Riddle House

> "*It stood on a hill overlooking the village, some of its windows boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading unchecked over its face. Once a fine-looking manor, and easily the largest and grandest building for miles around, the Riddle House was now damp, derelict, and unoccupied.*"
> ― Description of the manor house[source]
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The **Riddle House** was a manor house in Little Hangleton that was home to Thomas, Mary, and Tom Riddle Senior (Lord Voldemort's paternal family). Their mansion was perched atop a hill overlooking the village. Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort) murdered his grandparents and father in the Riddle House in 1943.

## History

### Early history

> "*Across the valley, set on the opposite hillside, was a handsome manor house surrounded by a wide expanse of velvety green lawn*"
> ― Harry Potter seeing the Riddle House in the Pensieve[source]
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The Riddles were a wealthy Muggle family who owned over half the valley where Little Hangleton lay. They were known to be haughty and pretentious snobs who were widely disliked by the other villagers, though they engaged with them enough to gossip about the Gaunts, who lived in a rundown shack just outside the village.

Tom Riddle Snr used to pass by the Gaunt Shack on his horse, sometimes with his companion Cecilia, and was watched by an infatuated Merope Gaunt. When her brother Morfin discovered this, he hexed Riddle with hives. After Morfin and Marvolo Gaunt were imprisoned in Azkaban, Merope made a romantic and magical play for Riddle by using a Love Potion to obtain his affection. Their marriage caused great scandal in Little Hangleton, and they left for London. Once the effects of the potion wore off on him, Tom soon returned to the Riddle House, however, having abandoned his wife and unborn child, Tom Marvolo Riddle. He claimed he had been "taken in" by Merope, and lived in the house with his parents for roughly sixteen more years.

### The Riddle Murders

#### Revenge

*Main article: Murder of the Riddle family*

> "*Voldemort Stupefied his uncle, took his wand, and proceeded across the valley to 'the big house over the way.' There he murdered the Muggle man who had abandoned his witch mother, and, for good measure, his Muggle grandparents, thus obliterating the last of the unworthy Riddle line and revenging himself upon the father who never wanted him.*"
> ― Description of the Riddle murders[source]
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In the summer of 1943, sixteen-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle, whose mother had died shortly after giving birth, came to Little Hangleton in search of his family. Riddle visited the Gaunt Shack and found his maternal uncle, Morfin Gaunt, living in deplorable conditions. Morfin immediately mistook Riddle for his father, Tom Riddle Snr, saying that he looked very much like "*that Muggle that married my sister*".

Upon learning of Riddle Snr's actions toward his mother and himself, Riddle stunned his uncle, took his wand, and proceeded to "*the big house over the way*" that Morfin had told him about to confront his father with murder in his heart. Frank Bryce, the gardener of the Riddle House, was the only witness to seeing Riddle climbing up the hill. He entered, using a simple Unlocking Charm to open the door.

Once inside, Riddle found his father and his grandparents in their drawing room, and murdered all three with the Killing Curse. It is unknown if any words were exchanged between them, although it seems likely. The Riddles were found with terrified looks frozen on their faces, and Riddle later informed Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets that his father had left his mother because he had found out that she was in fact a witch, implying that they discussed these matters before Riddle murdered his paternal family members. Their bodies were later discovered by a maid who walked into the room, thus alerting the entire town.

#### Framing of Morfin Gaunt

The gardener of the house, Frank Bryce, was wrongly and maliciously accused of the Riddle murders by the Muggle authorities, since the door had not been forced open and he was the only one with a key. The police could determine neither the cause of death (as the Killing Curse causes no bodily injury and leaves no trace) nor Bryce's motive though, and Bryce was released. The Ministry of Magic, however, realised immediately that it was a wizard's murder and immediately suspected Morfin Gaunt, who had previously been imprisoned for using dark magic against Muggles, including Tom Riddle Snr. Morfin testified proudly that he had killed the Riddles and had been awaiting his chance for some time, and his wand was found to have been the murder weapon. He was given a life sentence in Azkaban.

In reality, his nephew had modified Morfin's memory so that he would confess to the crime and there would be no further investigation into the matter, which was arguably a risky move as suspects in serious crimes are investigated for the likelihood of being duped through Memory Charms. A combination of sloppy Wizard police work and Morfin's criminal record led the Ministry to believe the confession was sufficient. Riddle escaped Little Hangleton with Marvolo Gaunt's Ring and without suspicion. Albus Dumbledore would later discover the truth, but it was too late for Morfin, who died in Azkaban prison.

