Tom Riddle

## Tom Marvolo Riddle

**Tom Marvolo Riddle** (31 December 1926), later known as **Lord Voldemort** or, alternatively as **You-Know-Who**, **He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named**, or the **Dark Lord**, was an English half-blood wizard considered to have been the most powerful and dangerous Dark Wizard of all time. He was amongst the greatest wizards to have ever lived, often considered to be the second most powerful wizard in history, his only superior being Albus Dumbledore. The only child and son of Tom and Merope Riddle (née Gaunt), Riddle was raised in the Muggle-run Wool's Orphanage after his father abandoned his new family on the streets of London when the potion's influence was lifted, and his mother died moments after giving birth to and naming him after his father and maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt.

## Biography

### Early Life (1926-1938)

#### The Orphanage

Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on 31 December, 1926 at Wool's Orphanage in London. His mother Merope staggered to the door of the orphanage, gave birth to Tom there, and died shortly after. Riddle grew up in the dingy orphanage, completely unaware of his wizarding heritage. Since the Muggle orphanage staff did not know anything about his mother, they did not know about his magical background. Instead, they believed that Merope was a circus worker, as Mrs Cole told Dumbledore shortly before his first meeting with Riddle. It is unknown whether or not the staff relayed this to Riddle before his first encounter with Dumbledore.

Despite his ignorance of his mother's true background, Riddle did have some grasp on his abilities beyond that of normal magical children of his same age, and an unusually high degree of control over them. He could move objects with his mind and cause them to float wherever he wished, manipulate animals and creatures as he wished, speak Parseltongue, and use his power to inflict harm on other orphans. After getting into a fight with fellow orphan Billy Stubbs, he used his powers to hang the boy's rabbit from the rafters. On one occasion, he took two other orphans, Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson, into a cave, where he performed an act so horrifying that the two orphans were traumatised into silence. Afterwards, he may have told them, in some means, not to tell anyone what happened in the cave. Riddle also stole from other orphans and hid their things in his cupboard like trophies.

#### Discovery of Being a Wizard

When Riddle was eleven, Dumbledore, who at the time was the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, talked to Mrs Cole, who informed him of how unusual the boy was, sharing tales of his extraordinary influence over the other children. When Dumbledore was at last introduced to the boy, Riddle at first believed him to be a doctor or psychiatrist of some sort, coming to take him to an asylum because of what the staff had seen. He was convinced after Dumbledore demonstrated his power by using a Flame-Freezing Charm on Riddle's cupboard and revealed that Hogwarts was a school for people with magic, whereupon Riddle realised that was what his abilities were.

Tom also mentioned his proficiency for Parseltongue in this same meeting, asking if it was a common gift amongst wizards, to which Dumbledore gave no reply. Dumbledore also admonished Riddle for stealing from others and made him return the items with his apologies. He also warned Riddle to stop his misbehaviour, as Hogwarts had an honour code whereupon lying, cheating and stealing were not tolerated.

At a very early age, it was clear that Riddle displayed a desire to be different and set apart from others (as it was hinted when he mentioned his dislike of his own name, because it was such a common name).

Riddle was not surprised upon being informed by Dumbledore that he was a wizard — he was, in fact, eager to believe that he had special gifts that no one else had. Riddle also showed an eminent fear of death, considering it a human weakness. He claimed that his mother could not have been a witch, because if she was magical, then she would have been able to avoid dying, and thought his father was a wizard. He asked if his father was an alumnus of Hogwarts, to which Dumbledore said he did not know offhand.

Riddle's abuse of his wizarding powers alarmed Albus. He resolved to keep a close eye on him, something he should have done in any case, seeing as he was "*alone and friendless*". Dumbledore also warned Riddle that at Hogwarts he would be introduced to the laws that controlled the usage of magic in the wizarding world, and that law-breakers were punished with severity not by Hogwarts but the Ministry of Magic. Riddle's demeanour changed after Dumbledore reprimanded him; he became more guarded and shielded his reactions. Dumbledore provided Riddle with enough information to find Diagon Alley and Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. He also provided Riddle with a stipend from school funds so that he could purchase his books and equipment.

Travelling on his own to Diagon Alley, Riddle bought some second-hand robes and spell books for himself, along with his wand, which was thirteen-and-a-half inches, made of yew with a phoenix feather core from Ollivanders. Little did Riddle know that very wand would, in the future, share the same wand core as Harry Potter. Garrick Ollivander later said that the wand was very powerful; Voldemort was very pleased with it until the wand failed him during his confrontation with Harry Potter in the Little Hangleton graveyard.

