Tom Marvolo Riddle(Lord Voldemort)

vil Tom Marvolo Riddle (31 December, 1926[10] – 2 May, 1998), later known as Lord Voldemort, was a half-blood wizard and considered by many to be the most notorious Dark wizard ever known and the most powerful and dangerous one of all time. The son of wealthy Muggle Tom Riddle Sr. and witch Merope Gaunt, he was orphaned and raised in a Muggle orphanage, which remained his permanent residence through his 1938-1945 attendance at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a member of Slytherin house.

His accomplishments included the opening of Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and the use of its monster to attack Muggleborn Students; several months' service as a purchasing agent for the Dark artefacts shop Borgin and Burkes; and the attainment of immortality between the years of 1942 and 1998, a process begun upon the creation of his first Horcrux at the age of 16. Abandoning his 'Muggle' name, he became the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort, commanded a veritable army of wizards and Dark creatures, committed numerous murders personally and through his followers, on one occasion nearly succeeded and on a later occasion did succeed in taking over the Ministry of Magic by installing a puppet Minister. Splitting his soul into a total of eight pieces, Lord Voldemort created seven Horcruxes, one unintentionally and without his knowledge.

Voldemort was ripped from his body in 1981, and though unable to die, was not able to regain a permanent and physical body until 1995, thus spending the intervening 14 years 'a shell, less than the meanest ghost ', but alive. He was finally killed by his own backfiring curse. After Albus Dumbledore and then Harry Potter after Dumbledore's death, succeeded in destroying all of his Horcruxes.

Tom Riddle's broken and mutilated soul was then trapped in Limbo for eternity, unable to move on or return as a ghost.[11]

History
Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on 31 December, New Year's Eve, 1926 at Wool's Orphanage in London. His pure-blood mother, Merope Gaunt, a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin, died shortly after his birth. His family on his mother's side were the last of the Gaunt family; an ancient and formerly wealthy Wizarding family that was noted for producing individuals with violent and unstable personalities due to generations of inbreeding. Soon before her death, she named the child after his father, Tom Riddle Sr., and Marvolo Gaunt, her father. Tom Riddle Sr. was a wealthy Muggle living in the village of Little Hangleton who was tricked into a relationship with Merope through probable use of a love potion[12] After some time, it is speculated by Dumbledore that Merope discontinued her use of love potions on Tom, in the hopes that he had really fallen in love with her, or would at least stay for their child's sake. To Merope's great sorrow, he abandoned her and their unborn child. Tom Riddle grew up in a 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 Albus Dumbledore shortly before his first meeting with Tom. It is unknown whether or not the orphanage staff relayed this to Tom before his first encounter with Dumbledore.

Despite his ignorance of his mother's true background, Tom did have some grasp on his abilities beyond that of normal magical children of his same age, however, and an unusually high degree of control over them. Tom could move objects with his mind and cause them to travel floating 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 orphans, Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson, into a cave, where he performed an act so horrifying that the two orphans were traumatised into silence. Young Tom Riddle also stole from other orphans and hid their things in his cupboard like trophies. Albus Dumbledore later stopped him from this hobby. When Tom was eleven, Albus Dumbledore, the transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, talked to Mrs. Cole first, who informed him of how unusual Tom was, sharing tales of his extraordinary influence over the other children. When Dumbledore was at last introduced to the boy, Tom at first believed him to be a doctor or psychiatrist of some sort, come to take him to an asylum. He was convinced after Dumbledore demonstrated his power by using a Flame-Freezing Charm on Tom's cupboard, and when he revealed that Hogwarts was a school for people with magic, which Tom realised his abilities were.

At a very early age, it was clear that Tom 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).

Tom-Dumbledore Dumbledore proving to Tom that he is a wizard He was not surprised at all 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. Tom 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.

Tom'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 Tom 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. Professor Dumbledore also provided Tom Riddle with a stipend from school funds so that he could purchase his books, equipment and so on. 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. 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, many years later. Riddle also mentioned that he was a Parselmouth, which surprised Dumbledore. Tom was educated at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1938 to 1945, and was Sorted into Slytherin House, a nod to his ancestor Salazar Slytherin himself. During summer breaks, he was forced to return to the Muggle orphanage, which he despised and dreaded more than any other place on earth.

Slug Club memory 1.jpg The Slug Club, of which Tom was a member of during his education Tom described the way he was seen as "poor, but brilliant, parent-less, but so brave, a school prefect, a model student."[14] 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 Albus Dumbledore, who was, at that time, professor of Transfiguration. Dumbledore, though not necessarily suspicious of Tom, never forgot about Tom's misdeeds at the orphanage, nor his unsettling behavior during their first meeting. In turn, Tom realized 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 all his other instructors. In time, he came to fear and despise Dumbledore. [13] 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.

