» PROFILE.
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
t h e l e g e n d
Before the rise of the Dark Lord, before Voldemort's name was feared above all, and before Lily Potter died in an attempt to protect her son from the Avada Kedavra curse, there was Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Born in a quiet and dingy orphanage in London, Tom's mother, a pureblood witch and a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin, died shortly after giving birth to her son. His father, a Muggle, had long since abandoned her, and because of this, Tom was left to grow up in the orphanage along with the other parentless children. At the age of 11, he would meet Albus Dumbledore and be enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and would go on to earn the title of prefect and, in his 7th year, the much respected title of Head Boy.
... And then, of course, upon graduating, Tom would embark on a path that would turn him into one of the most powerful Dark Wizards of all time.
To understand Tom, one has to understand his two sides -- the one that Dumbledore saw the day he first met Tom, of a disturbed and power-hungry and deeply angry little boy, and the side that the rest of Hogwarts saw, of a polite and charismatic young man. Throughout his years at Hogwarts, Tom was seen as a brilliant student, and Dumbledore himself would even later comment that he was probably "the most brilliant student that Hogwarts had ever seen."
He excelled in all of his studies, charmed nearly all of his professors, and was respected and admired greatly among the other students attending Hogwarts. It's not difficult to understand how this was all possible, however; even at such a young age, Tom was very good at getting people to do what he wanted them to do and getting them to believe exactly what he wanted to believe. Though charming and handsome and respectable on the outside, Tom was -- in reality -- as manipulative and cunning and murderous at the age of 17 that he would be at the time of his death, years and years later.
Above all, more than anything, and perhaps more than his fear of death or dying, Tom Riddle feared and loathed Albus Dumbledore, and with good reason. Dumbledore was the only person who saw that true side of him, the day he met Tom in the orphanage, the day Tom let too much of his real personality slip out into the open. Because of this, Dumbledore was also the only professor in the entire school that he did not try to get into the good graces of. Instead, if anything, he avoided him where he could, his perfect mask of collected calm and poised elegance faltering just barely whenever he was in his immediate presence.
Dumbledore, upon meeting Tom, had caught a glimpse of the cruelty and viciousness that Lord Voldemort would later display, and Tom, not willing to part from his well-mannered and polite alias just yet, would hate him for it. Years later, after he'd imprinted a memory of his 16-year-old self in his diary, Harry Potter would come across this memory and tell Tom that he was not, in fact, the greatest wizard of all time, that Dumbledore was, and much like a spoiled child, Tom would reply heatedly, "Dumbledore has been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"
Wishful thinking, perhaps.
Tom Riddle is as arrogant and as proud as his ill-tempered grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, had been, and is as cruel as any heartless creature could be. Tom is incapable of loving another human being, is incapable of seeing past his own massive superiority complex, and is especially incapable of accepting the idea of death. His fear of death is what drove him to rip his soul apart in the first place, and his dream of standing all powerful and all ruling over the wizarding world is a dream that he carried close to heart even during his years at Hogwarts. Tom cannot accept death because he believes he is better than death, that he is above dying, and at 16, he would already begin his journey in creating his Horcruxes.
In fact, at the age of 16, he would have already murdered a fellow student, along with his father and grandparents, and would have already framed two other people for the murders. For his father's death, he would frame his uncle, and for the death of Myrtle, a student at Hogwarts, and for the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, he would blame Rubeous Hagrid. Tom earned an award for "catching" Hagrid, and Hagrid, wrongly framed for Tom's crimes, would be expelled from the school. While Hagrid left Hogwarts disgraced, Tom's popularity among the staff and students would only grow.
While self-sufficient and painfully brilliant, Tom is essentially unstable; he's a sociopath who feels very little remorse for anything that he has done and for anything that he will do in the future. He cares for no one, has no friends but himself, and the people that he does surround himself with are nothing more than pawns. He uses people to get what he wants, squeezes out of them everything he would ever need, and then carelessly casts them aside once he's finished. He does not love and is incapable of understanding the concept of love, and this -- according to the opinions of a choice few -- is perhaps his greatest flaw.