### Hogwarts Years (1938-1945)

Riddle was educated at Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945, and was sorted into Slytherin House, a nod to his ancestor Salazar Slytherin. During summer breaks, he was forced to return to the Muggle orphanage, which he despised and dreaded more than any other place on earth.

Riddle described the way he was seen as "*poor, but brilliant, parent-less, but so brave, a school prefect, a model student*"*.* Due to his exceptional acting abilities and handsome looks, he was able to convince virtually all of the Hogwarts staff and instructors that this facade was his true personality. The sole exception to this was Dumbledore, who, though not necessarily suspicious of Riddle, never forgot about his misdeeds at the orphanage, nor his unsettling behaviour during their first meeting. In turn, Riddle realised that he had been careless in showing Dumbledore his true character upon their first meeting, and never attempted to win him over as he had with his other instructors. In time, he came to fear and despise Dumbledore.

Over time, Riddle gathered to himself a gang of Slytherin thugs, a motley composition of "*the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty*"*,* most of which would become the first Death Eaters. Riddle claimed they were his friends, and made it appear so in public, but in truth, they amounted to little more than servants, and he cared almost nothing for them. He often manipulated them into committing petty crimes and other misdeeds, but none of these incidents were reliably traced back to the group.

#### Opening The Chamber of Secrets

*Main Article: "Plot to Open the Chamber of Secrets"*
Upon arriving at Hogwarts, Riddle became obsessed with his heritage and began researching it with an insatiable hunger. He focused solely on the identity of his father, thinking him to be the magical parent, as he felt his mother could not have been a witch if she had died. He searched for his father's name in the school trophy room, in the records of Hogwarts prefects and in records of wizarding history, but found nothing to suggest his father had even attended Hogwarts. He was eventually forced to accept that his father was the Muggle parent, and that his mother was the magical one. It was around this time that Riddle gave himself the alias "Lord Voldemort", to spare himself of the reminder of his "*filthy Muggle father*".

Using his middle name, Marvolo, which was taken from his maternal grandfather, Riddle discovered his mother's heritage and the Gaunts' bloodline connection with Salazar Slytherin. Once Riddle learned of his ancestry, it was not long before he discovered the existence of the Chamber of Secrets under Hogwarts, during his fifth year, and tamed the Basilisk which dwelt within. As the Heir of Slytherin through his mother's family, Tom was able to open the Chamber Slytherin had left behind in order to "*purge the school of all those who [were] unworthy to study magic*" — in Riddle's and Slytherin's eyes, Muggle-borns.

Around 13 June, 1943, the Basilisk petrified many at Hogwarts, with its last victim being a student named Myrtle Warren, who was killed in the girls' bathroom when she saw the Basilisk's yellow eyes. In light of this incident, the Hogwarts Board of Governors decided that Hogwarts was to be closed. During that year, Riddle made a special request that Headmaster Armando Dippet would allow him to stay at school over the summer break. However, Dippet informed him of the governors' decision, and denied his request.

Realizing that the Chamber would need to be closed and the culprit caught in order to keep the school open (and not have to return permanently to the orphanage), Riddle framed fellow student Rubeus Hagrid and his pet Acromantula, Aragog. He convinced Dippet that Aragog was the monster that had terrorized the school. He also noted that Hagrid was keeping a dangerous pet, though this was shallow hypocrisy considering the monster he commanded. Hagrid was expelled, and Riddle ironically received an engraved trophy for Special Services to the School.

Dumbledore, who did not believe that Hagrid was responsible for the killing, managed to arrange for him to be kept on as Hogwarts's groundskeeper. Distrusting Riddle, Dumbledore kept an "annoyingly close" watch on him after that. Due to this, Riddle realised that he would not be able to risk opening the Chamber while still a student. As such, he would use this murder to eventually preserve a part of his soul within his own school diary, the very first of his seven Horcruxes, hoping it would one day lead someone to finish Salazar Slytherin's "noble work".

#### Murder of the Riddle Family

*Main Article: "Murder of the Riddle Family"*

Around August 1943, Riddle went to Little Hangleton to learn about his mother's family. While at the Gaunt Shack, he met his uncle Morfin Gaunt, with whom he was far from impressed. Morfin mentioned offhandedly at one point during this meeting that he thought that Tom looked "*mighty like that Muggle*", Merope's husband, Tom Riddle Snr. Riddle immediately demanded the identity of the Muggle in question, and Morfin told Riddle the story of his Muggle father, which infuriated Tom to the point of seeking revenge. Riddle stunned Morfin and took his wand, went over to the Riddle House and, using his uncle's wand, murdered his father, grandfather, and grandmother with the Killing Curse.

