Voldemort and Satan

When you first read the Harry Potter books, did you see all the parallels with Jesus and Christianity?  I was fascinated from the first chapter of the first book with the similarities.  But the parallel that is clearest is between Satan and Voldemort.

Voldemort’s name illustrates his evil and desperation.  The ending, “mort,” is the French word for “death” and the root of many English words dealing with death, like “mortality,” “mortician,” “mortified,” “mortuary,” even “Morticia” from “The Addams Family.”  The beginning, “vol de,” is French for “flight from” or “theft of,” so it reinforces Voldemort’s despicable efforts to escape death at the cost of anybody’s else’s life.  The “Vol” in his name is also pronounced with a long “o,” which makes it evocative of “revolting.”  

I was reminded of that parallel last week as I read through a devotional for Lent.  The first Sunday of Lent was this past week and the scripture for many churches was the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4 and Luke 4.  In “Word in the Wilderness” by Malcolm Guite, he explains that “the devil is no substantial being.  A shadow himself, all he can do is cast shadows of God’s substantial good.”  Satan is more the absence of a thing than a thing.  This reminded me of Voldemort’s disembodiment.  For much of the HP series, Voldemort doesn’t have a real body.  He’s just the absence of a thing (anything good or real) and represents that by having no substance or body. 

What Satan offers Jesus in the temptations are not real things either, real “prizes.”  They are just a shadow of what God can offer him if he doesn’t take the shortcut Satan presents. 

If you are observing Lent, let’s remember this week the emptiness of Satan and the abundance of God.