Delayed twin? Maybe a SPOILER

[jotwo2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 113454

I usually just visit the text only version of the JKR website, 
because it's easier for my computer and for me.  I know there are 
supposed to be goodies you can find on the interactive site but I 
don't really know how you do this.  I've recently read that one of 
the latest things that have been found on the site is some 
notes/doodlings, which fans are feverishly deciphering for clues.  I 
read that someone thought they saw the words "delayed twins" among 
these scribbles.  Is this correct?  If so, I have a MASSIVE SPOILER 
THEORY.

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I've checked on the web and there is such a thing as delayed twins 
(or delayed interval delivery) in real life.  This is when one twin 
is born first and then labour (or labor in the US) stops and the 
second twin is born later.  Apparently the longest known gap was 95 
days and happened in Louisiana.  One baby was born in 1994 and the 
other in 1995.  In the past the first twin usually died because it 
was too premature but these days it is not unknown for both babies to 
survive.   Anyway the point is that delayed twins can happen.  As JKR 
has allegedly written the phrase delayed twins, this is further 
evidence for my big idea that Tom Marvolo Riddle was one of a set of 
twins.

I previously speculated about this idea that Voldemort had a twin 
before.  I am re-posting this earlier message in full.

"Now JKR's announced the title of book 6 and said it has connections 
to COS I've been following the debate about who the titular character 
is and I began re-reading COS for clues.  In chapter 2, Dobby's 
Warning, I found the following passages:

'Hang on - this hasn't got anything to do with Vol - sorry - I mean 
You Know Who, has it?  You could just shake or nod,' he [Harry] added 
hastily, as Dobby's head tilted worryingly close to the wall again.
Slowly, Dobby shook his head.
'Not - not He Who Must Not Be Named, sir.'
But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry a 
hint.  Harry, however, was completely at sea.
'He hasn't got a brother, has he?'
Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever.

Now, this sparked a crazy, long shot theory but one which I'd like to 
patent.  Dobby shaking his head and widening his eyes is his way of 
saying yes, it is Voldemort.  JKR states categorically that Dobby is 
giving a hint.  And of course she confirms this at the end when Dobby 
says he did mean Voldemort:

"It was a clue sir,' said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this 
was obvious. 'Dobby was giving you a clue.' (Chapter 18 Dobby's 
Reward).

As Dobby makes exactly the same gestures to Harry's second question 
then maybe this also means yes.  Yes, Voldemort does have a brother.  
Who could this brother be?  Tom Riddle is a half blood.  Presumably 
his brother is a half blood.  The Half Blood Prince?
	Dobby is in a position to know if Voldemort has a brother.  
He serves the Malfoys so he is privy to what they know.  Lucius 
Malfoy knows Voldemort's true parentage and identity.  If anyone 
would know of the existence of a brother, it would be him.
	Also JKR did state in the March 4th 2004 chat, "You will find 
out more about the circumstances of his [Voldemort's] birth in the 
next book."  Was he a twin?  
	There are some snags to this theory.  One is that Dumbledore 
states that Voldemort is the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin.  
However, this does not rule out the possibility that there were once 
other descendants.  Voldemort's brother could have died before COS.  
(Maybe Voldemort killed him.  He wiped out his paternal grandparents, 
the Riddles, and his father, Tom, so he's got form.)  If this 
putative long lost brother is the Half Blood Prince then maybe Harry 
will find out about him rather than meet him.  Or perhaps he could go 
back in time and meet him.  JKR was asked once if Harry would time 
travel again and she said, "Not telling".  She was asked too if Harry 
would become an animagi and she gave a straightforward no as an 
answer.  As she was cagey about the time travel question perhaps she 
did not want to give away a plot twist.  Also she re-introduced time 
turners in the Department of Mysteries in OOP, which has made people 
speculate that one will be used again at some point in book 6 or 7.
	Another possible flaw is if Tom Riddle has a brother, why is 
he living in a Muggle orphanage, if his brother is the HBP?  I can't 
think of a good reason.  However there are literary precedents for  
separated siblings e. g. two sets of twins in The Comedy of Errors, 
so it is not unknown in fiction.
	I won't go into the discussion about whether the HBP 
literally is a Prince as it's been covered elsewhere.  The only 
mention of the word Prince so far in HP has been metaphorical.  It 
was in OOP when Dumbledore said Harry had not turned up at Hogwarts 
as a "pampered little prince".  Maybe Voldemort's putative brother 
just had a privileged upbringing."

In reply to this post I got 2 responses.  One pointed out that the 
name Thomas actually means twin.  The other said there was a Mark 
Twain story about twins separated at birth, whose names were Tom and 
Chamber.

Since I originally posted I'd moved towards the idea that the Half-
Blood Prince was Godric Gryffindor or a character that we have not 
been introduced to yet.  Maybe I was right in the first place.  

Even if Voldemort's long-lost twin is not the Half-Blood Prince, I 
would not be at all surprised now if in book 6 we find out that Tom 
was a twin.

JoTwo