[HPforGrownups] Slytherins heir? Says who?

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 43641

Pen:
> Do we know that Voldemort really *is* the Heir of Slytherin?  We know he 
> thinks he is the HoS, and has proclaimed himself such.  We know he 
> reckons that only the Heir etc would be able to open the Chamber.  But 
> what if that ain't so?  He could be assuming himself to the the HoS in 
> order to make himself feel better, wot wiv having no family, an' all.

Poor little Tom! Yes, I know just what you mean. A bit of over-compensation, 
perhaps, a bit of projection.

No, we don't know, do we?
Voldemort says he is, but he could be lying.
Dumbledore says he's the last descendent of Slytherin, but he could be 
mistaken, or being economical with the truth for some mysterious reason.
The legend says that the Chamber would only be opened by Slytherin's true 
heir, but, hey, that's only a legend. Does Tom say it?

But Riddle was the only person recorded to have opened the Chamber since the 
days of Slytherin himself. Bit of a coincindence, No?

> 
> Or, what if the way a person becomes the Heir of Slytherin is by opening 
> the Chamber of Secrets?  That would make sense too.  He wouldn't be the 
> heir of anything until he'd done so... and therefore, lines of descent 
> would be irrelevant.  Riddle's mother could have been a Hufflepuff!
> 
> Could be.
But then, he's right in saying that he's the Heir of Slytherin, isn't he, 
because he's done it? No over-compensation needed.
Doesn't this get a bit circular? He would have to have been the heir (in in 
other words he had whatever it took to open the Chamber, be it destiny or 
unique ability) in order to open the Chamber, by which action his heirship is 
apparent.
But yes, he might be making assumptions about his mother's ancestry. 
(Remember that I am drawing a distinction between descendency and heirship.)
Anyway, she *could* have been a Hufflepuff, even if Salazar Slytherin's blood 
did run through her veins, couldn't she? What about choices? Perhaps she was 
a very good and nice witch who would be horrified to see how her boy had 
turned out.

Eloise
Also idling and taking advantage that her children haven't yet emerged and 
demanded the computer!





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