Mrs. Riddle (was: Re: Grindelwald)

[Wanda Sherratt]

No: HPFGUIDX 76182

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bibphile" <bibphile at y...> 
wrote:
> Robyn:
> > But my suspicions go to "how" did she have enough contact with, 
> > or knowledge of, the muggle population, to actually fall in love 
> > with one?  Was she already living her life as a muggle, prior to 
> > her relationship with Tom Sr?  
> 
> All that's neccessary is that she ventured into the muggle world 
> even once.  She could have needed a new muggle outfit for some 
> reason (Quidditch World Cup mabe).  She could have just been going 
> for a walk and not intended to talk to anyone.  (Hogsmede is the 
> only all magical village and the Blacks lived in London.)  She 
could 
> have just thought it would be adveturous to spend a day in the 
> muggle world.  there could be any number of perfectly mundane 
> reasons.  Tom Sr. sees her and thinks she's pretty.  He starts up 
a 
> conversation with her.  They set up a date.  Eventually they get 
> married.
> 
In the graveyard scene in GoF, doesn't Voldemort tell Harry that his 
mother was a witch *living in the village*?  I had the impression 
she was a witch living unsuspected among muggles. Since Hogsmeade is 
the only all-wizard village, this must be rather common.  It sounded 
to me like this might have been an illicit romance between the son 
of the local rich family up at the Big House and a village girl.

> Robyn:
> > Why did she have no one to turn to at the time of her death?  
Why 
> > would she choose a life for herself and her child apart from 
other 
> > magical people?
> 
> That is a bit harder to answer.  Maybe all of her family was 
dead.  
> I'm not sure if there even are wizard orphanages.>

This is why I don't think she and Tom Riddle were married.  It would 
make no sense for her to throw herself alone and friendless upon the 
world, if she had a legal position to fall back on.  So he changes 
his mind and claims she lied to him, what can he really do?  How can 
you divorce a woman for being a witch?  (And divorce was not that 
easy 75 years ago.)  He would have been stuck with her, at least 
with supporting her and her child.  But if he just knocked her up, 
then found out she was a witch and turned his back on her, she would 
be in real trouble.  Living in a small village, I can easily believe 
she'd leave to avoid the shame.  Why she didn't turn to other 
family, I don't know; maybe they were all dead or also against her. 
But if she'd been married to Tom Riddle, it would be a question of 
law - there'd be papers, witnesses, etc., and she would have some 
protection.  I don't know what the law is about "disowning" a son, 
but even that has to be done legally; there would have been 
paperwork all over the place.  But there's nothing.  Furthermore, if 
Tom Riddle Jr. was legitimate, he'd have inherited the Riddle House 
when his father died, but that isn't what happened, or the villagers 
would know about it.  I think that Voldemort/Tom had more than one 
reason for hating his father, and one of them was that he didn't 
even marry his mother, and threw her aside when she got pregnant, 
which probably led to her death.

Wanda