I will never swallow an energy field larger than my head
Not really a great insight, but I do remember one insight I had into the Potterverse yesterday. Lord Voldemort's a putz. I mean, the man's stated goal is to live forever, right? Well, he was born on the last day of 1926 and died in the late spring early summer of 1998. Now 71 is a pretty respectable age-lookit how many of the main character Wizards cack it before then-but he really didn't get very much bang for his buck. I mean Dumbledore's supposed to be 150, and there are plenty of people kicking around from the generation before Dumbledore (Griselda Marchbanks, Professor Tofty, Bathlida Bagshot, before Voldy offed her), plus contemporaries like Aberforth, Grindelwald, and Elphias Doge.
Tom Riddle could have simply gotten a cushy job at the Ministry, or seriously worked towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts job at Hogwarts. Then, as long as he exercised, got plenty of fiber in his diet, and stayed away from firewhiskey and dragon pox, he probably would have lived twice as long as he did as Lord Voldemort. And there's the whole avoiding eternal suffering thing. Of course, there are lots of things that Voldemort could have done to avoid his fate-like using any spell but Avada Kedavra when Harry gave himself up. But if he'd done things differently, then he wouldn't have been Lord Voldemort. Which is why he's a putz.
Tom Riddle could have simply gotten a cushy job at the Ministry, or seriously worked towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts job at Hogwarts. Then, as long as he exercised, got plenty of fiber in his diet, and stayed away from firewhiskey and dragon pox, he probably would have lived twice as long as he did as Lord Voldemort. And there's the whole avoiding eternal suffering thing. Of course, there are lots of things that Voldemort could have done to avoid his fate-like using any spell but Avada Kedavra when Harry gave himself up. But if he'd done things differently, then he wouldn't have been Lord Voldemort. Which is why he's a putz.