Riddle Family

"*Nobody wasted their breath pretending to feel very sad about the Riddles, for they had been most unpopular. Elderly Mr and Mrs Riddle had been rich, snobbish, and rude, and their grown-up son, Tom, had been, if anything, worse."*

— Little Hangleton inhabitants regarding the Riddles and their murders

**Riddle** was the surname of a wealthy Muggle family that lived in a manor house overlooking the village of Little Hangleton, of which they owned a great deal of. They lived fairly close to the wizarding House of Gaunt. They were murdered in 1943 by Tom Marvolo Riddle.

## Family history

The Riddle family was a very old Muggle family who had been established in the area around the Hangleton villages for quite some time. The family was very wealthy and owned much of the village of Little Hangleton, ruling over their lands from the handsome and large Riddle House. However, later members were known to be snobbish, arrogant and rude. By 1943, the members of the Riddle family were generally disliked if not outright hated by the villagers that lived in the area. They were also hated by the members of the House of Gaunt, an ancient pure-blood wizarding family; the Gaunts loathed Muggles on principle, but the Riddles didn't endear themselves to the Gaunts by constantly mocking their poverty and mental instability.

### Tom and Merope elope

"*The village of Little Hangleton enjoyed a tremendous scandal. You can imagine the gossip it caused when the squire's son ran off with the tramp's daughter, Merope.*"

— Explanation on how Merope was able to bewitch Tom Riddle

Around 1925, Tom Riddle Sr had a possible lover by the name of Cecilia. Also around this time, Merope Gaunt began to have obsessive romantic feelings for him. When Morfin Gaunt discovered this, he cursed Tom with hives. He did this in order to make him less appealing to his sister, as well as the general hatred of Muggles that he had.

The Gaunt men were arrested by the Ministry and were sentenced to a period in Azkaban. Afterwards, Merope dosed Tom with Love Potion (it was formerly believed she cast the Imperius Curse on him), thereby forcing him to marry her. The scandal that erupted in the area was quite humiliating for the Riddles, though presumably delighted the villagers who despised them.

When Merope became pregnant, she ceased bewitching Tom, believing that he had come to genuinely love her, or would at least stay with her for the benefit of their child. Unfortunately, neither proved true; upon regaining his free will, Tom, having felt like he awoke from a nightmare, fled from Merope and returned to his family home. What reception he received was unknown, though his parents at least seemed to believe his tales that he'd been hoodwinked by Merope. Tom never spoke of the truthful circumstances for fear of being thought mad. Merope, alone in London, managed to find Wool's Orphanage, where she gave birth to a son. Shortly thereafter, Merope died due to childbirth complications, having lost the will to live. Before her death, she asked that the baby be named Tom Marvolo Riddle, for his father and grandfather.

The younger Tom then spent the first eleven years of his life in the orphanage, completely unaware of the existence of the Wizarding world, although unusually aware of his magical ability for a child not born in it. In 1938, Riddle's future enemy Albus Dumbledore visited the orphanage to inform Riddle of the latter's acceptance into Hogwarts. Immediately after this, Riddle became convinced that his father was a Wizard and that his mother was a Muggle out of the belief that the latter could not have died if she was a witch.

Upon entering the school, Riddle became concerned with learning about his heritage and began painstaking research on his father's name before eventually realising that he had never set foot in Hogwarts. After being forced to accept that his father was a Muggle and his mother a witch, Voldemort began to detest his given name. With only his middle name "Marvolo" to go on, which he knew from the orphanage was his maternal grandfather's name, Tom began researching through old book of wizarding families and learned of the surviving Gaunt line. After learning of his descent from Hogwarts co-founder Salazar Slytherin, Riddle became interested in pure-blood supremacy and the Dark Arts. In particular, Riddle became obsessed with immortality and the creation of Horcruxes. In the summer of his sixteenth year, set out for Little Hangleton to find his relatives. This would provide an unstable mixture for Riddle's adult personality and led to terrible events that would shape the history of the wizarding world for decades to come.

