How Riddle Knew He Was A Descendant of Slytherin (WAS: Heir defined)

[innermurk]

No: HPFGUIDX 58828

Phyllis wrote about how Tom knew he was descended from Slytherin:
> So I'm back to my original idea that his mother found some way to 
> communicate this to him - either through an interactive diary, or 
> perhaps a letter she wrote to him before he was born. And if the 
> letter/diary told Riddle that he was named Marvolo after his 
> grandfather, it could have just as easily told him that he was a 
> descendant of Slytherin.
> 


I innermurk want to add:
Here's an idea, what if the Sorting Hat told him? The sorting hat had 
a nice little conversation with Harry, so it's not an unheard of 
thing to happen.
Tom probably would've been more confused than Harry, since Harry had 
Hagrid to help him understand things beforehand.
I can picture him sitting on the stool having a chat about his name 
with the sorting hat and what house he'd fit into. The sorting hat 
didn't have to give him much more than a clue for him to follow, and 
then he'd work it out from there. All he needed was a starting point.

Innermurk