Harry Potter and The Social Contract

voldemort

Voldemort is the main villain in Harry Potter. He is known for being the strongest dark wizard, trying to get rid of all the non-pureblood wizards, and wanting to rule the wizard world.

In Social Contract, Rousseau speaks of the "right of the strongest". He states, "The strongest man is never strong enough to be master all the time, unless he transforms force into right and obedience into duty"(Rousseau 52). This means that unless the people will do as he says out of choice and "moral duty" and not pure force, a man can't rule others (Rousseau 52). Voldemort was the strongest in the wizarding world, but he only used his power to install fear in people so they would do what he want. For example, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Wormtail betrayed his friends James and Lily (Harry's parents) because Voldemort threatened to kill him. Wormtail proclaimed to Sirius, "'You don't understand' whines Pettigrew. 'He would have killed me, Sirius!'" (Rowling 375). So, since Voldemort did not "[transform] force into right and obedience into duty", in the end, he was ultimately overthrown and vanquished (Rousseau 52). This supports Rousseau's idea "that must does not make right, and that the duty of obedience is owed to legitimate powers"(Rousseau 53). Even though Voldemort was the strongest wizard at the time, he couldn't become master because he did not exercise his powers legitimately.