Tom Marvolo Riddle was an English half-blood Wizard, son to Merope Gaunt, and Tom Riddle a Muggle. The Gaunts were an ancient, and formerly wealthy, wizarding family, noted for producing individuals with violent and unstable personalities due to generations of inbreeding, direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin himself. 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.
At the age of 11 Tom was visited by Albus Dumbledore who at the time was teaching Transfiguration at the orphanage, at first he thought he was some kind of doctor or psychiatric, he only believed in what he was saying when Dumbledore used the Fire-Freezing charm on Tom’s cabinet. He told him off because of the stolen objects, and reminded him that thieves are not tolerated at Hogwarts.
Tom pointed out to Dumbledore of his skills in talking to snakes, by the way even if that was a skill often connected to Dark Wizard at the time Dumbledore didn’t suspected anything. Aside the other children, Tom immediately develops a charm for everything that’s uncommon, in fact it’s known that he disliked his name because ‘too popular’ among the muggles, when Dumbledore told him he was a Wizard he was surprised no at all, he was ravished by the idea of having something the other children didn’t have, he also started to develop such a fear towards death, a very uncommon thing if you think about his very young age, at a point he will be heard to claim his mother a ‘loser’ and ‘for sure not a which’ otherwise she would have avoid such a terrible destiny. 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 — thirteen-and-a-half inches, yew, phoenix feather core — at Ollivander’s
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. 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. Due to his exceptional acting abilities, 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. The Professor who he got closer the most was Professor Slughorn, who was the one Tom asked his questions about the Horcruxes.
He started to conduct some resource about his father about who he still have no news, he looked through all the Hogwarts records, but finding no ‘Riddle’ he was forced to accept that his father was a Muggle, and was his mother the witch of the family: this was the time when he started to make himself called Lord Voldemort. He acquired the middle name Marvel from his grand-father, and discovered that the blood line of his mother conducted directly to Salazar Slytherin, after this short after he found out about the Chamber of Secrets. Being the Heir of Slytherin he was able to open the Chamber, and started to purge the school of those who were unworthy to his eyes, so muggle-born. He manage to kill a girl who these-days infests the girl bathroom on the 2nd floor: Myrtle Warren.
After this accident he asked the headmaster Armando Dippet to stay at school for the summer break, by the way the headmaster informed him that given the recent events the school would have been closed if the one to blame haven’t been caught. Fearing that he would have to return to the orphanage, Tom framed a Gryffindor student, Rubeus Hagrid and his ‘pet’ an Acromantula. Hagrid was expelled, and his wand revoked, this awarded Tom who was a Prefect at the time, a trophy for Special Services to the School. 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 preserved 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”.
Around August 1943 Riddle went back to his family house in Little Hangleton, the Gaunt’s. Here he found out the story about his Muggle father told by his uncle Morfin, and right after with his wand brandished he went to the Riddle Manson, where he murdered his father, grandmother, and grandfather 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 from his uncle as trophy the family ring.
During the sixth year Tom started to get closer to the ritual for the creation of the Horcrux, he consulted several books even in the restricted section, though he couldn’t understand properly how to do it, so he asked Professor Slughorn to clear it out for him. The information he was more curious about was the highest possible number into which splitting a soul, his target was 7 an no book, or historical record had such number in it. Slughorn at the time answered all his questions believing it was just for academic purpose. Tom supposedly travelled there, where he killed an unlucky passant creating the Third Horcrux. 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 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. Before leaving definitely he managed to ask Helena Ravenclaw the position of the Diadem of her mother’s, persuading her that he was intentioned to destroy it. She told him it was located in a hollow tree, in a forest in Albania; He was offered several position at the Ministry of Magic, but he ended up working at Borgin and Burkes, during this time Riddle set to persuading witches and wizards to part with their valuable magical heirlooms — a job at which he was very good.
While working at Borgin and Burkes, he befriended with Hepizbah Smith, a far yet direct descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, she showed him her most valuable treasure, her ancestor’s locket, and Helga’s personal legendary cup. Tom’s eyes flashed red at the sight of those treasures, 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.
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 First Wizarding War gathering followers in witches and wizards who called themselves, collectively, Death Eaters. At some point around this time, Voldemort greatly enhanced his skills in Legilimency, to the point that he quickly earned a reputation as the greatest Legilimens alive. 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.
