[HPforGrownups] Re: The Riddle House

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 46696


Grey Wolf wrote, regarding the Riddle house:

  Although it is 
  entirely possible that the house is indeed owned by some rich muggle 
  for taxation purposes, JKR tends to "keep things within the family" so 
  to speak, so it's not impossible to think that the house is owned by 
  someone we've already met. I myself tend to think that the person is 
  Dumbledore, but other have voted for Lucius Malfoy.

I vote for Lucius Malfoy for several reasons.  First, canon states that the present owner of the Riddle house is wealthy.  We know Lucius is wealthy.  That doesn't discount Dumbledore, because IIRC his finances have not been discussed.  

Second, we learned in CoS that Lucius is in possession of many of Voldemort's things, and that he tried to get rid of quite a few of them.  

Third is the fact that upon his return from Albania with Pettigrew, Voldemort seems to have gone to the Riddle house immediately.  He tells Pettigrew that he was tired by the journey, and that he intended to stay a week, because he could not implement his plan before the QWC.  This suggests to me that while Voldemort was still in Albania, away from all information sources, he knew or expected that it was unoccupied and safe to inhabit, and he is not likely to have been confident in that assumption (because Pettigrew in his travels with the Weasleys wouldn't likely have heard about this) unless he knew who the owner of the house was and that it was likely to be vacant.

Therefore, I believe Lucius acquired the Riddle house, perhaps during Voldemort's last reign of terror, and held it in his own name (or perhaps an assumed name) on Voldemort's behalf, and most likely at Voldemort's request.
  The basic detail that made me think of Dumbledore in the first place 
  was Frank. What sort of person would allow that old man to continue 
  working there, when we know that his advaced age doesn't make hima good 
  gardener anymore? Obviously not Lucius, or any other DE, with their 
  dismisiveness of muggles. We need a kind heart that knows that, without 
  that job, Frank won't have an income. Thus, Dumbledore.

I can think of lots of good reasons to retain Frank Bryce as caretaker other than charity.  Frank Bryce is the perfect caretaker for an owner who does not want questions to be asked.  Even before the Riddles' deaths, Frank kept to himself, because the war had left him with a stiff leg and a dislike for crowds and loud noises.  Therefore, he was very unlikely to hang out in The Hanged Man speculating about the landlord.  Besides, the best way not to attract attention is not to make changes in the current state of affairs.  The firing of Frank Bryce would create endless conversation in The Hanged Man. The retention of the caretaker seems carefully designed to deter nosybodies from poking around the Riddle house -- we learn that only village boys (who are really harmless) ever approached the house.  It would be a prudent expenditure for Lucius.

Debbie
whose ears always perk up when "tax reasons" are mentioned


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]