The Diary (just where did V get it & what is really going on ?)

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 86517

One question about the diary that does not seem to have been 
discussed, is just how did Tom get hold of it in the first place ? 
Yes, Tom, not Lucius. I am intrigued that JKR chooses to emphasise 
its origins so specifically:

'Harry turned to the back cover of the book and saw the printed name 
of a newsagents in Vauxhall Road, London. 
'He must have been Muggle-born,' said Harry thoughtfully, 'to have 
bought a diary from Vauxhall Road...'

Firstly, what was Tom doing shopping in Vauxhall Rd ? Vauxhall Rd is 
a long, boring main road running from Victoria Station down out 
across the river, usually clogged with heavy traffic. It does have a 
few tatty shops, some of which are newsagents, but it is definitely 
not a shopping street - it's mainly lined with large dull office 
buildings. It isn't at all sinister, or full of dubious attractions 
for a budding evil overlord, so how come the 15-16 year old Tom was 
mooching about here ? Shouldn't he have been at the orphanage if he 
wasn't at school, and don't all the kids get kitted out with writing 
materials in Diagon Alley, or possibly Knockturn Alley in Tom's 
case ? 

I am sure he could have slipped away and got to Vauxhall Rd easily 
enough if he wanted to, but why should he ? He could have bought 'a 
small, thin book [with] a shabby black cover..nondescript..[with a] 
faded year on the cover' in any newsagent, including one nearer his 
muggle orphanage if necessary. 

Secondly, where did he get the Muggle money from to buy the diary ? 
It wouldn't have cost a lot, granted, but the boy's an orphan. If he 
changed some wizard money at Gringotts, where did he get that from ? 
Quite capable of stealing it I suppose, by this point, but part of 
the general question as to how exactly was he funded at Hogwarts from 
the moment he arrived aged 11 ? Who bought his clothes, and his 
textbooks ? Can't remember any mention of him getting a scholarship, 
even though he was apparently a star pupil. Don't think you get a 
local authority grant for doing magic.. (sadly).

Now the reason I raise all these apparently trivial points is that I 
think they are all clues to a different plot line that hasn't really 
come up before.

You could take the diary address simply at face value. Its a plot 
device that simply flags up what we later have confirmed - that 
Riddle is part-Muggle, and Harry needs to find out about this quite 
soon, so he can start worrying about the similarities between him and 
Voldie, which culminate in CoS with Dumbledore's delphic, and much-
discussed remark 'Its our choices Harry...' etc.

However, I think there are deeper hints in this episode, and maybe 
this is even the bit where JKR 'nearly gave the game away' (she is 
supposed to have said this in relation to some aspect of CoS !).

My theory is that: 

1. Tom Riddle has muggle supporters, and they are quite important 
muggles with influence, who are continuing to support him over the 
years for devilish reasons of their own. These reasons could be 
complicated ones of personal family and birthright, or they could be 
part of some other group determined to get power over the muggle 
world with wizard help. It is clear from the books that quite a lot 
of muggles must know about the WW, through intermarriage, or their 
children going to Hogwarts, and not least at government level. It is 
not difficult to imagine that it has occurred to various muggles that 
magic could come in useful for their own sinister purposes. 

2. It is one of these muggles that owns Riddle House on behalf of 
Tom, rather than for 'tax reasons', and it is one of these people 
that he was meeting down Vauxhall Rd the day he bought his diary. The 
ONLY interesting thing about Vauxhall Rd is that it leads directly to 
Westminster, the seat of the British government. And remember, one of 
these hallowed halls is our non-elected House of Lords, which is 
STILL full of people who imagine they have a right to influence our 
laws just because an ancestor stabbed the right person in the back in 
1066 (don't start me on the theme !! wizards have nothing to teach 
the muggle aristocracy about the importance of bloodlines). So if the 
muggle supporters are motivated by ancestral family reasons or by 
political reasons, it would be equally convenient for both to meet 
Tom down Vauxhall Rd.

3. I think that Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald in 1945 is closely 
connected to this muggle plot. Tom Riddle was born in the 1920s, and 
became 'Lord' Voldemort in approximately 1945, and many have 
speculated on this list that at this point he took over Grindelwald's 
dark mantle, having studied the dark arts for 20 years. Obviously the 
1945 date has enormous significance in muggle history. My thought is 
that Grindelwald had another name, and another identity in the muggle 
world, and this muggle 'death' left a lot of deranged muggles hoping 
that a new, ruthless leader would emerge. This works politically or 
for ancestral family reasons. It is a sad truth that many members of 
the British aristocracy fully supported Hitler's rise to power; 
including it is said, Edward VIII, who was shipped out to the 
colonies with Wallis Simpson for the duration of WW2, in case he 
betrayed the country. 

4. I believe Lucius Malfoy is fully involved in this plot up to his 
neck, and Fudge is being used as a pawn and a go-between with high-
ranking muggles he has met through his government contacts. Fudge may 
or may not really know what is going on; whatever he has guessed, he 
certainly is in no position to reveal. It is possible the industrius 
Percy has inadvertently come across some papers he shouldn't have 
seen and guessed, and is being blackmailed into silence because of 
his mistake over Crouch Sr (it really is too suspicious that he was 
suddenly offered a job in Fudge's office after that debacle). The 
goblins, of course, see chances of big profits whatever happens; who 
cares if it is muggle or wizard gold..

5. And Snape ? An interesting one this ! Maybe he discovered Voldie's 
deal, and was so horrified at the idea of working for a worldwide 
muggle/DE coup, he turned traitor and told DD (who knew all along, 
because he knew who Grindelwald was in the muggle world - remember, 
he reads the Muggle papers unlike most wizards). 

6. Obviously they all had a bit of a setback when Voldie was nearly 
destroyed by Harry, and have had to re-group. One of them will have 
been keeping all his school things and his wand. The muggles also 
probably think they can control Voldie, or there is some aspect of 
their pact with him, which leads them to think he'll honour the 
bargain. They must all be getting pretty impatient with him, given 
his endless ludicrous plots; I can imagine that Lucius is playing 
many complicated games as to who he really supports. 

7. I believe that for all these reasons Harry is finally going to 
have a dual confrontation, involving both the muggle and wizard 
worlds, and it was for this reason that Dumbledore placed him with 
the dreadful Dursleys, so he would be totally familiar with the 
muggle environment, as well as the WW when the time came. It will be 
an immensely complicated battle, and probably conducted in some 
secrecy as the WW try to prevent their existence being revealed. I'd 
say Harry's chances of surviving it are slim, though no doubt Voldie 
will also be vaporised yet again in the process, probably through a 
combined attack by his enemies and irritated supporters !

And all that just from one little address....and you know, newsagents 
don't print their own names and addresses on the backs of diaries. 
Chains of newsagents who would be big enough to print their own-brand 
products would not then add the address of one specific branch in 
Vauxhall Rd. I think JKR was so keen to get the road reference in for 
later plot reasons that she gave the game away !

Carolyn
Who meant to just chuck in her usual 1-para contribution but got 
carried away this time