In 1970 Voldemort started the first Wizarding War, recruiting giants, dementors, dark creatures as Acromantulas, werewolves, and goblins; these tried to claim their right in using a wand, but they were never allowed, later Voldemort tired of their indecision killed a Goblin family near Nottingham. Voldemort caused tantrum those years, as the Ministry was forced to face many trials and had to find out who was under the Imperius spell, and who was seriously helping the Dark Lord, unfortunately many innocent people were sent to Azkaban. 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.
In 1979 Voldemort decided to test the security of his Horcruxes, so he asked Regulus Black a faithful 18 years old Death Eater to lend him his House-elf Kreacher, he went to the cave where he had hidden the Locket of Salazar Slytherin and forced the elf to drink the potion which was to guard the locket. Sure that the elf would have died he left him there and fled, but Kreacher managed to save him self with the house-elf magic, and warned his Master Regulus about the Dark Lord. Regulus understood that Voldemort was trying to reach the immortality and stole the true locket replacing it with a fake; Voldemort gave the Diary to be concealed in his Manor to Lucious Malfoy, and hid the Helga Hufflepuff’s cup into Bellatrix Lestrange‘s vault. He returned to Gaunt’s shack, 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.
Severus Snape overheard at the Hog’s Head the prophecy that Sybil Trelawney spoke during a job interview with Dumbledore, even if he managed to hear only part of it, before being thrown out by the Hog’s Head landlord: Aberforth Dumbledore. Snape immediately reported the prophecy to Voldemort, who after have it heard, decided that the baby in question was Harry Potter, son to Lily and James Potter, born at the end of the 7th month July. Dumbledore, will think that this decision was guided by the similar nature of the two, both were half-bloods. As Voldemort will state later that night he will loose his powers, due to Lily’s protection over Harry, an ancient type of white magic he had not take into consideration.
When he lost his powers he became something less than a ghost, yet still alive (thanks to the Horcrux) and went to hide in a forest in Albania, presumably the same where years back he went to collect Ravenclaw’s diadem. Here he stayed concealed, eating small creatures possessing snakes, until Quirinius Quirrel in 1991 walked by, and he managed to possess him and to return nearby Hogwarts, where he killed several Unicorns to drink their bloods to stay alive, in the attempt to collect the Philosopher Stone created by Nicholas Flames to create the Immortality Elisir.
He used this time to try to kill Harry Potter in in a Quidditch Match, and to collect information about the Philosopher Stone he knew was concealed by Albus Dumbledore. He managed to fool Hagrid after some drinks at the Hog’s Head, giving him a Dragon Head and using it as excuse to talk about Fluffly. On 4 June 1992, Voldemort ordered Quirrell to send a fake letter to Albus Dumbledore, asking him to go to the Ministry of Magic. Voldemort moved forward with his goal, moving through the security barriers to the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell saw himself presenting the stone to his master, but could not figure out how to get it. Harry Potter though along with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, managed to discover his plans (even if they first thought Snape was behind it all), and stop him.
When he failed in this first attempt he returned to Albania, and tried to act through the Diary, he made sure that it arrived at Hogwarts through Ginny Weasley, who was given by Lucious Malfoy the original keeper of the Diary. She started to write in it, thinking it was a normal diary, confessing herself and placing in it her deepest and purest fear, for this reason she became easily manipulated. Voldemort forced her to open again the Chamber of Secret, freeing the Basilisk in the hope to continue his ‘plan’ of purging the school from all the Muggle borns.
Unfortunately for him, this time all the victims were lucky and only got pietrificated; the first was Mrs Purr, then Colin Canon, Justin Fletch-Flenchey, and last Hermione Granger. When the Diary ended in Harry’s hands he showed him what happed 50 years earlier, in the attempt to make his trust towards Hagrid fail. He used Ginny as bait to attract Harry in the Chamber, and here again he freed the Basilisk trying to kill him, but Fanny with the Sorting Hat that summoned the Gryffindor’s Sword came in Harry’s help who managed to kill the Basilisk and in the end stabbed the Diary killing, without knowing, the first Horcrux.
Wormatail found Voldemort in Albania and was one of the few Death Eaters who really tried to find him after his fall, along with Barty Crouch Jr. Wormail had previously encountered here Bertha Jorkins a Witch from the Ministry of Magic, who recognised him, he stunned her and brought her to Voldemort. He tortured her to obtain information, and even if someone had placed a powerful memory charm on her, he eventually managed to break it, even if this caused irreparable brain damage to her, so he eventually killed her. Wormail brought Voldemort back to the old Riddle’s Manor where he fed him to keep him in strength with Nagini’s milk, here along with B. C. Jr they decided a plan to kidnap Harry Potter to perform a ritual that would have brought back Voldemort in his full powers. Wormail for a moment suggested to it without Harry Potter, but Voldemort told him it was necessary it was Harry because this way he would have had in his blood Lily’s protection too, undoing it.
