[HPforGrownups] Re: Speculation on Tom Riddle's origins

[Lissa B]

No: HPFGUIDX 57470

Lissa wrote:
> a long post that Harry Potter and Ginny
> Weasley may be Tom Riddle's biological
> parents.

Jahanua wrote:
> Ok, since I have read all the responces, this has a little to do with
> several.  First of all, when relating Harry's living relations,
> Voldemort may not be living, but the weasleys certainly are.  If
> Harry had a child with Ginny, and Ginny is living, that would make
> them relations, even if not by blood.  Also, if the weasleys are
> decendants of slytherin, then Harry would be related to them this way
> too.

Lissa replied:
Hi Jahanua.  Interesting points.  I think the narration at the beginning
of PoA that refers to the Dursleys as Harry's "only living relatives"
has to be read in that specific context.  If you go back enough
generations, all human beings are presumably related, so taken from an
absolutely literal standpoint, the statement is inherently false.  I
think there's an assumed "immediate" before the term relatives in this
case.  I also don't assume the Weasleys are descended from Slytherin.  I
think they *could* be, but don't have to be.

As for Harry being related to the Weasleys via the shared child with
Ginny: well, yes.  I do see what you're saying.  I'm not sure I'd agree
that this makes the Weasleys Harry's relatives--especially since no
relationship has yet occurred between Harry and Ginny when this
statement in PoA is made.  From a legal standpoint, I suspect the only
people qualified to be termed Harry's relatives are the Dursleys. 
Nonetheless, I'd certainly prefer that Harry had been raised by Arthur
and Molly!


Jahanua wrote:
>    Secondly, the quote where the word ancestor was used, while that
> is simply the stupidest mistake I can think of,  it does seem to be a
> mistake.  If Harry is Voldemort's dad, I still don't see how that
> makes Slytherin his descendant. Slytherin lived more than a thousand
> years ago,  Voldemort was born about 70 years ago, and if Harry is
> his father, he can not be Slytherin's ancestor.

Lissa replied:
I don't feel qualified to discuss this since it's not a part of my own
theory. I do, however, find Valky's idea that all of this ultimately
relates to Salazar Slytherin to be intriguing and possible. I must
confess I have some difficulty believing the word "ancestor" was a mere
mistake.  (And even if it was an honest error, it might be a bit of a
Freudian slip that suggests Rowling was pondering twists in the expected
flow of generations, but I know that's a bit of a reach!)  You're
absolutely right, however, that even if Harry is Voldemort's father it
doesn't make Riddle Slytherin's ancestor.

Jahanua wrote:
>    Thirdly, can you immagine how many turns it would take on a time
> turner to take you back 70 years, not to mention taking you back far
> enough to be slytherin's ancestor?

Lissa replied:
Too many!  But this assumes that the the time turner Hermione uses is
the only magical device capable of moving people in time.  PoA shows us
that time travel is possible in the Potter universe, but I don't think
it states that the only magical means of achieving it is the short-range
time turner.

Jahanua wrote:
>    Lastly, if Ginny is Voldemort's mom, then why doesn't he have any
> weasley features?  he doesn't look at all like a weasley, and why
> would he want to kill his mom in cos,  which also brings up the
> question, if he couldn't kill his dad, how could he come so close to
> killing his mom?  He grew stronger as she grew weaker, it would make
> more sence that he would also be erasing his life as she grew weaker.
> I am not saying this theory isn't good, just that i have problems
> with it. If you have anwsers to these questions, (especially the part
> about killing his mom) i would love to hear it.

Lissa replied:
The only feature Harry inherited from his own mother were, apparently,
her eyes.  It shouldn't be terribly surprising, then, if Harry's own son
takes after him just as strongly.  As for wanting to kill his mother in
CoS: not for a second do I believe Tom Marvolo Riddle has any idea that
Ginny and Harry are his parents.  It would be stupid and suicidal to try
to kill your parents before they could create you.

As for diary-Riddle's ability to come critically close to killing Ginny
and Harry without exhibiting any signs of weakening?  That's a great
question, Jahanua, thanks for bringing it up.  I have two responses to
it.  First, I don't think that, until the very moment Voldemort attempts
to kill Harry outright in his crib and before Erised in Philosopher's
Stone, he suffers any direct physical consequences.  Ginny is dying, but
she still has time left.  Diary-Riddle *is* erasing his life as Ginny
grows weaker, but I don't think this would be apparent until the very
second she was about to die.  It didn't get to that point in the novel. 
This is the explanation I tend to favor.  If you don't like that one,
however, I'll offer another.  Unlike the real-world Voldemort,
diary-Riddle is *not* the physical manifestation of the man himself and
thus doesn't have a body that can suffer as the threat to Tom Riddle's
existence increases.  He would simply have ceased to exist with Ginny's
death, like a light going suddenly and completely out.

I really loved your questions!

~Lissa