Tom Marvolo Riddle Era Timeline, Timelines Part II
I have written this out for my own amusement and as a resource for those who write Tom Riddle school fic and Tom Riddle Time Travel fic, of which I have read a lot lately. And that has made me ask the question, what do we know, canonically, about Tom Riddle’s school days?
All page number references are from the British Bloomsbury editions of the books.
PS = Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
CoS = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
PoA = Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
GoF = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
OotP = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
HP = Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
DH = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Tom Marvolo Riddle - 31st of December 1926. ‘New Year's Eve and bitter cold, snowing’ (HBP, p. 249) Attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 1938-1945.
In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened (CoS, p. 180)
‘[T]he Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago’ (CoS, p. 102)
‘Well, this Hallowe'en will be my five hundredth deathday,’ said Nearly Headless Nick’ (CoS, p. 99)
‘Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington died 31st October, 1492’ (CoS, p. 102)
Minerva McGonagall - 4th of October. A Gryffindor. In the summer after GoF was published JKR said that she was ‘a sprightly 70’ (JKR interview). GoF ended canonically in the summer of 1995. This puts Minerva McGonagall at the age of Tom Riddle. She is described as“[s]trict and clever” (PS, p. 99)
Filius Flitwick - 17th of October. A Ravenclaw. He was in the same year as Minerva McGonagall at Hogwarts (Pottermore). Filius Flitwick is described as “a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk.” (PS, p. 99)
Pomona Sprout - 15th of May. A Hufflepuff. She shared two school years with Minerva McGonagall at Hogwarts, either the two first or the two last (Pottermore). Pomona Sprout is described as“a dumpy little witch” (PS, p. 99).
Subjects:
All first-years at Hogwarts must take seven subjects: Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology. Flying lessons (on broomsticks) are also compulsory.
At the end of their second year at Hogwarts, students are required to choose a minimum of two more subjects from the following list: Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures.
Very specialised subjects such as Alchemy are sometimes offered in the final two years, if there is sufficient demand. (Pottermore)
I can imagine that Alchemy was offered as a subject in the final two school years of Tom Marvolo Riddle at Hogwarts.
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with
making the Philospher's Stone, a legendary
substance with astonishing powers. The Stone
will transform any metal into pure gold. It also
produces the Elixir of Life, which will make
the drinker immortal (PS, p. 161)
Professors
Transfiguration: Albus Dumbledore (CoS, p. 230) - “[A] tall wizard with long, sweeping auburn hair and beard” (CoS, p. 183)
Potions: Horace Slughorn (HBP, p. 462) - “There was the much younger Horace Slughorn, with his thick, shiny, straw-coloured hair and his gingery-blond moustache” (HPB, p. 462). “He was not quite as rotund as the Slughorn Harry knew, though the golden buttons on his richly embroidered waistcoat were taking a fair amount of strain.” (HPB, p. 345)
History of Magic: Most likely Professor Binns - “Ancient and shrivelled, many people said he hadn’t noticed he was dead. He had simply got up to teach one day and left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the staff-room fire” (CoS, p. 112-113)
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Galatea Merrythought - ‘Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was being taught at the time by an old Professor by the name of Galatea Merrythought, who had been at Hogwarts for nearly fifty years.’ (OotP, p. 405)
Herbology: Herbert Beery - “Our then Herbology master, Professor Herbert Beery, an enthusiastic devotee of amateur dramatics, proposed an adaptation of this well-beloved children’s tale as a Yuletide treat for staff and students. I was then a young Transfiguration teacher […]” (The Tales of Beedle the Bard, p. 36)
Care of Magical Creatures: Silvanus Kettleburn (PoA, p. 73, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, p. 37) -“Professor Kettleburn survived no fewer than sixty-two periods of probation during his employment as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. His relations with my predecessor at Hogwarts, Professor Dippet, were always strained, Professor Dippet considering him to be somewhat reckless. By the time I became Headmaster, however, Professor Kettleburn had mellowed considerably, although there were always those who took the cynical view that with only one and a half of his original limbs remaining to him, he was forced to take life at a quieter pace.” (The Tales of Beedle the Bard, p. 39)
Headmaster: Armando Dippet (CoS, p. 180) - “A wizened, frail-looking wizard, bald except for a few wisps of white hair” (CoS, p. 181)
Gamekeeper: Ogg - “Mrs Weasley […] reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg.” (GoF, p. 536)
Caretaker: Apollyon Pringle - ‘He got caught by Apollyon Pringle - he was the caretaker in those days - your father’s still got the marks’ (GoF, p. 535)
Heads of Houses
Head of Gryffindor - Albus Dumbledore
Head of Slytherin: Horace Slughorn (HBP, p. 71)
Diagon Alley
The Leaky Cauldron: Tom - 'Ask for Tom the barman - easy enough to remember, as he shares your name -’ (HBP, p. 257)
Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC: Mr. Ollivander - “Mr Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry’s forehead with a long, white finger. ‘I’m sorry to say I sold the wand that did it,’ he said softly. ‘Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands … Well, if I’d have known what that wand was going out into the world to do …’” (PS, p. 64)
Knockturn Alley:
Borgin and Burkes: (HBP, p. 244-245, p. 405)
The Slytherin Common Room
Congratulations! I’m Prefect Gemma Farley, and I’m delighted to welcome you to SLYTHERIN HOUSE. Our emblem is the serpent, the wisest of creatures; our house colours are emerald green and silver, and our common room lies behind a concealed entrance down in the dungeons. As you’ll see, its windows look out into the depths of the Hogwarts lake. We often see the giant squid swooshing by - and sometimes more interesting creatures. We like to feel that our hangout has the aura of a mysterious, underwater shipwreck.
