[mlwl]

Please discuss the essay Riddle of the Orphanage in this thread.


Biography:
Chris Jordan became a Harry Potter fan at age 37, reading the books to his four children. He works as a graphic designer and advertising copywriter in Salt Lake City. Like every writer, Chris hopes to one day
write the American version of Harry Potter and strike it rich. Meanwhile, he's happy just reading Jo's books to his kids...


Abstract
Dumbledore said Tom Riddle would have to return to the orphanage every summer at the very least. Could this be yet another parallel between Harry and Voldemort? Was Tom Riddle protected at the orphanage like Harry is at the Dursleys?


You are invited to read Cudgemore's essay here.

This post has been edited by AnguaTLC: 30 January 2008 - 01:46 AM

[Arianhrod]

Very nicely done, Cudgemoore!

I believe that Tom Riddle did have a hand in Grindelwald's death, if not his defeat. (I think those are two separate events. Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in 1945, but Tom killed him later. IMO, that was after he got the information he needed about Horcruxes from him.) But I'm not sure that there was another prophecy. I'm not saying it's impossible, only that we haven't heard about it. With only one book to go, you'd think we would have heard something about that by now.

[WaggaWaggaWerewolf]

What an interesting essay! And what a new insight! And you could be right, that there could have been a danger either to Tom Riddle, himself, or to those he spent time with.

But I think that there was no alternative for Tom Riddle than to send him back to the orphanage each summer. You see, Hogwarts is/was a boarding school, not unlike boarding schools everywhere, probably with no staff around to supervise, while they all went on holidays. The administrative staff, like Madame Pomfrey, Irma Pince, Hagrid or Argus Filch might have stayed. We've seen how competent Filch has been. Those who were doomed to stay over would not be supervised anywhere near as closely as they were in term time, and this could lead to disaster, even with a well-meaning child like Harry Potter, let alone a vengeful bully like Tom Riddle.

It would be wonderful to know what the exact role, if any, would Tom Riddle have been willing to play to defeat Grindelwald. Wouldn't he rather have joined Grindelwald?

This post has been edited by WaggaWaggaWerewolf: 03 June 2006 - 05:11 AM

[hippiechyck]

great essay and neat paralells!

I believe that Tom Riddle did have a hand in Grindelwald's death, if not his defeat. (I think those are two separate events. Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in 1945, but Tom killed him later. IMO, that was after he got the information he needed about Horcruxes from him.)

i'll agree with Ari here though...but Tom definately could have finished him off

[fluffy333]

great essay and a few eye-openers.

I just accepted DD's word on Merope just giving up her son, but a self-sacrifice (not to use magic etc) would make it neater, as it ties in with the 'it's our choices that define us' (our as in opposed to other peoples'). anyways, i really liked that train of thought there.

[k_dance28]

Excellent essay!
I really love what you brought up about Merope's protection. That seems entirely possible--and that would certaintly be quite a strong parallel between Harry and Voldemort.
As for the prophecy, I'm not sure I believe there was another prophecy. If you are assuming that Dumbledore knew about this other prophecy, I'd find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have also told Harry about this when he was showing/telling Harry about Tom's past. But I have to admit that if there is another prophecy and Tom killed Grindlewald, that would be one of the most striking parallels between Harry and Tom.
Again great essay. I loved your closing paragraph ending with what really matters---the big difference b/w Harry and Voldemort---love

[Witherwings]

Great essay, Cudgemoore! It had never ocurred to me that Merope possibly stopped using magic to avoid detection, so that her baby could be born in peace. Very thought-provoking.

[jensenly]

Well done! I never caught that Riddle returned each year to the orphanage. Your theory on Merope not using magic (so as to not be detected) is an excellent explanation for her unwillingness to save herself.

One note - you write "It's not a stretch to believe that Marvolo and Morfin would have rather killed Merope than let her give birth to a mudblood." Wouldn't Merope's baby be a half-blood, not mudblood?

[fluffy333]

Well done! I never caught that Riddle returned each year to the orphanage. Your theory on Merope not using magic (so as to not be detected) is an excellent explanation for her unwillingness to save herself.

One note - you write "It's not a stretch to believe that Marvolo and Morfin would have rather killed Merope than let her give birth to a mudblood." Wouldn't Merope's baby be a half-blood, not mudblood?

mudblood (dirty blood) can probably apply to both muggleblood and halfblood, especially for Slytherins anything that's not pure blood.

[scamper]

Very well done! I loved the essay. Some things seem a bit unlikely, like the prophecy regarding LV. But you raise a really good point about what Morfin was afraid of. But the best part is the ending. It is just as Dumbledore tells Harry in CoS - Harry and LV are very similar, but the thing that made Harry different from LV is that Harry made different choices. And ofcourse the biggest choice of all - the choice between love and hate!