Riddle covered up his crimes by altering Morfin's memory, causing him to believe that he was the killer. When the Ministry of Magic investigated the crime, Morfin, who had previously served three years in Azkaban for using magic in front of and against Muggles, freely admitted to the deed and was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban. Tom took the Gaunt family's signet ring from Morfin and later on would preserve another part of his soul within it to make his second Horcrux, wearing it like a trophy at Hogwarts.

#### Learning of Horcruxes

During his sixth year, Riddle questioned Professor Slughorn, who was taken in by Riddle's charisma, about the possibility of creating more than one Horcrux, something Slughorn felt deeply ashamed of in later years. In his mid-teen years, Riddle already sought to make himself immortal; being unable to find any recorded information on creating multiple Horcruxes. He wanted to split his soul into seven, as this is the most powerful magical number, and asked the experienced and knowledgeable Slughorn for an opinion before attempting this unknown feat. Slughorn answered all of Riddle's questions under the belief it was merely academic curiosity but was deeply horrified at the thought of creating multiple Horcruxes.

Riddle succeeded in doing so at some point during this year, creating his first Horcrux in the form of the aforementioned diary and his second in the form of the inherited ring. During Riddle's seventh year at Hogwarts, he was made Head Boy, earned outstanding marks in every examination he took, and received a Medal for Magical Merit. Riddle was regarded as one of the most brilliant students ever to attend Hogwarts, a fact admitted by Dumbledore himself.

### After Hogwarts (1945-1949)

After graduating, Riddle immediately approached Dippet and asked him for a chance to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, and to remain at Hogwarts, for reasons that he did not confide with the then-headmaster — Hogwarts being his true home at heart, using the influential position as a teacher to recruit students into his future army, and to continue to learn the castle's magical secrets. Dippet rejected this offer, deeming the boy too young, but invited Riddle to reapply in a few years, if he was still interested in the post, something that Dumbledore heavily advised against.

Shortly before leaving Hogwarts, however, Riddle charmed Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw and the ghost of Ravenclaw House, into telling him the location of her mother's diadem, which she revealed as a hollow tree deep within a far-flung forest in Albania. He presumably travelled there at her instruction, murdering an Albanian peasant along the way before retrieving the diadem, which he later preserved a third part of his soul within to make his third Horcrux.

Upon his return to Britain, Riddle was offered several positions in the Ministry of Magic, but ended up working at Borgin and Burkes, to the disappointment and surprise of many. Riddle set to persuading witches and wizards to part with their valuable magical heirlooms — a job at which he was very good.

### The Rise of the Dark Lord (1950-1970)

#### Murdering Hepzibah Smith

While working at Borgin and Burkes, Riddle befriended Hepzibah Smith, a wealthy but elderly descendant of Helga Hufflepuff. Between 1955 and 1961, Hepzibah showed Riddle her two most valuable treasures: his ancestor's locket and her ancestor's cup. Tom's eyes flashed red with avarice upon seeing these objects, seeing the locket to be rightfully his as Slytherin's heir and the cup as a reminder of Hogwarts, as well as a priceless artefact.

Riddle murdered Hepzibah, by using a "little known poison", to steal these coveted objects and vanished without a trace. He again covered his tracks well by implanting another false memory into an innocent bystander — Hokey, Hepzibah's house-elf. Hokey admitted to accidentally putting poison into Hepzibah's cocoa, which was believed, as Hokey was elderly herself. Meanwhile, Riddle immediately resigned his post at Borgin and Burkes and fled with the cup and locket, subsequently turning them into two more Horcruxes using the murders of Hepzibah and an unidentified Muggle tramp.

#### Lord Voldemort's request

Riddle disappeared for ten long years. He slipped deeper into the Dark Arts, travelled extensively, consorted with disreputable people, began to become distorted in appearance and lose his handsomeness due to splitting his soul so many times, and began to use the alias "Lord Voldemort" openly. He also severed contact with Slughorn, who became upset for not living up to the Potions Master's employment offers.