#### Aftermath

> "*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.*"
> ― After a maid finds the bodies of the Riddle family[source]
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Over the years, the house fell into great disrepair, and few people wanted to actually live in the house due to its dark history. Frank Bryce was kept on by the house's owners to do the gardening and to tend the grounds of the vast estate, and Bryce continued to live on the grounds for over fifty years. Bryce kept the external grounds in fine condition, although the interior of the house wanted fixing. Frank Bryce rarely went inside the manor as he was not qualified to do home repairs. Bryce also dealt with constant problems from undisciplined Muggle children, who would ride bicycles on the property without permission in order to mock the "strange old man" and ruin the lawn work Bryce had exerted himself to care for. Although most boys and girls in Little Hangleton gave their word to their parents to stay away from the manor, a few would actually venture inside the Riddle House, either out of curiosity or a test of bravado.

By 1994, the house was owned by a very wealthy man, officially for "tax reasons," although no one in Little Hangleton knew what the real reasons were. Still, like many before him, he never showed any inclination to physically occupy the house.

### Use by Lord Voldemort

**Wormtail**: "*My Lord, may I ask how long are we going to stay here?*"
**Voldemort**: "*A week. Perhaps longer. This place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is over.*"
— Lord Voldemort and Wormtail in the Riddle House, discussing their plans[src]

In August of 1994, Lord Voldemort returned to the house with his servant, Peter Pettigrew, and decided to use it as his base of operations during the Triwizard Tournament. Frank Bryce saw a light coming from within the house late one night. Thinking it was children breaking into the house to set it on fire, Bryce took his keys and travelled up the hill to the Riddle House. Upon entering and climbing to its second level, he saw, to his surprise, that the fire was lit safely in the grate, and he overheard Voldemort's conspiracy. He had no way of knowing that on the other side of the wall sat the true murderer of the Riddle family and the man responsible for all distrusting him in the village of Little Hangleton, nor that this was the "dark-haired boy" he himself had seen climbing toward the Riddle House that terrible day over half a century ago.

Bryce was soon discovered by Nagini and subsequently was "invited" into the room by Peter Pettigrew on the orders of Lord Voldemort. After a short conversation, Bryce demanded that Voldemort turn around from the fireplace and face him "like a man," to which Voldemort replied that he was "much more than a man" and agreed to turn around, requesting Pettigrew to turn the chair he was sitting in around to face Bryce. When this was done, Bryce let out a horrified scream when he saw Voldemort's sickly, rudimentary body, and his scream continued even after Voldemort raised his wand and used the Killing Curse.

Upon going to the Crouch family household to set Bartemius Crouch Junior free from his father's Imperius Curse while in turn subjugating the latter, Voldemort then returned to the Riddle House to bide his time for the plan to proceed. When Pettigrew neglected his duty and allowed Crouch Snr to escape, Voldemort sent Crouch Jnr a message via a hawk to stop his father at all cost. Upon success, Junior sent a message back to the Riddle House to report to Voldemort, who used the Cruciatus Curse to torture Pettigrew as punishment for this near-ruination of their plan.

In June of 1995, Voldemort pointed the house out to Harry Potter, whom he had trapped in the Little Hangleton graveyard, saying that his father and his family had once lived in "that house on the hill." After Harry escaped their duel and returned to Hogwarts, Voldemort ceased using the decaying estate as a hideout and subsequently left it. While the fate of the Riddle House was left unknown, Voldemort later made Malfoy Manor his new headquarters.

## Description and Layout

> "*He let himself in to the cavernous kitchen. Frank has not entered in for many years; nevertheless, although it was very dark, he remembered where the hall was, and he groped his way towards it, his nostrils full of the smell of decay, ears pricked for any sound of footsteps or voices from overhead. He reached the hall, which was a little lighter owing to the large mullioned windows on either side of the front door, and started to climb the stairs, blessing the dust that lay thick upon the stone, because it muffled the sound of his feet and stick.*"
> ― Frank Bryce's description as he entered the Riddle House[source]
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### Exterior

   The Riddle House was a fine manor, built onto a hill that gave an overlooking view of the village. After the Riddles were all murdered, the Riddle House turned into disrepair. Many of the tiles were missing, the grounds were overgrown, and many of the windows were boarded up.

### Interior

After the murder of the Riddles, the manor was dark, unused and undisturbed. The back door, which connected to the gardens, led to the massive kitchen that opened up to the foyer. When Frank Bryce entered the house, thinking that there were intruders, he went up the stone steps and turned to the corridor, and there would be a door at the end of the passageway, which would be the drawing room. Despite the home being greatly in need of renovation, it was described as "moderately comfortable" by Lord Voldemort during his stay. The Riddle House was described as creepy by the villagers of Little Hangelton. The main reason the House was considered creepy was because it remained deserted for 51 years.

#### The Drawing Room

The drawing room of the Riddle House was the infamous room in which a maid found all three Riddles dead. When Voldemort was taken inside the house, undetected by Muggles or wizards, he stayed inside the drawing room. When Frank entered the house, the drawing room contained a fireplace, a rug and the armchair that Voldemort sat upon. It was also where Frank met his demise at the hands of the same murderer.