Riddle House

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 90623

> Sue wrote:
> > I just have one question. Who owns the Riddle house?
> 
> I was under the impression that it was owned by Voldemort's father
and grandparents. Did it not mention in GOF that those three were
killed there? 
> If all the muggles were afraid to go there, then why would anyone
else have to own it. It was kept up by Frank.

An abandoned house whose owners were murdered would go to their
estate, and with no known heirs (Tom's existence would have been kept
secret), the ownership would presumably have reverted to a real estate
company or the government. It wouln't be left ownerless. In any case,
we know that there were three subsequent owners, at least two of them
Muggles. The first two families tried to live there but evidently
regarded it as a haunted house and quickly sold it. The third never
lived there but reputedly kept it "for tax purposes." The impression
created by those words is that the current absentee owner is a rich
Muggle, but people on this board have speculated that it's really
Lucius Malfoy, who has kept it for LV all these years. I personally
can't imagine Lucius "lowering" himself to pose as a Muggle or
succeeding in the attempt. (Lucius with a Muggle haircut and a
business suit, negotiating with Muggle real estate agents and
purchasing the house with Muggle money? Or Lucius using Muggle post
and writing checks drawn on a Muggle bank to buy the house and pay
Frank's wages?)

Anyway, here's the relevant passage:

"[After the murders,] Frank did not leave. He stayed to tend the
garden for the next family who lived in the Riddle House, and then the
next--for neither family stayed long. . . . The wealthy man who owned
the Riddle House these days neither lived there nor put it to any use;
they said in the village that he kept it 'for tax resaons,' though
nobody was very clear what these might be. The wealthy owner continued
to pay Frank to do the gardening. . . ." (GoF Am. ed., 4-5)

All we know for sure is that, yes, the house had subsequent owners and
the current one is an absentee owner. That person seems to be a Muggle
but his reasons for buying the house aren't entirely clear: the "tax
reasons" sound like speculation on the part of the Little
Hangletonians rather than a real motive for purchasing a "creepy" and
decrepit old manor house. Since the owner pays Frank (in Muggle
money), IMO he probably is really a Muggle. He could, however, be a
sinister Muggle with WW connections, or even a Muggle-born wizard with
connections to both the Muggle world and the WW. But it's hard to
imagine a Muggle or Muggle-born wizard wanting to return the House to
LV as his "rightful heritage"--or LV wanting to own the house that
reminds him of the Muggle heritage he was denied. I personally think
that he needed to be near his father's grave to obtain his bone and
the deserted house was a good place to hide until he could achieve
that purpose, but I don't see how he or Malfoy could legally own it.

Anyway, you have the quote and my speculations. Draw your own conclusions.

Carol