A Dastardly *Riddle* plan for hiding Horcruxes

[Jen Reese]

I just realized it doesn't fit the timeline of the story to say 
Regulus or any of the younger generation DE's were involved in 
hiding the locket. Or were anywhere near the cave, for that matter 
(except for the first intruder). "Do not forget that Lord Voldemort 
believes that he alone knows about his Horcruxes." (chap. 26, p. 
569, US)

We already speculatively know Voldemort's pattern for hiding the 
Horcruxes: 

1) The diary was made by 16-year old Tom and hidden by Voldemort for 
many years until he passed it to Lucius right before his fall. The 
only question I have is, who did he murder to make the diary? I feel 
like he definitely used the ring for his father's death b/c it was a 
Slytherin artifact, the lineage he claimed instead of his Muggle 
Riddle line. Do most people think the murder for the diary Horcrux 
was Myrtle? I think it must be, even though an indirect murder.

2) The ring Horcrux was made after the death of Tom Riddle Sr. and 
stored in the Gaunt house because "once Voldemort had succeeded in 
sealing a piece of his soul inside it....he did not want to wear it 
anymore." (chap. 23, p. 504) Harry saw Riddle wearing the ring while 
talking to Slughorn, so my guess is he figured out how to make a 
Horcrux shortly after that and sealed the diary and ring.

3) The locket Horcrux would have been made after murdering Hepzibah 
Smith, which would put Riddle in his 20's & right out of Hogwarts. 
Why wouldn't he follow his already established pattern and hide the 
locket in the cave shortly after?

More evidence for this is the fact that Dumbledore can tell the 
magic in the cave is 'Riddle's style'. I think the whole point of 
the cave expedition was to teach Harry how to recognize and defeat 
Voldemort's obstacles around the other Horcruxes.

The last reason I see for Voldemort hiding his Horcruxes alone, esp. 
the locket which identified him as Heir of Slytherin, is that as 
early as age 11 Riddle "was already highly self-sufficient, 
secretive, and apparently friendless...he did not want help....he 
preferred to operate alone." (chap. 13, p. 277) 

We have incomplete information since we don't know how the other 
Horcruxes were made or where they were hidden. But it doesn't fit 
with LV's paranoid nature to randomly hand out Horcruxes. The diary 
was different because Voldemort expected to use it as both a weapon 
and a Horcrux, but I don't think his collection of 'trophies' would 
be allowed out of his hands.

Jen