Two more fears

[Alz]

In the chapter 'The Cave' Dumbledore says the following


"There is nothing to be feared from a body, Harry, any more than there is anything to be feared from darkness. Lord Voldemort, who of course secretly fears both, disagrees. But once again he reveals his own lack of wisdom. It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."

The body one was can all kind of guess that was a fear of his - because he went as far as splitting his soul so that he should retain it ...
.. but the Darkness?
Is Voldemort scared of the dark?

[Sir Cadogan]

A very good observation, Blaise - yes, one wonders: A Dark Wizard ought to be afraid of light, not darkness.
Can't remember having ever read of V being afraid of darkness.

[George]

Again, a nice point from Blaise.
To tell ye the truth, I believe that the only reason Voldemort ever turned "Dark" was due to the fact that he feared everything associated with the Dark Arts. So, since he was so scared of darkness, bodies and the magic of Dark Wizards, he decided he would be better protected, should he undergo a bunch of transformations and hide behind a new mask.
I also think that, as Dumbledore says, it is the unknown we fear in darkness. Of course Lord Voldemort fears the unknown! Because he associates it with death. The unknown is a scary thing to him. That is why he wants to conquer death... not because he wants to spend the rest of eternity completing Salazar Slytherin's noble work, but because he is afraid of the unknown that is associated with dying! So, darkness, which is, to mortals and to Lord Voldemort, the epitome of the unknown, is something to be feared above all else.

[Sir Cadogan]

George, I agree with your second paragraph - V afraid of Darkness because he fears the unknown (a right old coward he is, too).
But I can't see Voldemort being "scared of the magic of Dark Wizards" - no way. I think he was a naturally talented Dark Wizard. Just look at what he did with his magic powers before he even got invited to Hogwarts: "I can make them hurt" - that's what he does with the other children at the orphanage. He scares the living daylights out of them, and he enjoys this power. And this, I think, is his main motive for everything else: power lust.

[Boing]

Agreed, Sir C - I don't think Voldemort is scared of the Dark magic. In terms of Voldemort being scared of darkness, I don't think it was literally "afraid of the dark." I think it was more a fear of being alone, abandoned, etc., which of course, he was very early on in life. He never had his parents, never really had friends. He fears that lonely dark in life.

Oh, and the unknown as well . . . ;) :p

[yarvelling]

I'm with Boing on this....and I think that DD merely used the likening to a 'fear of darkness' in his explanation to Harry as it is a typical and irrational fear exhibited by most folk, and one that Harry would be able to understand easily.
I guess Voldemort is afraid of the body because of the mortality that it represents, the frailties and vulnerabilities, and yes, the fact that death will inevitably come to it.

[Alz]

I think the body is a no brainer - we can all see his paranoia and how far he was willing to go to preserve it ...
The darkness still makes me wonder ...
I mean - Dumbledore said it - also mirrored it in the same sentence.
It kinda struck me because Voldemort is all that personifies darkness - he had people dressed in black, he kills - he loves dark magic ... his whole mannerisms seem to be the exact opposite of what Dumbledore was saying.
That is why I found George's comments so compelling ...
What if that was his motivation - he tried to conquer what he feared?
I mean he created Horcruxes to try and get around the blind fear he has of dying ... what if he went as far into the Dark Magic and killing because he wanted to conquer that fear?
It's just a thought based on an interesting quote :)

[Fortescue]

That quote could be a hint at what Dumbledore said to Voldemort in OotP, when Voldemort said there was nothing worse than death, and Dumbledore replied that there were things worse than death and Voldemort's lack of understanding that fact was his greatest weakness.

What is death but eternal darkness. Voldemort fears death because it is the end of being; death for him would be the end of his power, control over others, and would be endless and eternal darkness.