COS - Riddle's Orphanage; Legimency

[gelite67]

No: HPFGUIDX 121464


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "meriaugust" <meriaugust at y...> 
wrote:
> 
> 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?  

 <snip> 
> 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.  <snip>
 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...

Angie replies:

Yes, I'm sure it would have been bragging point for the wizarding 
family that took Harry in, but shame on the wizarding world if that's 
the reason for not taking Riddle in!  It looks to me like the school 
would have an obligation, if "only" a moral obligation, to try to 
find Riddle a wizarding home.  They knew where he lived -- they sent 
his letters to him.  And of course, all of this begs the question of 
how it was explained to the orphanage where Riddle went during the 
schoolyear.