Tom Riddle, well-liked Slytherin
judyserenity
judyshapiro at earthlink.net
Mon Jun 24 19:51:25 UTC 2002
No: HPFGUIDX 40284
Several people here doubted that Tom Riddle had really been in
Slytherin. Rowen Avalon pointed out that cannon says he was, with Ron
telling Harry that Slytherin was the house "You-know-you" was in.
And, Snickerdoodle noted that in SS, Hagrid tells "there wasn't a
single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin,
You-Know-Who was one"
Ok, so there's clear evidence that Tom Riddle was in Slytherin. This
has implications for a question that has been asked here before - did
Slytherin House always have its current horrendous reputation, or did
it get that reputation during Voldemort's first reign? It seems to me
that its bad reputation must be recent. Riddle says he had a good
reputation (model student, etc) and that this was why he was able to
place the blame for Myrtle's death on Hagrid. With the current
"Slytherin House = Evil" belief that is prevalent, he would have had a
much harder time escaping suspicion.
But, what about the fact that Dumbledore says few people know that Tom
Riddle became Voldemort? How do Hagrid and Ron even know that
Voldemort was in Slytherin? Hagrid, of course, knew Riddle
personally, but it's not clear whether he knew that Riddle later
became Voldemort. It's not likely that Ron knew of the Riddle -
Voldemort connection. The Weasleys are perplexed when Harry mentions
Riddle; in fact, Dumbledore's comment ("Very few people know that
Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle") is addressed to them. So,
how does Ron know that Voldemort was a Slytherin?
Also, *why* does Slytherin have a reputation for being evil? Does the
whole Wizarding World know that Voldemort was a Slytherin, and if so,
how do they know this without knowing that Voldemort was called Tom
Riddle at school? (Of course, even if the Wizarding World mostly
didn't know that Voldemort had been in Slytherin, they might still
think Slytherin House was evil, because so many suspected Death Eaters
were Slytherins.)
A comment on the fact that brave is capitalized when Riddle describes
himself as "parentless, but so BRAVE." Perhaps JKR is saying that
Riddle, like Harry, had a choice of Gryffindor or Slytherin houses.
A few pages later, Dumbledore talks about that many dangerous
transformations Voldemort underwent. Voldemort may be ever-so-evil,
but he's not a wimp. So, the Sorting Hat might have had trouble
placing him, as it did with Harry.
Now, as for the "Voldemort's sexuality" thread, I don't even want to
think about it. (Snake lips! Ggahh!)
-- Judy Serenity, who is still a List Elf, but who hadn't posted to
the main list in ages
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