[HPforGrownups] Diary!Tom Not So Separate From Voldemort

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 104771

Entropy wrote:

> 
> >I just noticed this seemingly innocent bit on JKRowling.com, and I
> >think it deserves a second look.  It's in the FAQ section, and goes
> >like this:
> >
> >Q:  "In 'Chamber of Secrets' , what would have happened if Ginny 
> had
> >died and Tom Riddle had escaped the diary?"
> >
> >A:  "I can't answer that fully until all seven books are finished, 
> >but it would have strengthened the present day Voldemort 
> considerably."
> >
> >This struck me, particularly after reading several recent posts 
> here
> >about things such as the prophecy possibly referring to three 
> people
> >(Tom Riddle, Harry and Voldemort).  I think  JKR has given us a 
> hint
> >regarding the connection between Diary!Tom and Voldemort.  Lots of 
> us
> >have come to see Diary!Tom as an entity separate from Voldemort, a
> >seed planted long ago by Voldemort which has grown, with the 
> unwitting
> >help of Ginny,  to an independent self. 
> >
> >But this answer suggests to me that what happens to Diary!Tom 
> happens
> >to Voldemort. It suggests that they are one (in essence divided,
> >perhaps? Ack!, don't get me started....)
> 
> My first thought was this: Did 16 y.o. Tom Riddle choose to 
> sacrifice something in his search for immortality, something 
> preserved in his 16 y.o. Diary self? Some power perhaps, some 'deal' 
> he made that he secretly reneged on by creating the diary and 
> putting the power into Diary!Tom? 

Jen wrote:

> 
> I read this the opposite way though, Entropy! I think this gives 
> weight to the idea TR was a seperate person who was finally 
> extinguished when Harry killed Diary!Tom. And that makes me think 
> it's plausible for Tom Riddle to be the HBP, and he renounced 
> something about his origins to evolve into Voldemort.
> 
> Jen Reese
> 
> P.S.there's also a new FAQ about why the MOM couldn't send Sirius an 
> owl and follow it to chase him down.
> 
> 
> 
my comment:

I just finished re-reading Chamber of Secrets. After Harry kills Diary!Tom
and is in Dumbledore's office with Ginny and the others, Dumbledore 
says that he wondered how Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny 
when his sources told him Voldemort "*is* currently in hiding in the 
forests of Albania." (My emphasis on the word *is*). Dumbledore then 
explains to Mrs. Weasley about Tom Riddle, the student who eventually 
became Voldemort.

So Voldemort of the present, the entity who hitched a ride on the back
of Quirrell's head, is in Albania as events unfold in Chamber of Secrets,
while Tom Riddle, the entity preserved in the diary, is at Hogwarts
trying to regain his corporeal form by sucking the life force out of
Ginny. This seems to me pretty conclusive proof that, no matter
how they are connected, Voldemort and Tom Riddle are in fact two
separate entities.

Which does make me wonder what JKR meant by saying Voldemort
would have been strengthened considerably by Ginny's death. Does
it mean Tom would have merged with his older "self," providing the 
present day Voldemort with a youthful body again?

I think it also means that *if* Tom Riddle shows up again in some 
form (maybe he hid some other object besides the diary on Hogwart
grounds), he will not be Voldemort, because Voldemort now exists
separately from Tom Riddle. In which case JKR's comment that 
Voldemort is not the Half Blood Prince does not rule out Tom Riddle,
since he exists separately. In fact, it seems like the exact kind of 
word game JKR enjoys ;-)

I don't know if Tom Riddle will be the Half Blood Prince, or if he will 
be part of the prophecy, but if Tom Riddle has a part to play, I do
think it will be one separate from Voldemort's part. And, as I recall,
JKR has said we will see more of Tom Riddle, hasn't she?

Juli


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]