Now, there are a few things you should know about Slytherin - and a few you should forget.
Firstly, let’s dispel a few myths. You might have heard rumours about Slytherin house - that we’re all into the Dark Arts, and will only talk to you if your great-grandfather was a famous wizard, and rubbish like that. Well, you don’t want to believe everything you hear from competing houses. I’m not denying that we’ve produced our share of Dark wizards, but so have the other three houses - they just don’t like admitting it. And yes, we have traditionally tended to take students who come from long lines of witches and wizards, but nowadays you’ll find plenty of people in Slytherin house who have at least one Muggle parent.
Here’s a little-known fact that the other three houses don’t bring up much: Merlin was a Slytherin. Yes, Merlin himself, the most famous wizard in history! He learned all he knew in this very house! Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Merlin? Or would you rather sit at the old desk of that illustrious ex-Hufflepuff, Eglantine Puffett, inventor of the Self-Soaping Dishcloth?
I didn’t think so.
But that’s enough about what we’re not. Let’s talk about what we are, which is the coolest and edgiest house in this school. We play to win, because we care about the honour and traditions of Slytherin.
We also get respect from our fellow students. Yes, some of that respect might be tinged with fear, because of our Dark reputation, but you know what? It can be fun, having a reputation for walking on the wild side. Chuck out a few hints that you’ve got access to a whole library of curses, and see whether anyone feels like nicking your pencil case.
But we’re not bad people. We’re like our emblem, the snake: sleek, powerful, and frequently misunderstood.
For instance, we Slytherins look after our own - which is more than you can say for Ravenclaw. Apart from being the biggest bunch of swots you ever met, Ravenclaws are famous for clambering over each other to get good marks, whereas we Slytherins are brothers. The corridors of Hogwarts can throw up surprises for the unwary, and you’ll be glad you’ve got the Serpents on your side as you move around the school. As far as we’re concerned, once you’ve become a snake, you’re one of ours - one of the elite.
Because you know what Salazar Slytherin looked for in his chosen students? The seeds of greatness. You’ve been chosen by this house because you’ve got the potential to be great, in the true sense of the word. All right, you might see a couple of people hanging around the common room whom you might not think are destined for anything special. Well, keep that to yourself. If the Sorting Hat put them in here, there’s something great about them, and don’t you forget it.
And talking of people who aren’t destined for greatness, I haven’t mentioned the Gryffindors. Now, a lot of people say that Slytherins and Gryffindors represent two sides of the same coin. Personally, I think Gryffindors are nothing more than wannabe Slytherins. Mind you, some people say that Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor prized the same kinds of students, so perhaps we are more similar than we like to think. But that doesn’t mean that we cosy up with Gryffindors. They like beating us only slightly less than we like beating them.
A few more things you might need to know: our house ghost is the Bloody Baron. If you get on the right side of him he’ll sometimes agree to frighten people for you. Just don’t ask him how he got bloodstained; he doesn’t like it.
The password to the common room changes every fortnight. Keep an eye on the noticeboard. Never bring anyone from another house into our common room or tell them our password. No outsider has entered it for more than seven centuries.
