[HBP] Why didn't Voldemort Modify Hagrid's Memory?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 190185

Bart wrote:
>      How about Riddle was younger, and not as skilled a wizard at the time?
> 
Carol responds:

I thought about that, too, but it can't be right. The attack on Myrtle occurs near the end of Tom's fifth year and the murder of his parents (when he alters Morfin's memory) the following summer, perhaps no more than a few weeks later.

Setting aside the fact that JKR needed Hagrid as a character throughout the series, so, for plot reasons, she couldn't have his memory wiped, I'll tentatively go with Tom fearing that he would get caught if he tried such a trick at Hogwarts, whereas he was sure that he could get away with it in Morfin's case. (Morfin clearly lived alone, for one thing.) Also, Tom's action in murdering his father wasn't part of his initial plan. It--and the inspiration to alter Morfin's memory and pin the blame on him--occurred quite suddenly when Morfin revealed more information than was good for him.

I suspect that Tom (who could create a Horcrux and did so soon afterward) was quite capable of modifying Hagrid's memory but figured that he could easily trick the "oaf" into thinking that Aragog was guilty without any memory modification being needed. As for Hagrid's being half-giant, I don't think Tom knew that, and if he had known, I doubt that it would have deterred him, giants being both stupid and, in his view, inferior beings incapable of resisting his powerful magic.

Carol, glad that someone has come up with a question we haven't discussed before (to my recollection)