The Riddles' Murders (WAS: The only one he ever feared?

[ginnysthe1]

No: HPFGUIDX 117549


Kim had written the following somewhat erroneous passage:

>But then the deaths of three Riddles from Avada Kedavras would 
surely have been considered "harm to Muggles," as you (JP?) say. 
Besides that, the MoM Improper Use Office would have noticed the 
three AKs in Little Hangleton because Tom Riddle Jr. (young Lord 
Voldemort) *was* underage at the time (at least it appears from canon 
that he was either 16 or 17). (Which leads to another question which 
may have been asked many times before -- what age is "of age" for 
wizards? (Sorry, my brain is a little swiss-cheesy today)<

Then Magda responded apparently at the same time that Kim was posting 
no. 117546 where Kim conceded "defeat":

>I think we should keep in mind the possibility that a lot of the MOM
activities we see in the series were put in place AFTER Vold War I,
when the MoM had wised up to what kind of bad stuff was possible if
they weren't monitoring things.<

>An interesting topic of conversation might be the careful way Tom
Riddle worked to become powerful by working on the weak points of his
society. The WW doesn't seem to have much in the way of policing or
regular monitoring even now. In earlier days I suppose there was
even less activity. The emphasis of wizard government seems to be
protecting wizards from muggles and allowing them to be secluded and
protected from prying eyes. Tom Riddle was able to take advantage of
these gaps and commit murder almost with impunity.<

Hi, Magda (et al.) from Kim:

I agree with you, that monitoring practices must have changed after 
the first Vold War (whoever thought that phrase up deserves a gold 
star!) but they sure aren't up to snuff even now.  Voldemort's 
emissary Quirrell had a pretty easy time getting a job at Hogwarts -- 
haven't they heard of background checks?  And once it became clear 
that Voldemort's "ghost" might be involved in the theft of the SS, 
you'd think they'd have gone to much more stringent measures than 
enchanting the passage to the room where it was being kept and 
letting a potentially suspect newbie contribute to those 
enchantments.  Then again, too much restructuring of the ways of the 
WW might make for an awfully boring story.  
 
Also, your second paragraph brings to mind a particular real 
world "bad guy" who's been in the news a lot the last few years and 
who also succeeded in using the weak points of a society to wreak 
destructive havoc.  But for my part, I'd rather not say his 
name... ;o) 

Cheers, Kim