This sociopathic behavior, however, does not keep him from being a supremely good actor. The only reason Tom even had followers during his years at Hogwarts was because he was so very good at pretending to care, at luring people into his grasp and holding onto them tight. Well-spoken, handsome, and exceedingly polite, Tom easily pulled wool over a great number of people's eyes while dirtying his hands just out of their direct line of sight. His hatred for Muggles and his rather racist opinion on half-bloods would go unnoticed and unknown by the majority of the staff and students at Hogwarts.
To most, he was the perfect student and a perfect gentleman.
To those in his inner circle, he was the perfect ringleader, capable of amazing feats and abilities.
To himself, he was Godlike and superior, deserving of a power that the world had never seen before, deserving of immortality and greatness. Tom does not doubt himself, does not doubt his actions or regret them in the least, and though at 17, while as cruel and as merciless as his older counterpart, he has not become Lord Voldemort just yet. He's still all smiles and perfect grades, still working in the background to secure his place in the wizarding world, still working hard to split his soul and create five more Horcruxes.
So while Tom Riddle may be as heinous and as evil as Lord Voldemort was the day he faced off with Harry Potter for the last time, he is particularly more careful, a tad bit more subtle, and more of the type to blend into the background and observe rather than attempt anything drastic just yet. He's patient, he has time, and sooner or later, he will burn his mark into the wizarding world so no one will ever, ever dare to forget his name.
But not yet.
"Voldemort is my past, my present, and my future."
ABILITIES
t h e p o w e r
While not as powerful as his Lord Voldemort counterpart, young Tom Riddle is certainly an extraordinary and frighteningly capable wizard. He received excellent marks in school and eventually became a prefect and Head Boy as a result of them, but his studies far from ended in the classroom. Tom spent a good majority of his freetime in Hogwarts studying magics and complex spells that a wizard his age wasn't allowed to perform. Even at the age of 11, Tom had already shown spectacular ability in being able to control his powers and in using them against people he disliked.
Tom, in his own words, can "make things move without touching them," can make animals do what he wants them to do, and can make "bad things happen" to the people who annoy him. He says to Dumbledore that he can "make them hurt," if he wants to. Being a Parselmouth, Tom can also communicate with all sorts of different snakes, and he was able to command the basilisk locked away in the Chamber of Secrets to attack students throughout the school.
Aside from that, Tom also used the Avada Kedavra curse numerous times at the age of 16 to murder his father and his grandparents. He has an extensive knowledge of the Dark Arts and is capable of utilizing and using a number of spells that a boy his age should not even know of. Tom is also exceptional at reading people; he can tell when people are lying to him, can read through them as easily as if they were transparent, and can command them to tell him the truth.
Tom is also one of the only wizards mentioned in the Harry Potter series who has successfully created more than one Horcrux. By the time he graduated from Hogwarts, Tom would have already created two of his seven Horcruxes. Tom is a fast learner, catches onto things very quickly, and can perform most complex spells without even breaking a sweat. He's sharp and intelligent, manipulative and deceptive, and truly, one of the most powerful Dark Wizards of all time.
OTHER
t h e s e c r e t
BASICS
LEGAL NAME Tom Marvolo Riddle
ALSO KNOWN AS He Who Must Not Be Named, You Know Who, Lord Voldemort, The Dark Lord
BORN December 31st, 1926
AGE 17-years-old
HAIR Black
EYES Brown
HEIGHT at least 5'10"
SKIN Pale
BELONGINGS
Tom brought his diary, Marvolo Gaunt's ring, his wand, and his robes along with him to Nuadoria.
PULLED IN
During his 7th year at Hogwarts, after he's already constructed two of his eventual seven Horcruxes.
RELATIONSHIPS
» CANON.
Bellatrix Lestrange - ♞
Regulus Black - ✗
» NON-CANON.
None.
CREDIT
t h e a c t u a l
profile codes: palebird.