buy a sports car and ditch his wife for a young babe. But it can also happen at the end of your twenties when you’re trying to adjust to the working life and missing your college years.

It’s hard not to think back to high school and college with real fondness. It was indeed a glorious time. No real responsibilities besides studying and playing Quiddich. Sleeping in, playing sports, driving around with your friends, and hanging out at parties. Feeling profoundly free. The world was your oyster, and the possibilities for your life seemed endless. What were you going to make of your life? Who would you be spending it with? What were you going to do when you “grew up?”

These days Voldemort had a pretty good idea of the answers to those question. Married to Peggy, have a job as a shoe salesman, and live in Chicago... Life is “Meh”. You wax nostalgic until you’re in a deep funk and sit on your porch sipping on a brewski and reminiscing about the good old days. Pretty soon you’re surfing the internet for a time machine… Only to find out the prophecy that you’ll be killed by someone greater than you.

A little nostalgia for another time period in history can be a positive thing, but too much nostalgia for another time in your life can rob you of satisfaction and happiness in this one. And Voldemort is not a happy fellow.

Nearly everyone is a victim of this mental distortion. It's why we post so many pictures of ourselves from our youth, why we have a midlife or sometimes quarter life crisis, why there's such a thing as Throwback Thursdays, why we get back with our ex-lovers, stay friends with assholes, and it's sometimes why we have a hard time keeping a youthful mindset and progress forward.

I get it. You think the past was somehow better, and you were amazing looking, smart, strong, and life was so much better. No it probably wasn't. It wasn't better, it had its ups and downs, and tears and blessings just like now. The more you distort your past, the more you'll be unhappy about your present life, the more you'll feel like change is out of your control. Nothing good will be served by you putting your past on a pedestal.

The past is only good to help us move forward and learn from our mistakes. It's not meant to be a movie you play over and over, where you can edit it however you want.

Learning that your greatness will be replaced and soon forgotten isn’t something easy to swallow. Especially when you were considered as THE BEST wizard. He stays close to the school to remind everyone of who he is. Would I rather be feared or loved? Umm...easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me (Michael Scott). And Voldemort wants the same thing. But to die and disappear? Nah, he ain’t about that life.

Voldemort doesn’t want to be like Dennis Rodman, being remembered as this weird dude with stuff on his face (or lack of it) who hangs out with the North Korean leader. But he wants to be remembered as 5 time NBA Champion, 7 time NBA rebounding champion, 2 time NBA All-star, 2 time NBA defensive player of the year… Simply put, he wanted to be remembered as the best rebounding forward in NBA history… wanted to be remember as the best…

…wanted to be remembered.