"Like Barty Crouch Jr.?" Vizet raised an eyebrow slightly and followed that line of thought. "It seems the potion in that Stone Basin worked beyond Voldemort's expectations?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "You could say that in Barty Crouch Jr.'s past life, he lacked something rather important: the freedom to choose."
"After he drank that potion that touched upon 'hope,' he regained that thing." He let out a soft breath. "That is the turning point I was talking about just now."
"Barty Crouch Jr. could only feel his way forward through the darkness. Darkness was everywhere, so direction hardly mattered. Until he encountered the Death Eaters, and Voldemort."
"Voldemort used some honeyed words. That is his strength, and many people have been bewitched by it. Barty Crouch Jr. was no exception."
"After being bewitched, Barty Crouch Jr. regarded Voldemort as a kind of guide, allowing him to lead him toward an even deeper abyss."
"At least in our eyes, that is very frightening!" He sighed. "He could be swallowed by the abyss at any moment."
"And the hope Barty Crouch Jr. obtained from the potion was like a faint glimmer lit in the darkness, illuminating another path for him and granting him the chance to see that possibility."
"As for whether he chooses to ignore that glimmer and continue sinking into the darkness he knows so well, or musters the courage to follow that glimmer and truly choose a direction for himself for once... that remains unknown."
Vizet's eyes flickered. "Headmaster Dumbledore, did Voldemort discover this change in Barty Crouch Jr.?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Fortunately, Voldemort did not discover it."
"Voldemort has always been very confident in himself. Or rather... this is the arrogance brought by setting foot on the Path of Magic known as 'Solipsism.'"
"Especially toward the people around