He wanted B. C. Jr to infiltrate Hogwarts School as the Auror Alastor Moody, and to bewitch the Goblet of Fire to think there were four school competing, the 4th school would only have one student: Harry Potter. This way it was sure that Harry would have been one of the three champion. B. C. Jr also had to bewitch the cup and make of it a key port to the Riddle’s Manor. On 24th June 1995 Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter arrived at the Riddle’s graveyard, here Wormtsail performed the ritual, resurrecting the Dark Lord with his full powers. He summoned all the Death Eaters, and then tried again to kill Harry. Dumbledore tried to warn the Ministry of Magic of Voldemort’s return, but he was not believed, and so Voldemort managed to travel to Azkaban and organise a mass escape of his faithful Death Eaters still there. Later on he started to search for something he didn’t have the last time, a weapon, a prophecy. Voldemort’s first attempt at securing the prophecy was to have Malfoy put Order member Sturgis Podmore under the Imperius Curse and send him to take the prophecy. However, Sturgis was unable to get into the Department of Mysteries.
His next attempt was to use the Imperius Curse on an Unspeakable named Broderick Bode. He was ordered to retrieve the prophecy, but was seriously injured in the process and was put into a permanent ward at St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. From this, Voldemort learned that the only people who could retrieve a prophecy are the people who are included in the prophecy. Voldemort could not risk going into the Ministry himself, so he used a telepathic link through Harry’s scar to cause him to go there instead. After his Death Eaters tried to catch the prophecy for him he arrived facing Dumbledore in an epic battle, and then possessed Harry who successfully won him. The Dementors left Azkaban to side with the Dark Lord, who could offer them more scope for their powers. As a result, there were many attacks by Voldemort’s army. Mass Muggle killings were rampant; what was claimed to be a hurricane to the Muggle world was in fact a rampage by the giants, whom Voldemort had drawn into allegiance. Voldemort himself duelled and killed Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who was described as having put up a good fight against him and as one of the greatest witches of the age. Dementor attacks were daily, the effect on the Muggles manifested in severe depression and grim weather. Voldemort attempted to blackmail Cornelius Fudge, and when he stood his ground, the Dark Lord initiated the destruction of the Brockdale Bridge, sending at least twelve cars into the water.
In July 1996 Voldemort assigned Draco the duty to be his spy inside Hogwarts, for revenge versus Lucious who had himself caught after the Ministry battle. Voldemort took over Malfoy Manor as his headquarters. During the summer of 1997, he captured the Hogwarts Professor of Muggle Studies, Charity Burbage, and killed her during a meeting with his Death Eaters before feeding her to Nagini. Voldemort also imprisoned and interrogated the kidnapped wandmaker, Garrick Ollivander, about why his wand could not duel against Harry’s. Ollivander revealed that their wands shared the same core, and would not work properly against each other. This came as a great relief to Voldemort, who worried that Harry had escaped from him in the graveyard by superior skill. Ollivander told Voldemort that he merely needed another’s wand, and so he took Lucius Malfoy’s. This served as a way to punish and demean the Malfoy family. At this point, he was nearly ready to conquer the Ministry, while insisting that Rufus Scrimgeour must be surrounded entirely before he made his next move.
On 27 July 1997, when Harry left 4 Privet Drive for the final time, Voldemort flew to the scene with his Death Eaters to fight the Order of the Phoenix. In the ensuing battle, Voldemort murdered Alastor Moody. When he attempted to attack Harry, Harry’s wand acted of its own accord, releasing golden fire at him and destroying Malfoy’s wand. Before Voldemort could react, Harry reached the protection of the home of Ted and Andromeda Tonks, and Voldemort was forced to retreat. Voldemort returned to his headquarters at Malfoy Manor and, accompanied by Peter Pettigrew, accused Ollivander of deliberately misleading him and tortured him with the Cruciatus Curse. Ollivander told him truthfully that never in wandlore has he ever heard of such a thing happening between two wands. Voldemort ordered Ollivander to tell him everything he knew about the legendary wand known as the Elder Wand.
