Riddle and Grindelwald in 1945 (Was Re: Dumbledore VS. Voldemort)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 109027

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Cathy Drolet" <cldrolet at s...> 
wrote:

Cathy:
> If we believe that CoS took place in 1992 (500 years after Nick's 
deathday of 1492), and the CoS was opened exactly 50 years before, 
then Riddle is 16 in 1942 (he says he put his 16 year old self into 
the diary - and is therefore, probably in 6th year at Hogwarts.)  DD 
would only have needed to be a teacher at Hogwarts for one more year, 
possibly two (1944), until Riddle graduated.  

Geoff:
Just for confirmation and completeness, we know that Riddle was in 
the Fifth Year when the Chamber was opened...

'His heart was hammering. Riddle's reply came quickly, his writing 
becoming untidier as though he was hurrying to tell all he knew.
"Of course I know about the Chamber of Secrets. In my day, they told 
us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my 
fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several 
students,finally killing one...."'

(COS "The Very Secret Diary" p.180 UK edition)

It is normal for a student to turn 16 during their Fifth Year 
(current Year Eleven), which raises an interesting point of 
information.

The Chamber was re-opened in the autumn of 1992, Harry first hearing 
the Basilisk in September and the first petrification being on 
Hallowe'en night. If the 50th anniversary is spot-on accurate, then 
the previous opening was in the autumn of 1942; hence Riddle was in 
the Fifth Year in 1942/43. So, if he went on into the Sixth Form, he 
would have been in the Lower Sixth in 1943/44 and the Upper Sixth in 
1944/45 so he would be just be on the point of finishing at Hogwarts 
or would have just finished when Grindelwald was defeated.

Bearing in mind that we've tended to speculate on the group that this 
happened perhaps a year or so after he left Hogwarts, it's only just 
clicked with me when I started working the timescale out that the 
events could have been concurrent.