In Philosopher's Stone we get this conversation:

"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."
"Only because you're too noble to use them,"

Now this can't be his immortal Horcrux thing, as no one knows about it yet (He's been dead for less than a day). It's not flying as thats new in DH.

So what "Powers" are being referred to here, what can Voldemort do that Dumbledore won't?

I can't think of any magic we see that fits this line, the unforgivables are a weak answer, and don't seem in the spirit of the line, as it seems to refer to magic that only Voldemort and Dumbledore would even be capable of, not a normal wizard.

 

I think you can draw a parallel to real life here. There are things that men of integrity simply will not do, but those that have no qualms will.

Consider child trafficking, or other forms of utterly inhumane treatment such as Unit 731or the Rape of Nanking, and then imagine what depths of depravity one could sink to with the additional of magic. It's not the magic that is terrible - it's just a tool, it's the imaginations of those who use it that is to be feared.

Thats my view here anyway.

Also, I use those two examples above as they are extensively documented and unquestionable. However, every single country, including New Zealand, has these types of incidents in their history.

 

For powers that Dumbledore doesn't have and Voldemort does, there's definitely self-sustained flight which was invented by Voldemort, who taught it to Snape.

For powers that Dumbledore won't use because of his beliefs, I'd assume that it would be the dark magic and lethal spells he knows and won't ever cast. We see this in the duel in OotP where Dumbledore doesn't use lethal curses against Voldemort. Of course, this isn't exactly limiting because as Dumbledore said, there are other worse ways to destroy a man.

 

I'm sure Voldemort did various things to himself beside the horcruxes to make himself stronger, and I'm sure they required him to do horrific things to gain them.

If we're going with symbolism, I'm going to guess things like burning someone alive to gain fire resistance or removing the eyes of someone with quick reflexes to gain their physical abilities.

In fact, the last one might explain Voldemort's appearance. In some fic you could imagine there's some ritual that allows you to gain some physical abilities of someone else, but instead of giving you their full abilities it's more like a middle ground, so Voldemort had to find many physically capable people to kill and take their powers from to approach their level of physical ability. So his appearance is blurred over many other's appearances.

 

That's certainly more thematic with HP than the oft-used super blood magic rituals that only cause you pain for monumental personal buffs. That somehow nobody but the main character can use.

 

@MonkeyEpoxy that has always been my issue with Rituals being the excuse for Voldemorts looks.

If there was rituals to give significant edges in abilities then we would see at least a few of his Death Eaters do them.

I think his looks are purely Horcrux based as he is the only Wizard, perhaps ever to make that many.

 

Legillimency comes to mind (heh).

Perhaps there are upper tiers of mad legillimency skillz only attainable via unscrupulous use of the art, that allow manipulations like the inception Harry is fed in OotP.

 

They might have, but not to the extent Voldemort did.

 

Honestly, it's probably just a way to build up Voldemort and Dumbledore in the first book before JKR fleshed out her magic.

Otherwise, it's purely an issue of nobility in the literal sense such as Dumbledore not seeking to kill Voldemort in the Atrium at the Ministry.

 

Horcruxes

Possession

Inferi

Fiendfyre

Ten Pin Bowling

 

I think he mainly means general proficiency with dark magic, like the curse on the ring or the potion protecting the locket. Dumbledore could probably re-create these things if actually researched them, but he never dived into this kind of magic, whereas he knows Voldemort did.

 

But ten pin bowling is Dumbledore's thing. Voldemort's more of a candlepin bowler.

 

Things Voldemort could and would use but which Dumbledore would refrain from... beyond what's already been mentioned (like Inferi armies or Fiendfyre) Transfiguration comes to mind as something that Dumbledore could compare (and surpass) the Dark Lord at but which he'd never use to kill. Dumbledore could very likely use the (incredibly hard) human transfiguration in battles but would never get to that level.