Voldemort established a totalitarian police state, with Pius Thicknesse, under the Imperius Curse, serving as a puppet Minister for Magic and Death Eater Corban Yaxley as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Voldemort placed a Taboo Curse on his name which enabled his Death Eaters to instantly locate anyone who spoke it out loud in the open. Voldemort chose not to publicly declare himself Minister of Magic in order to maintain an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. While searching for the Elder Wand Voldemort, interrogated several people, Gregorovitch in 1945 and Grindelwald in 1948 Nurmengard (Austria) prison. During this time Bellatrix summoned him at the Malfoy’s manor since she had caught Harry Potter, but before he could arrive he had already fled thanks to Dobby. Here Voldemort realised that Dumbledore who had defeated Grindelwald was the owner of the Elder Wand, so he traveled back to Hogwarts where he met with Snape, and irrupted into Dumbledore’s grave.
On May 1st 1998 Voldemort learnt from some Gringotts‘s Goblins that Harry Potter and his friends managed to break into Lestrange’s vault, disguised as Bellatrix herself and a far Romanian cousin; Voldemort killed in a rage attack all who informed him, furious about the Gringotts security system that had failed, and panicking about the idea that Harry Potter finally found out his secrets about Horcrux. He also wondered how he did it since he never told anyone, not even Bellatrix. Following these revelations, Voldemort went to check out the Gaunt Shack and the Cave, only to discover to his fury that the Horcruxes stored there were missing and thus were likely destroyed.
When the battle of Hogwarts began Voldemort was not present during the first part of the battle, since he reckoned there was no need for him, he stayed instead in the Shrieking Shack protecting Nagini (last Horcrux) inside a bubble charmed, and wondering why the Elder Wand was not responding to him completely. He came to the conclusion that the Elder Wand was responding to Snape as he had killed Dumbledore in the Astronomy tower, without realise that it was Draco in the first place to disarm Dumbledore. For this reason he summoned Snape and trapped his head inside the bubble with Nagini, and ordered her to kill him. Believing now he had the full power of the wand, Voldemort then called a one-hour armistice, requesting Harry in exchange for peace and no further deaths. Harry presented in the Dark Forest, but what Voldemort didn’t know is that Dumbledore had planned everything to make Harry a Master of Death, for he was the one who disarmed Draco after that he disarmed Dumbledore, so he was the real owner of the Elder Wand, more Dumbledore left him the Resurrection Stone, and he already possessed the Invisibilty Cloak. When Voldemort casted the Avada Kedavra on Harry he killed the last Horcrux without knowing.
He ordered Narcissa Malfoy to check on the body to find out if he was still alive, and even if he was Narcissa lied to the Dark Lord, for she wanted to head back to the castle and find her son. Voldemort degraded Harry’s body by performing the Cruciatus Curse on him, and then ordered Hagrid to held him and marched back with the Death Eaters to the castle. Voldemort claimed Harry had been killed while trying to escape. Neville, instead of surrendering, charged at Voldemort. After Neville refused to join him, Voldemort placed a Full Body-Bind Curse and the Sorting Hat on him and set the hat on fire to make an example of him, claiming that Slytherin would be the only Hogwarts House from then on. Neville was able to throw off the curse and pulled Gryffindor’s Sword from the Hat, and used it to decapitate Nagini, destroying the last remaining Horcrux. Voldemort tried to kill Neville for this, but Harry alive, cast a Shield Charm between them. During the second round of the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort tried to strike down everyone within his reach and his weakened army forced its way into the castle. In the Great Hall, his army was gradually cut down as Voldemort fought Slughorn, Shacklebolt, and Minerva McGonagall all at once and later blasted them away.
Here, Harry mentioned that by willingly sacrificing himself to Voldemort, he had protected everyone he cared about in Hogwarts with the same magic his mother created when she died for him. Harry tried to explain to Voldemort that he had magic Voldemort did not have, and a weapon more powerful than his, in addition to warning Voldemort of the fate that lay in store for him if he was unwilling to feel remorse for his actions. Goading him by using his birth name, Harry told him that Snape’s loyalty was with Dumbledore all along, that Dumbledore’s death was planned, and that Snape had not been the master of the Elder Wand; Draco had been. Voldemort fired a Killing Curse at Harry, while Harry countered with his “trademark” spell of Expelliarmus. The Elder Wand refused to kill its true master, and Voldemort’s spell rebounded off Harry’s, killing the Dark Lord once and for all.
Muggle Worthy Case 