Ten years after Hepzibah Smith's murder, Riddle appealed once more to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, now Albus Dumbledore, for the position of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. After a short, superficially amiable chat, Dumbledore directly confronted Riddle regarding why he had requested the position, as he knew full well that Riddle had no desire whatsoever to teach. Riddle, unable to make an open request of Dumbledore due to the malicious nature of his true intentions, simply left after a final, gentle rebuke from his former teacher. From that day on, Hogwarts was never able to keep a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year, which was attributed by Dumbledore to a curse by Riddle. The visit to Hogwarts was not fruitless, however, for Riddle used the opportunity to hide the diadem in the Room of Requirement, where he believed it would never be found.

Voldemort, as Riddle was now exclusively called, spent the next few years before the British Wizarding Civil War gathering followers in witches and wizards who called themselves, collectively, Death Eaters. Some were supportive of his cause to dominate Muggles and Muggle-borns; while others were greedy for domination, wealth and fame; and yet others joined the Dark Lord out of fear. Voldemort considered them more like servants than friends or family. According to Sirius Black, Voldemort also used tricks, jinxes, and blackmail to get people to willingly join him.

At some point around this time, Voldemort greatly enhanced his skills in Legilimency, to the point that Snape claimed he was the most accomplished Legilimens the world had ever seen. Voldemort could read, control and unhinge the minds of others, and could almost always tell when he was being lied to. According to Severus Snape, Voldemort often enjoyed telepathically invading the minds of others, creating visions designed to torture them into madness. Only after extracting the last exquisite ounce of agony, only when he had them literally begging for death, would he finally kill them.

### British Wizarding Civil War (1970-1981)

*Main Article: "British Wizarding Civil War (1970-1981)"*

In 1970, Voldemort started the British Wizarding Civil War by taking advantage of one of the wizarding world's greatest weaknesses: the beings and creatures that they had outcast. The Dark Lord recruited the giants, who had long ago been driven by Wizardkind into the mountains, and werewolves, who were persecuted by most witches and wizards. Many feared the goblins would also join him, as they were restricted from wand use, but it never happened. In fact, Voldemort murdered a family of goblins near Nottingham at some point during the War, for an unknown reason (possibly anger at the neutrality of the goblins, or no reason at all). Voldemort's army caused widespread destruction and mayhem during the war.

Bartemius Crouch Snr, who was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the time and was known for his fanatical hatred of the Dark Arts, issued an edict that gave Aurors authorization to use Unforgivable Curses on Death Eaters without warning, and suspects were sometimes handed over to the Dementors without a Wizengamot trial. Many innocent people were locked away. Due to the atrocities committed by the Death Eaters and Voldemort, and his terrifying persona, people were even afraid to speak his name, and he was referred to as *"You-Know-Who"* or *"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named".*

Under the staunch protection of Dumbledore, the only person Voldemort truly feared, Hogwarts remained a safe place of learning throughout the entire war. The Order of the Phoenix was created by Dumbledore at this time to fight against Voldemort. The war itself lasted for eleven long years.

#### Visiting the Lee Family

Eventually, Lord Voldemort visited the home of the father of Barnaby Lee. Mr Lee told his son he was capable of anything if he could become as strong as the Dark Lord, showing faith in his master. He later drowned Barnaby's pet Kneazle.

#### Testing his Horcrux's Defences

In 1979, Voldemort decided to test the defences around his Horcruxes. He placed Slytherin's locket in the crystal cave, and asked Regulus Black, a loyal 18-year-old Death Eater to lend him his house-elf, Kreacher. Voldemort took the elf with him to the cave, forced him to drink the Emerald Potion, and left him to die on the Crystal Cave Island. Kreacher was able to escape using house-elf magic, and told Regulus of what had happened. Over the years, Voldemort created an army of Inferi from the people he had killed to further strengthen his defences. Upon hearing Kreacher's story, Regulus, who had already been somewhat uncomfortable with the reality of being a Death Eater, decided to defect.

From clues left behind by Voldemort, he deduced that his master had created a Horcrux in order to become immortal. He took a duplicate locket and placed a note inside for Voldemort to find, then ordered Kreacher to take him to where the real locket was hidden. Kreacher guided Regulus past the cave's defences. At the island, with the basin of potion containing the locket, Regulus ordered Kreacher to take it once the potion was gone and replace it with the fake one, then escape without him and find a way to destroy the Horcrux. Regulus drank the potion himself, and when he tried to get water from the lake to quench his thirst, he was dragged to his death by the Inferi. Kreacher obeyed his master's orders and switched the lockets before escaping. However, despite his best efforts, he was unable to destroy the Horcrux.

