Doppelganger in Harry Potter Novels

Doppelganger in Harry Potter Novels

The battle between good and evil has been a timeless reality and has been evident in various works be it in written, oral or visual forms. These works may be fictional or based on real life but the lesson remains therein that good and evil are inseparable and always try to best one another. Most people like to believe that the good is often the victorious amongst the two but there are times when evil triumphs in both reality and fiction. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels exemplify the fight between what is right and what is wrong with the main protagonist Harry Potter as the good guy while his nemesis Lord Voldemort is evil personified. The side to where each of them belongs to is the major difference between the two. They are similar though because both of them are great wizards in the world they represent and both would stop at nothing to destroy each other. Consequently, in the fight between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, they seem to be doppelgangers because of detailed similarities they have. Each of the seven novels of Rowling has presented the similarities to the point that in one of the books, Rowling wrote that the young Potter may be the heir of Slytherin in the same way as how Lord Voldemort deemed himself such "honor."

Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort may have lived separate lives and belong to different generations where the former belongs to the present young and upcoming generation while the latter is with the older generation. There are parallels in their lives though especially in the part where both of them where orphaned at a young age. Harry though had the "fortune" to live with close relatives -- the Dursleys, albeit he was treated more like an outsider and an indentured slave. Lord Voldemort as the young Tom Riddle grew up in the foster system until he gained admittance to Hogwarts. As young lads not yet in their 11th year of life, Harry and Voldemort never knew they were wizards until it was revealed to them when they turned eleven years old. Even though they did not know they were wizards during their childhood years, they have both been experiencing "weird or strange" occurrences in their lives that they could not explain especially when they feel angry or frustrated.

Perhaps one of the evidence that points to a major similarity between Harry and Voldemort was when the former bought his first wand at Ollivander's. Since the wand chooses the wizard and not the other way around, Mr. Ollivander told Harry that, "It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar."

Thus, Harry's wand had the same phoenix feather as that of Voldemort's and this phoenix feather originated from one and the same source making Harry and Voldemort equal in terms of their wands' capabilities. In yet another similarity although there was no direct comparison between Harry and Voldemort made in the scene, Harry was found to have the ability to talk with snakes. The importance of this ability as Hermione explained to Harry, "It matters because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."

Lord Voldemort is also a Parselmouth and this is evident in the way he controls Nagini, a snake that does whatever of the Dark Wizard commands it.

In the fifth book of the series, one of Hogwarts' professors, Professor Trelawney, provided an insight on the link between Harry and Voldemort when she went into a trance and uttered in the presence of Harry:

"The one with the power to vanquish the- Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies & #8230; and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not & #8230;and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies & #8230;"

Indeed, as seen in various chapters of the there has always been a comparison between harry Potter and Lord Voldemort especially in terms of their wizarding abilities. The scar that Voldemort caused Harry was a symbol of how the young wizard overcame Voldemort's first attempt at taking his life. Instead of succumbing to the Dark Wizard's murderous act, the magic rebounded and caused the demise of the evil wizard. This kind of power that Harry had was one proof of his being an equal of Lord Voldemort. This despite his young age and lack of experience as a wizard.