Sharing names - Heritage

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 98718

Geoff:
> > "'You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name for
> > ever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin 
> > himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, 
> > common, Muggle who abandoned me even before I was born, just 
> > because he found out his /wife/ was a witch? (my emphasis)'"
> > 
> > Tom Riddle to Harry (COS UK edition p.231)"

Wanda: 
> I stand corrected.  Well, in that case, it was illogical writing on 
> Rowling's part.  <snip>  A wife has power, a mistress has none.  
> And there's no reason for the state to take care of an "orphan" if 
> he has a legal father or other relatives to do so, so Tom could not 
> have ended up in an orphanage the way she describes.
> 


SSSusan:
I disagree.  There are ways that a child can end up in the care of 
the state even if he/she has a biological parent still alive.  Tom 
Sr. might have refused to care for the child, he might have abused 
him, or might even have claimed that the child wasn't his--that Tom's 
mother had had an affair.  (Who would be there to deny it?  Do they 
do blood tests in the WW?)  Tom Jr. might well have been put into the 
only place where he could receive care:  an orphanage.  

Siriusly Snapey Susan