Creating Identity (Re: Why Voldemort is a fascist... )

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 108903

Jen wrote: 

It never occurred to me Riddle may have created his identity,
but you make it sound so obvious! I believed he pieced together his
origin with half-truths & inaccuracies, yes, but some bits of truth
as well. Growing up in a Muggle orphanage would make it extremely
difficult to find out his true origins though, specifically his
magical ancestry. And you make a good case for most of it being a
fabrication. Wonder if he's even related to Slytherin on his mom's
side? It seems fantastic that he could trace that. As Kneasy and
Pippin have both commented, I think he became Heir of Slytherin
through opening the chamber and not before, but it seemed plausible
to me that he may have been descended from Slytherin as well. Now I
wonder. Maybe when Riddle opened the chamber he *assumed* the idea
that he was related to Slytherin by virtue of finding and opening
the chamber. Circular justification.

vmonte responds:

I have a question.  An heir is someone who inherits but not 
necessarily a blood relative, right?  And a descendant is a blood 
relative, right? 

Does DD say that Tom Riddle is the last remaining heir or descendant? 
Because if Tom is an heir, it may only mean that he was chosen to be 
heir by SS for the simple reason that he was able to get into the 
Chamber. 

Maybe SS was waiting for a female descendant to open the Chamber but 
Tom figured it out.  Could Ginny be a descendant of SS?  (I keep 
thinking about JKR's comment that Ginny is the first girl in several 
generations and that if she had died TR would have become very 
powerful.) Could Ginny have some power that she is not yet aware of? 
Did SS put the entrance to the chamber in the girl's bathroom on 
purpose?  Maybe the Weasley's are actually blood relatives of SS but 
they choose not to accept this title?  The family makes the choice to 
value what Gryffindor values. 

(I personally want the Weasley's to be descendants of GG.)

vivian