### Family's Murder

*Main article: Murder of the Riddle family*

"*Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, a maid was running along the High Street, screaming that there were three bodies lying in the drawing room of the big house: Tom Riddle Senior and his mother and father.*"

— A maid finds the bodies of the Riddle family

In the summer of 1943, Tom Riddle visited the village of Little Hangleton after tracing the source of his middle name. He first stopped at the Gaunt Shack, finding his maternal uncle Morfin Gaunt, who had long been released from Azkaban. Morfin, upon seeing his nephew, threatened him with a knife and wand, believing the boy to be his father. Riddle did not disclose his identity during this meeting, but spoke Parseltongue to convince Morfin that he was not a Muggle. The two then discussed the whereabouts of Marvolo Gaunt (who had died years before), the elder Riddle, and Merope Gaunt. When Morfin revealed to Riddle who Riddle's paternal family was, Riddle Stupefied his uncle and stole his wand and the Gaunt ring.

Riddle then proceeded to the Riddle House and found his father, grandfather, and grandmother in the drawing room. the youngest Riddle used his uncle's wand to cast the Killing Curse on his father and grandparents. Riddle then returned to the Gaunt Shack and altered Morfin's memory, causing Gaunt to believe *himself* to be the murderer. He confessed as much to the investigating Ministry, who did not bother to investigate further since Morfin had a previous history of assaulting Muggles, including the late Tom, and Morfin's wand had committed the murders. Morfin was carted off to serve a life sentence in Azkaban.

#### Post-mortem

"*A team of doctors had examined the bodies and had concluded that none of the Riddles had been poisoned, stabbed, shot, strangled, suffocated, or (as far as they could tell) harmed at all. In fact (the report continued, in a tone of unmistakable bewilderment), the Riddles all appeared to be in prefect health — apart from the fact that they were all dead. The doctors did note (as though determined to find something wrong with the bodies) that each of the Riddles had a look of terror upon his or her face — but as the frustrated police said, whoever heard of three people being frightened to death?*"

— Muggles commenting on the unusual deaths of the Riddles

The murdered Riddles were discovered the next day by a maid in their employ, who ran screaming from the premises and roused the entire village. The Riddle gardener and subsequent caretaker, Frank Bryce, was accused of the murders since the house showed no sign of forced entry and he was the only one with a key. However, the postmortem on the Riddles was unable to determine the cause of death (the Killing Curse leaving no discernible effect) and the police were forced to release Frank, though the villagers remained convinced of his guilt from then on. As for the Riddles themselves, they were laid to rest in the Little Hangleton graveyard, though nobody bothered to even feign sadness at their demise since they had been most unpopular, and the Riddle House was passed through a succession of ownerships before being abandoned, the murders having left a stain on the property's history.

Tom Marvolo Riddle soon abandoned the name of his "*filthy Muggle father*", instead using an anagram to declare himself Lord Voldemort. Tom managed to sire sons, Enoch, Milo, Nathair, Thomas, Luka, Demian, Coriolanus, Knight and Toya as well as daughters named Theodosia, Vitani, Shetani, Asteria and Elizabeth also adopting two boys named Deimos and Michael, with his wife Minerva McGonagall, thus allowing the Riddle, Slytherin and Gaunt families to survive.

## Family members

### Thomas Riddle

Mary Riddle's Muggle husband and Tom Riddle Sr's father. Murdered by his grandson in 1943.

### Mary Riddle

The Muggle wife of Thomas Riddle and the mother of Tom Riddle Sr. Murdered by her grandson in 1943.

### Tom Riddle Sr

The Muggle son of Thomas and Mary Riddle. He was married to a witch, Merope Gaunt, under the influence of a Love Potion. He had a son, who murdered him in 1943.

### Merope Riddle (née Gaunt)

The abandoned pure-blood wife of Tom Riddle Sr, whom she married because Tom was under the effects of a Love Potion. She died during childbirth on New Year's Eve in 1926.

### Tom Marvolo Riddle

The half-blood son of Tom Riddle Sr and Merope Gaunt. He later became the most feared Dark Wizard in history under the pseudonym of Lord Voldemort.

### Enoch Aithan McGonagall

The Oldest Child And First-Born Son Of Tom Riddle and Minerva McGonagall. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. He proposed to muggle-born Gryffindor, Caera Bloom, After Five Years Of Dating.

### Milo Gabriel McGonagall

The Twin brother of Enoch, and better known as M. G. McGonagall was a Gryffindor student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, winning an award for it in 1971. Milo's life ended in tragedy.

