Shouldn't Voldemort have become a ghost?

[Kaepora]

According to Nearly Headless Nick in OotP, people who fear death remain attached to the earth after they die, and become ghosts.

Voldemort feared death like no other. Shouldn't he have become a ghost?

[ivyagogo]

I always thought that if he died that yes, he would become a ghost. Or, maybe you can't once you've split your soul.

[ellana]

There wasn't enough of him left to become a ghost?

[Ressurected]

Didn't Sir Nick say that you had to 'leave an imprint of your soul' or something on the earth?

But Voldemort probably thought that with the horcruxes, there would be no way he could die (seeing as he thought no-one else knew about them anyway), so he wouldn't bother becoming a ghost. Anyway, for Voldemort, what good would being a ghost be unless he was a poltergiest, he couldnt' torment or kill people, the most he could do was make them feel as though they had walked through a cold shower.

[TheAndy]

I don't think Voldemort had anough of his soul left to become a ghost.

[panda81]

Maybe it takes time to become a ghost. Maybe you go to an inbetween place and after taking in the fact that you are dead, either moving on or going back. Besides, I don't know if Voldy's soul had enough left in it to leave an imprint.

[Liselle]

Originally Posted by ellana

There wasn't enough of him left to become a ghost?

I couldn't have put that better myself to be honest. I think once Voldemort saw that his horcruxes had been deystroyed also he came to the conclusion that his death was inevitable.

[SPARTAN]

I don't think there was enough of his soul left to leave a big enough imprint on the earth.

In the books they say that the souls just leaves imprints of themselves but still pass on. So nearly headless nicks soul is really in heaven (or whrever.)

[LoonyMagic]

I agree with what everyone else has said.

Voldemort had destroyed his soul in such a way that he was immortal (of course until Harry destroyed the Horcruxes), I think a price to pay for that would be that his soul was beyond repair and he could not become a ghost.

[gertiekeddle]

I think he couldn't become one due to his already destroyed soul.

[Diotima]

Whoa. WHOA! WHOA! (Yeah, I'm shouting!)

You people just smacked me on the head with this business about Voldy having no soul!

It hadn't dawned on me until this thread, that Voldemort, who feared death maybe more than anyone else, has become more completely dead than anyone else. Even those who suffered the Kiss, I presume, still have their souls alive, albeit tortured.

But Voldemort is completely obliterated. The man who went further down the road to immortality than anyone else became the one to go further into nonexistence than anyone else.

WHOA. They call that dramatic irony, do they not? It calls the Oedipus story to mind: by working so hard to prevent it, he made it come about. That's what I love about these books: the more you think about them, the better they are! And they're so complex that one (except JK) can't even grasp at the complexities without discussion, without the help of other people pointing things out. Isn't that the difference between good and great literature?

I'm really grateful for these boards. They've helped me to see so many facets that I'd have missed on my own.

[vampiricduck]

There was only one eighth of his soul left by the time he died, by his own hand, so maybe he didn't get the choice, and if he did, there wasn't enough of his soul left to make him a ghost.

[lewis8604]

Originally Posted by Diotima

Whoa. WHOA! WHOA! (Yeah, I'm shouting!)

You people just smacked me on the head with this business about Voldy having no soul!

It hadn't dawned on me until this thread, that Voldemort, who feared death maybe more than anyone else, has become more completely dead than anyone else. Even those who suffered the Kiss, I presume, still have their souls alive, albeit tortured.

But Voldemort is completely obliterated. The man who went further down the road to immortality than anyone else became the one to go further into nonexistence than anyone else.

WHOA. They call that dramatic irony, do they not? It calls the Oedipus story to mind: by working so hard to prevent it, he made it come about. That's what I love about these books: the more you think about them, the better they are! And they're so complex that one (except JK) can't even grasp at the complexities without discussion, without the help of other people pointing things out. Isn't that the difference between good and great literature?

I'm really grateful for these boards. They've helped me to see so many facets that I'd have missed on my own.

well said well said

[Meherio]

Well ... Voldemort was never sad, was he? I always imagined ghosts to be unsatisfied or sad or miserable ... but Voldemort was just so surprised that I don't think he even realised that he WAS dying.

And, there probably wasn't enough soul left. He'd have to be a really transparent ghost.

[vampiricduck]

Originally Posted by Meherio

Well ... Voldemort was never sad, was he? I always imagined ghosts to be unsatisfied or sad or miserable ...

I don't think he was able to feel sad or miserable. He defeated emotions, all excpet anger, at a young age.

[FawkesLament786]

maybe he is 1/8th of a ghost floating around?

[_fairy_dust_]

I thought that Voldemort said to his Death Eaters that he was less than a ghost... I think he said that anyway... So if he was less than a ghost UNLESS he felt a deep regret for the things he had done which I'm sure he didn't then he couldn't have become himself again... And anyway, his horcruxes were destroyed and all he was was a seventh of a soul... I think a ghost IS a soul so.. I think you can only become a ghost if you have a whole soul and its not been ripped to seven little pieces that are past repair...

If that made any sense at all XD

[leenielou]

I agree that there wasn't enough left of him to become a ghost. A ghost is the imprint of a departed soul, and by the end Voldemort had destroyed the last piece of his soul with his own curse. Therefore there just wasn't anything to become a ghost with, at all.

[silverwhisper]

WHOA. They call that dramatic irony, do they not? It calls the Oedipus story to mind: by working so hard to prevent it, he made it come about. That's what I love about these books: the more you think about them, the better they are! And they're so complex that one (except JK) can't even grasp at the complexities without discussion, without the help of other people pointing things out. Isn't that the difference between good and great literature?

Actually my dear Diotima,that's not what they call dramatic irony...Irony maybe,but not dramatic irony,as dramatic irony is a term used in theatrical art to define the situation in which the tragic hero is,and he/she doesn't know it,while the audience does...

Also,I think that it has to be taken into account that within each and every one of the horcruxes,there was a "memory"...Idk why though...

[cgold]

This was something I was worried about as the I waited for the final book. I'd almost convinced myself that Voldemort was not going to die but live out his life as a soulless human being and that dementors would suck out his soul. However, I was thinking that would be a crappy ending because Voldemort fears death the most so I definitely wanted him to die and for a minute when Harry was telling him to show remorse I wondered if he'd have a moment. I should say that Voldemort's soul has been ripped to shreds so he doesn't have the same type of strength as a person with a whole soul. Furthermore, when he drank the unicorn's blood he had a cursed and half life so that as well weakened any chance he had of imprinting himself on the mortal world. I should say that JK has left this open, in my opinion, because she had Harry touch his scar and think that it hasn't bothered him for 19 years and that all was well. Maybe in the back of Harry's mind he believes that Voldemort can come back.

Cheers