COS - Riddle's Orphanage; Legimency

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 121405


gelite67 wrote:

> I'm re-reading and I have two questions.
> 
> 1) Is anyone curious as to why Riddle was in a Muggle orphanage 
> instead of being adopted by a wizarding family?  Maybe it was only 
an 
> option in his later years, but it looks like the wizarding world 
> would have encouraged that, rather than have a wizard raised by 
> Muggles. (This of course, is in sharp contrast to the fact DD said 
> many wizarding families would have taken Harry in.)

Meri here: I always assumed that the reason he was sent to a Muggle 
orphanage was because no one knew he was a wizard after his mother 
died. She was, IIRC, a witch who was spurned by her husband (Tom, 
Sr.) when he found out what she was. Mrs. Riddle then gave birth to 
her son and died, leaving baby Tom with nothing but a name because I 
am assuming that his mother had no family. I'm guessing that, like 
Harry, he had no idea who he really was until the Hogwarts letter 
came. There at school he probably found out who his parents were and 
that, of course, led to his killing of his dad and grandparents. And 
as to why no WW family volunteered to take baby Tom while many would 
have raised Harry as their own, I think the answer to that is fairly 
simple: Harry was the Boy Who Lived and Tom was just some random 
baby. As much as I hate to write it, people's compassion is not 
always evenly applied, and taking in the baby that defeated LV is 
much more attractive than taking in some random foundling. 

Meri - hoping she did not insult anyone who adopts, is adopted or is 
thinking about adopting...