### Theodosia Grace McGonagall

The First-Born Daughter Of Tom Riddle and Minerva McGonagall. She attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Hufflepuff House. When she was 14 years old, she was murdered by pure-blood death eater Pyrites ultimately leading to Pyrites being killed by Voldemort in cold blood.

### Nathair Armaros McGonagall

Nathair attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. For a love of magical creatures, he went to study dragons in Romania alongside long-time best friend and classmate, Charlie Weasley. After the Second Wizarding War he married a muggle named Jazex Flamzen and had three sons named Deimos II, Phobos and Cairo. He is currently the headmaster of Durmstrang Institute.

### Thomas Reinhard McGonagall

Thomas attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. He had the magical ability of super-strength which skipped three generations of his maternal grandmother's line before passing onto him.

He died 29th May, 1993 Due To Complications Of Petrification.

### Luka Asriel Tom McGonagall

The Oldest Of The First Pair Of Quadruplets Of Lord Voldemort And Minerva McGonagall, Attended Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry From 1991–1997 And Was Placed In Slytherin House.

Luka Later Married Slytherin Pure-Blood Draco Malfoy And Had Children Called Astro Capricornus, Cosmo Luka, Salazar Septimus, Scorpius Hyperion, Serpens Sagittarius and Ophiuchus Draco.

### Demian Florian McGonagall

The Middle Of The Pair Of Quadruplets Of Lord Voldemort And Minerva McGonagall, Attended Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry From 1991–1997 And Was Placed In Gryffindor House.

Demian married French Witch Anazstasia and fathered Genevieve Rose, Océane Isobel and Rory Minerva and one son named Finlay Luka.

### Coriolanus Blaine McGonagall

The Youngest Son Of The Pair Of Quadruplets Of Lord Voldemort And Minerva McGonagall, Attended Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry From 1991–1997 And Was Placed In Slytherin House.

He was sentenced to Azkaban after The Second Wizarding War After Being Convicted of being a Death Eater. He was in a relationship with Pansy Parkinson during his youth which produced a son named Sebastiean.

### Vitani Serpentine McGonagall

The Youngest And Only Girl Of The Pair Of Quadruplets Of Lord Voldemort And Minerva McGonagall, Attended Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry From 1991–1997 And Was Placed In Slytherin House.

She had a relationship with Harry Potter that resulted in a son, Regulus Potter.

### Knight Ambrosius Marcellus McGonagall

Knight McGonagall attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. The twin of Shetani and a vampire who also can move at supersonic speeds at will. He bared the rare magical abilities from his maternal family.

### Shetani Veritas McGonagall

Shetani McGonagall attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. The twin of Knight and a vampire, She bared the rare magical ability from her maternal family.

### Toya Hitoshi Malcolm McGonagall

The Oldest Of The Second Pair Of Triplets, attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. He started working as a secretary for Harry Potter In The Ministry Of Magic After He Graduated.

### Asteria Poppy Delphini McGonagall

The Second Of The Second Pair Of Triplets, attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. She had the magical ability of super-strength which skipped three generations of her maternal grandmother's line before passing onto her. She began working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic.

### Elizabeth Skipper Merope McGonagall

The Youngest Child And The Twin Sister Of Asteria And Toya, She was never able to attend Hogwarts as a student but did reside there. She Died On The 30th May, 1989 Due To Complications Of An Obscurus.

### Deimos Phobos McGonagall

Deimos was the adopted son of Minerva McGonagall and Tom Riddle. He was a Gryffindor student at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry and died fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts.

### Michael James Cairo McGonagall

Michael McGonagall, the adopted son of Minerva McGonagall and Tom Riddle and an Auror. He attended Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Slytherin. He fathered a son named Michael McGonagall Jr.

## Etymology

A riddle is a statement or question with a double or veiled meaning, and they were very common to Old English literature and poetry. This may also be in reference due to the fact that the Riddle family died in inexplicable circumstances for the Muggles living in Little Hangelton. Riddle games also appear frequently in folklore and mythology as a matter of life and death, such as in the tale of Oedipus and the Sphinx and in the opera Turandot. The term "world riddle" was also used by philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche to encompass the idea of the meaning of life. This could all allude to the mysterious and hidden origins of Lord Voldemort, who disliked and hid his Muggle ancestry, and who was obsessed with life and death.