Everything in Harry Potter comes down to Harry and Voldemort. Their rivalry – and Harry's mission to destroy the Dark Lord – form the structure of the entire series, and without it, Harry would never have become a tragic hero.
On the surface, the pair couldn't be more different. Voldemort is the epitome of evil, while Harry sticks true to his good morals. However, in some ways they're very similar – something the characters themselves even acknowledge on occasion. But how are they alike, and how are they not?
Similar
Isolated Youth
Plenty of Voldemort's evil qualities stems back to his childhood. Born to a witch who used a love potion to conceive him with a Muggle, his mother died soon after his birth, and he was raised in a strict but drab Muggle orphanage thereafter. He knew he was different – and eventually began to torture those around him.
Orphaned as an infant, Harry was also raised outside of the world in which he belongs. Like a young Tom Riddle, he had nobody to love or care for him and was also friendless until Hogwarts. Unlike Voldemort, Harry's isolation ultimately gave him a greater capacity to love, but it was isolation nonetheless.
Descended From The Peverells
Ancestry means a great deal to Voldemort. While embarrassed of his mother's weakness, he's deeply proud of the fact that she's descended from Salazar Slytherin – the founder of his house. This makes him the Heir of Slytherin – and gives him the ability to talk to snakes – which allows him to open the Chamber of Secrets.
Voldemort later unintentionally shares his Parselmouth abilities with Harry when he makes him a Horcrux. However, this isn't their only connection. Both Slytherin and Voldemort are descended from the Peverell brothers. Harry is also descended from the Peverells (specifically Ignotus) making the two distant relatives. Everybody's somewhat related in the wizarding world, but this is a direct connection between the pair.
Love For Hogwarts
Until Harry attends Hogwarts, his life is rather bleak. The Dursleys offer no form of love or affection, punishing him for the magic he can't control, and Dudley makes it difficult for him to befriend anyone at school. So, upon entering the wizarding world, he finally finds a place he loves and belongs.
Voldemort isn't the most sentimental of people but is of a similar opinion. Hogwarts is the first place where he feels special. Although it may be for more narcissistic reasons than Harry, it's a rare interest they both have in common.
Natural Leaders
Voldemort may lead his Death Eaters to unthinkable acts of evil, but he's a leader nonetheless. His followers are loyal to the end and willing to commit atrocious deeds in his name.
Harry cultivates similar loyalty without even trying. Upon forming Dumbledore's Army, he slips into the role of leader with ease. He inspires both his friends and distant followers with as much spirit as Voldemort (although thankfully a different kind of spirit). And just like Tom Riddle at school, he's capable of this from a very young age.
Suited To Slytherin
Having been warned about its nefarious reputation, Harry is horrified when the Sorting Hat suggests Slytherin. While he chooses Gryffindor instead, it's tough to ignore the attributes that would've made him such a perfect Slytherin.
Harry is cunning, ambitious, and determined to get exactly what he wants. These are all qualities he shares with Voldemort. Their end goals are very different, but both wizards are willing to go to great lengths to fulfill their personal desires.
Total Opposites
Attitudes Towards Death
Voldemort is so afraid of death that his name quite literally translates to "flight from death". He goes to extremes to avoid dying, creating more Horcruxes than any other known wizard and compromising his soul to do so.
This act is incomprehensible to Harry. In choosing to voluntarily walk to his death in Deathly Hallows for the sake of saving the rest of the wizarding world, he cements his position as Voldemort's polar opposite. Despite his young age, Harry isn't afraid of death. He instead welcomes it like an old friend – something Voldemort could never do.
Interest In Power
When Voldemort isn't chasing immortality, he's chasing power. From a young age, he is obsessed with being different, better, and stronger than everyone else. It's why he bullies children at the orphanage, opens the Chamber of Secrets, and starts to form the Death Eaters in the first place.
Harry has faced just as many – if not more – hardships than Voldemort by the time he arrives at Hogwarts, yet it hasn't shaped him to be this tyrannical. Far from it. Harry accepts power when it's thrust upon him, such as when he becomes the leader of the DA and the face of the Second Wizarding War. However, he never seeks the same kind of glory as Voldemort.
Allies
While Voldemort develops a cult-like following among his Death Eaters, his true allies are far and few between. He trusts Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape more than most but otherwise doesn't confide or trust in his followers quite like Harry.
In comparison, Harry values and respects his friends. He forges emotional bonds with those he loves and would ultimately do as much for them as they would for him. Voldemort, however, only takes from others.
Desire To Be Different
There's no denying that Harry is different from his classmates. Like the Boy Who Lived – and later the Chosen One – he is treated both considerably better or worse than others (depending on the wizarding world's current attitude towards him).
Harry struggles a lot with sticking out from the crowd, but it's something Voldemort relished in his youth. He didn't just reject his "common" Muggle name of Tom; he adopted the noble title of 'Lord' Voldemort to set himself even further apart. He also luxuriated in the special treatment lavished upon him by Slughorn – something Harry tries to avoid at all costs.
Ability To Love
If there's a core theme to Harry Potter, it's love. It's Lily's love that saves Harry when she sacrifices herself for him. Similarly, it's Harry's love and selflessness that provide the same protection for his friends, families, and allies after he temporarily dies in the Battle of Hogwarts.
Harry scoffs in the book-version of Half-Blood Prince when Dumbledore asserts that this is the power that Voldemort knows not. However, it's a valid point. It's Harry's rush of emotions in the Department of Mysteries that allows him to cast off Voldemort's possession. Voldemort cannot begin to imagine what it's like to love or be loved – nor does he care to find out.
