Professor, I believe a lot of Voldemort's turn toward dark magic was due to his anger at his father. If I recall the story correctly, his father was a Muggle who deserted his mother when he found out she was a witch. Voldemort's mother died in childbirth, leaving him an orphan. As Voldemort grew older, his fury at his father turned him against Muggles and those witches and wizards with a Muggle parent or parents. He spent much of his teenage years learning all he could about the dark arts and eventually gathered a group of like-minded followers who then terrorized Muggles, wizards and witches born to Muggles, and any other witches or wizards who opposed him. |