Voldemort's Heritage

[Rita Winston]

No: HPFGUIDX 12013

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Signe Cluiss" <signe_weasley at h...> wrote:
> Usually, the line is passed through the father's side and if that
> is so, how can he be the heir of Slytherin when his MOTHER was the
> witch?  

In Muggle Britain, a daughter can inherit when there are no sons (e.g. 
Queen Elizabeth II).

In wizarding Britain, the rules of inheritance might be quite 
different from the rules that Muggles use. Maybe *all* descendents of 
Slytherin are eligible to be the Heir of Slytherin, and then a magic 
device that contains Salazar's criteria for choosing an heir (like 
the Sorting Hat contains all the Founders' criteria for students) 
chooses one of these descendents to be the actual Heir. Maybe the 
inheritance goes to the oldest child regardless of gender. Maybe the 
inheritance goes to the oldest child of the opposite sex -- that 
would freak out the Muggles quite nicely.