It was also at some point during his years in Hogwarts that he and Dumbledore developed a recurrent argument regarding whether or not love was more powerful than any kind of Magic. Tom would only regularly scoff at the thought of such a thing being true.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts, Tom became obsessed with his heritage and began researching it with an insatiable hunger. While researching his heritage, Riddle focused solely on who his father was, 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 Tom Marvolo Riddle gave himself the alias "Lord Voldemort", to spare himself of the reminder of his "filthy Muggle father."[15]

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 Tom 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 Tom's and Slytherin's eyes, Muggle-borns.[14]

Harry-potter2-movie-screencaps.com-12445 A 16-year-old Riddle during the 1943 opening of the Chamber of Secrets threatening Hagrid The basilisk injured many at Hogwarts in 1943. The last victim was 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 board of governors decided that Hogwarts was to be closed. During that year, Tom made a special request that Headmaster 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), he framed fellow student Rubeus Hagrid and his pet Acromantula, Aragog. Tom convinced Dippet that Aragog was the monster that had terrorised the school. Hagrid was expelled, and Tom received an engraved trophy for Special Services to the School.[14]

Harry-potter2-movie-screencaps.com-12264 Dumbledore "keeping an annoyingly close watch" on Tom Dumbledore, who did 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, Tom realized that he would not be able to risk opening the Chamber of Secrets while still a student. As such, he created a diary to preserve a part of his soul, the very first of seven Horcruxes, hoping it would one day lead someone to finish Salazar Slytherin's "noble work". In the summer of 1943, Tom went to Little Hangleton to learn about his mother's family. While there, he met his uncle Morfin Gaunt, whom he was far from impressed with. Morfin mentioned offhandedly at one point during this meeting that he thought that Tom looked "mighty like that Muggle," Merope's husband, Tom Riddle Sr.. Tom immediately demanded the identity of the Muggle in question, and Morfin told Tom the story of his Muggle father, which infuriated Tom to the point of seeking revenge. Tom went to the Riddle House and murdered his father, grandfather, and grandmother with the Killing Curse.

He 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 family signet ring from Morfin and wore it like a trophy at Hogwarts. During his sixth year, Tom questioned Professor Slughorn, who was taken in by Tom'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. Tom succeeded in doing so at some point during this year, creating his first Horcrux in the form of the aforementioned diary.

First time Riddle splitting his soul for the first time During Tom's seventh year at Hogwarts, he was Head Boy and he received a Medal for Magical Merit. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant students ever to attend Hogwarts, a fact admitted by Albus Dumbledore himself. Shortly before leaving Hogwarts, Tom charmed the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw, more commonly known as the Grey Lady and the ghost of Ravenclaw House, into revealing the location of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. Tom sought to transform this diadem into another Horcrux. After graduating, Tom immediately approached Armando 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. Dippet rejected this offer, deeming the boy too young, but invited Tom to reapply in a few years, if he was still interested in the post, something that Dumbledore heavily advised against.

Tom then presumably travelled to the far-flung forest in Albania about which Helena Ravenclaw had told him, and retrieved the diadem. He murdered an Albanian peasant and turned the diadem into a Horcrux. Upon his return to Britain, he was offered several positions in the Ministry of Magic, but ended up working at Borgin and Burkes for Caractacus Burke, to the disappointment and surprise of many. He set to persuading witches and wizards to part with their valuable magical heirlooms — a job at which he was very good.[13]

Murdering Hepzibah SmithEdit Riddle Hepzibah Hepzibah Smith shows Riddle Slytherin's Locket At this time, Tom befriended a wealthy, elderly witch named Hepzibah Smith. Hepzibah showed Tom her two most valuable treasures: Salazar Slytherin's Locket and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup. Tom's eyes flashed red with greed and avarice upon seeing these objects and he desired them, because he saw the locket to be rightfully his as Slytherin's heir and the cup was a reminder of Hogwarts as well as a priceless artifact.Tom killed Hepzibah to steal these coveted objects and vanished without a trace. He 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, Tom 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 Smith and an unidentified Muggle tramp.[13]

Lord Voldemort's RequestEdit Tom 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 lost his handsomeness due to splitting his soul so many times, and began to use the alias "Lord Voldemort" openly. Ten years after Smith's murder, Tom appealed once more to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, who was then Albus Dumbledore, for the position of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. After a short, superficially amiable chat, Dumbledore directly confronted Tom regarding why he had requested the position, as Dumbledore knew full well that Tom had no desire whatsoever to teach. Tom, 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 Defense against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year, which was attributed by Dumbledore to a curse by Tom Riddle.[13]

Tom's visit to Hogwarts was not fruitless, however; he used the opportunity to hide Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement, where he believed it would never be found. He had held onto the diadem for a decade before hiding it at Hogwarts.[16]

The Rise of the Dark LordEdit "You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing... the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere... panic... confusion... that's how it used to be." —Sirius Black regarding the Dark Lord and his followers[src] Hp7p12 display Lord Voldemort at the height of power Lord Voldemort, as he was now exclusively called, spent the next fourteen years before the War gathering followers in witches and wizards who called themselves, collectively, Death Eaters.[17] 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. They freely used the Unforgivable Curses and killed mercilessly and indiscriminately. According to Sirius Black, Voldemort also used tricks, jinxes, and blackmail to get people to join him.

At some point around this time, Voldemort greatly enhanced his skills in Legilimency, to the point that he became known to some (primarily his Death Eaters) as the greatest Legilimens in the world. 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.

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