During this time, Voldemort gave his old diary to Lucius Malfoy, his loyal Death Eater, and ordered him to hide it. Malfoy kept it safe in his manor, but the Dark Lord never told him that the diary contained a fragment of his soul. Voldemort informed him only that the diary was cleverly charmed and smuggling it into Hogwarts will cause the reopening of the legendary Chamber of Secrets and send the Basilisk living inside the chamber to finish Slytherin's idea of cleansing the school of all Muggle-borns, thus proving that Voldemort was Slytherin's true heir.

Voldemort also left the Hufflepuff's cup in the care of Bellatrix Lestrange, another one of his loyal Death Eaters. Bellatrix, much like her brother-in-law Lucius, was ordered to hide it, so she stored it in her family vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, which was considered to be impossible to plunder. She treated the object with extreme priority, although Voldermort hadn't informed her that the cup was a Horcrux. The cup was protected by the bank's extensive security measures, but Lestrange casted some protective curses on it, like a spell which would cause any object to multiply exponentially if touched by anyone other than the vault's owners or to cause the object itself to glow hot as fire and burn the flesh of anyone trying to remove it without authorisation.

Probably during this time he returned Gaunt's ring to the Gaunt shack. He placed the ring inside a golden box and hid it beneath the shack's rotting floorboard, setting up many protective enchantments to deter outsiders from entering the shack and finding the ring. He also placed a powerful curse on the ring as well, one that would quickly lead to the death of the ring's wearer if not stemmed.

#### The Prophecy

Ten years into the war, when Voldemort was at the height of his dominion, a prophecy was given by Sybill Trelawney to Albus Dumbledore which predicted the fall of the Dark Lord. This prophecy was given in the Hog's Head Inn during an interview for the position of Professor of Divination. This prophecy was overheard by Death Eater and informant Severus Snape. According to Dumbledore, Snape only heard half of the prophecy and was then thrown out by the barman, Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus' brother. He relayed to Voldemort what he had heard, not realising that he had missed an important part of the message.

Trelawney's description of the night's events was a bit different however, as she stated that after feeling "ill", Aberforth burst into the room with Snape in tow, whom he had caught eavesdropping at the door. This is in contrast with Dumbledore's description of events. However, this may be due to the fact that Dumbledore had wished to conceal the identity of the spy from Harry, and told him a simplified version of the events. In any case, Voldemort received only the first part of the prophecy. Feeling threatened, he sprang into action to prevent the fulfilment of the prophecy.

There were, at the time, two babies to whom the prophecy could have referred — Harry Potter, the half-blood son of James and Lily Potter; and Neville Longbottom, the pure-blood son of Frank and Alice Longbottom. Both families had sought to thwart Voldemort three times, and both families were members of the Order of the Phoenix. Both children in question were born at the end of the seventh month, July. Voldemort chose to target Harry instead of Neville; Dumbledore suspected this was because Harry shared a similar family heritage with Voldemort, both of them being half-bloods.

#### First Fall From Grace

Some time after Harry's birth, Peter Pettigrew, member of the Order of the Phoenix and the Potter's Secret Keeper began working as a Death Eater for Voldemort. On 31 October 1981 he told Voldemort of their location. The Dark Lord travelled to the Godric's Hollow and with the Potter's Fidelius Charm broken, he simply walked into their home. Once inside he fought to murder James and Lily, who were both knocked out in sacrifice. However, when he used the Killing Curse on Harry, it rebounded and seemingly obliterated his body. This happened because Lily lovingly sacrificed herself to protect her son, creating a powerful defence of ancient magic around Harry which protected him for many years. After eleven years of domination and warfare, Voldemort was defeated for the first time.

It was at this point that Voldemort's next Horcrux was unknowingly created. Years of experimentation, murder, and deliberately ripping apart his soul into so many Horcruxes had rendered the remainder of his soul so unstable that, when his body was destroyed, a small shard of his soul broke apart from the rest and latched onto the only other living being in what remained of the room: Harry Potter himself. The soul shard latched onto Harry's own soul, granting him some of the Dark Lord's own powers and providing him with a latent connection to Voldemort's own mind. Ironically, Harry became the Dark Lord's sixth Horcrux, the desired number Voldemort wanted in order to split his soul into seven pieces. What remained of Voldemort's mangled soul swiftly escaped from the ruins of the house that same night.