Little Hangleton

**Little Hangleton** is a small village in Yorkshire, not far from Great Hangleton. It was home to the Riddle House, once owned by the prominent Muggle family of the same name. It was also the home of the Gaunt family who lived in a shack just outside of the village. The local pub was the Hanged Man.

## History

### Riddle murders

In 1944, Tom Riddle found out that his father, Tom Riddle Snr. lived at the Riddle House in Little Hangleton. He thought Riddle Snr. had abandoned their family before he was born. He found the house and murdered Tom with his grandparents Thomas and Mary Riddle in the drawing room at dinner. They were found by the maid the next day on a fine summer morning. They were very unpopular in the village.

The villagers gathered at the pub the Hanged Man to talk about how and why they died. It was strange for the non-magic villagers that the three had just appeared to drop dead. They were shocked when the chef who worked for the Riddle family arrived and told them that their gardner, Frank Bryce was arrested for the killings. By the next morning, no-one doubted that Frank was indeed the murder because they thought they had figured out how he did it. However, the police couldn't prove Frank was the killer and he walked free. The family were buried in the Little Hangleton graveyard.

The villagers were shocked when Frank eventually returned to live at the cottage near the Riddle House. He tended to the garden for the next two families who lived there. However, they both left and the house eventually fell apart. The villagers still called it the Riddle House even half a century after they died, and thought that the once "grand" house was "creepy". It was a source of gossip when conversation was scarce though the truth was lost to time.

### Frank Bryce's murder

In August 1994, local boys had a habit of riding their bikes on the neat gardens of Riddle House and breaking into it. Frank spent a lot of time chasing them away. One evening, he sas lights on in the house and decided to confront the boys. However, when he arrived, he overheard Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew talking about their plans. Upon hearing they planned to kill Harry Potter, he was about to keave and phone the police when Nagini slithered by him.

Nagini told Voldemort about Frank standing outside the door and he was invited into the room. Frank tried to stand up to Voldemort but when he saw his mutilated body, he screamed in horror before he was murdered with the Killing Curse.

## Inhabitants of Little Hangleton

* Frank Bryce - Gardner of the Riddle House by August 1944 who resided at the nearby cottage until he died in August 1994. He was thought to be the unproved murderer of Thomas, Mary and Tom Riddle and was later murdered in the house.
* Thomas Riddle - Owner of the Riddle House from at least 1926 until 1944.
* Mary Riddle - Wife of Thomas who lived at the house for at least the same amount of time.
* Tom Riddle - The only child of Thomas and Mary.
* Dot - villager who thought Frank Bryce was the true
* Riddle family's cook
* Riddle family's maid
* Drinkers in the Hanged Man
* Hanged Man landlord
* Owners of Riddle House

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, Chapter 1