Uncle Tom?

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 166942

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "fireflyseason2" <lydiafrench at ...> wrote:

> What if Harry and Tom are related? I'm thinking that perhaps Harry's
> muggle mother's family and Tom's muggle father's side of the family
> could be connected. Does anyone recall if the books mention the color
> of Tom's father's eyes? A large point is made of the fact that Harry
> has his mothers brilliant green eyes and even JKR has said that is
> important. I'm thinking that if they were related by blood that could
> also explain why Tom's curse on Harry back fired so badly. What do you
> think?

Geoff:
I would tend to disagree with your suggestion that Tom and Harry 
are related. Largely because of what we are told - or not told - in 
canon.

First, when Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall meet in 
Privet Drive just after the Godric's Hollow incident"

'"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going 
to tell me why you're here, of all places?"
"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only 
family he has left now."'
(PS "The Boy Who lIved" p.15 UK edition)

This is reinforced later in a conversation between Dumbledore and 
Harry:

'"...I put my trust, therefore, in your mother's blood. I delivered you 
to her sister, her only remaining relative."
"She doesn't love me," said Harry at once. "She doesn't give a damn -"
"But she took you"...'
(OOTP "The Lost Prophecy" p.736-37 UK edition)

Way back, not long after OOTP came out, there was a lot of discussion 
regarding Mark Evans, a boy mentioned in the opening chapter and the 
theory was put forward that he might be a distant relative of Harry 
until JKR denied a link. At the time, I wrote a post (85255) in which I 
suggested that there could be other relatives but they would have to 
be sufficiently distant across the family tree to be unknown. I 
discovered a distant cousin a year or so ago linked about four 
generations back about whom I had known nothing. So it is possible 
that Harry and Tom could be related very distantly but I doubt that 
any such close link exists.

Again, I think that the physical likenesses we are given are very few.
In the similarities which Riddle draws between them in COS, most of 
them are to do with background:

'"Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only 
two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin 
himself. we even look something alike..."
(OOTP "The Heir of Slytherin" p.233 UK edition)

Even the physical llikeness is thrown in almost as an aside. I find 
no reference to green eyes in descriptions of Riddle but I haven't 
looked exhaustively. Finally, on this point, the only link seems to 
be dark hair. Riddle is apparently handsome, Harry is not:

'There on the threshold, holding an old-fashioned lamp, stood a boy 
Harry recognised at once: tall, pale, dark-haired and handsome - the 
teenage Voldemort.'
(HBP "A Sluggish Memory" p.340 UK edition)

'Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes.'
(PS "The Vanishing Glass" p.20 UK edition)

'Harry, on the other hand, was small and skinny, with brilliant green eyes
and jet-black hair that was always untidy.'
(COS "The Worst Birthday" p.9 UK edition)

My personal interpretation of the evidence is that, unless JKR specifically
reveals a link in DH, I see no substantive suggestion of a blood-line link 
between Harry and Voldemort in what we can glean from existing canon.