Well, I think that’s all for now. I’m sure you’ll like our dormitories. We sleep in ancient four-posters with green silk hangings, and bedspreads embroidered with silver thread. Medieval tapestries depicting the adventures of famous Slytherins cover the walls, and silver lanterns hang from the ceilings. You’ll sleep well; it’s very soothing, listening to the lake water lapping against the windows at night. (Pottermore)
These were also there:
Rubeus Hagrid - A third-year when Tom Riddle was a fifth-year. Rubeus Hagrid was subsequently expelled at the end of his third year. Attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 1940-1943. Dumbledore persuaded the Headmaster, Professor Dippet, to keep Hagrid after his expulsion and train him as gamekeeper. (CoS, p. 230)
Lestrange - ‘Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it’s detention.’ (HBP, p. 463)
Avery - ‘Same goes for you, Avery.’ (HBP, p. 463)
Myrtle Elizabeth Warren - Moaning Myrtle - A Muggle-born, killed by the Basilisk near the end of the 1942-43 school year (CoS, p. 182, p.184, p. 221, JK Rowling tweet May 2015)
Olive Hornby - A girl who bullied Myrtle Warren. She caused her to take refuge in the girl's bathroom where Myrtle was to be killed by the Basilisk (CoS, p. 221)
Lucretia (b. 1925) and Orion Black (b. 1929), and their cousins Walburga (b. 1925), Alphard (born between 1925 and 1929) and Cygnus Black (b. 1929) (Black Family Tree). Possibly also Lucretia's future husband Ignatius Prewett and Cygnus's future wife Druella Rosier. Possibly also First Generation Death Eater Rosier, who may have been Druella Rosier's brother.
This happened:
Tom Marvolo Riddle's first year at Hogwarts - 1st of September 1938 - Summer of 1939.
Tom Marvolo Riddle's second year at Hogwarts - 1st of September 1939 - Summer of 1940.
Tom Marvolo Riddle's third year at Hogwarts - 1st of September 1940 - Summer of 1941.
Tom Marvolo Riddle's fourth year at Hogwarts - 1st of September 1941 - Summer of 1942.
Tom Marvolo Riddle's fifth year at Hogwarts - 1st of September 1942 - Summer of 1943.
Tom Marvolo Riddle's sixth year at Hogwarts - 1st of September 1943 - Summer of 1944.
Tom Marvolo Riddle's seventh year at Hogwarts - 1st of September 1944 - Summer of 1945.
The Chamber of Secrets is opened for the first time - In the school year 1942-43, Tom Riddle’s fifth year (CoS, p. 180)
The disastrous school performance of The Fountain of Fair Fortune, an attempt to introduce a Christmas pantomime to Hogwarts’ festive celebrations - “Our then Herbology master, Professor Herbert Beery, an enthusiastic devotee of amateur dramatics, proposed an adaptation of this well-beloved children’s tale as a Yuletide treat for staff and students. I was then a young Transfiguration teacher, and Herbert assigned me to ‘special effects’, which included providing a fully functioning Fountain of Fair Fortune and a miniature grassy hill, up which our three heroines and hero would appear to march, while it sank slowly into the stage and out sight. I think I may say, without vanity, that both my Fountain and my Hill performed the parts allotted to them with simple goodwill. Alas, that the same could not be said of the rest of the cast. Ignoring for a moment the antics of the gigantic ‘Worm’ provided by our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, the human element provided disastrous to the show. Professor Beery, in his role of director, had been dangerously oblivious to the emotional entanglements seething under his very nose. Little did he know that the students playing Amata and Sir Luckless had been boyfriend and girlfriend until hour before the curtain rose, at which point ‘Sir Luckless’ transferred his affections to ‘Asha’. Suffice is to say that our seekers after Fair Fortune never made it to the top of the Hill. The curtain had barely risen when Professor Kettleburn’s ‘Worm’ - now revealed to be an Ashwinder* with an Engorgement Charm upon it - exploded in a shower of hot sparks and dust, filling the Great Hall with smoke and fragments of scenery. While the enormous fiery eggs it had laid at the foot of my Hill ignited the floorboards, ‘Amata’ and ‘Asha’ turned upon each other, duelling so fiercely that Professor Beery was caught in the crossfire, and staff had to evacuate the Hall, as the inferno now raging onstage threatened to engulf the place. The night’s entertainment concluded with a packed hospital wing; it was several months before the Great Hall lost its pungent aroma of wood smoke, and even longer before Professor Beery’s head reassumed its normal proportions, and Professor Kettleburn was taken off probation. Headmaster Armando Dippet imposed a blanket ban on future pantomimes, a proud non-theatrical tradition that Hogwarts continues to this day.” (The Tales of Beedle the Bard, p. 36-39)
*See Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them for a definitive description of this curious beast. It ought never be voluntarily introduced into a wood-panelled room, nor have an Engorgement Charm placed on it. (The Tales of Beedle the Bard, p. 38)
My personal canon - Sir Luckless: Tom Marvolo Riddle and Amata: Minerva McGonagall.
The Second World War - 3rd of September 1939 to 8th of May 1945
Operation Pied Piper - The evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War, particularly children, from exposed areas such as London. Evacuation was officially announced on 31st of August 1939, and began on 1st of September, two days before the declaration of war.
The London Blitz - 7th of September 1940 to 16th of May 1941
Muggle world keywords: Rationing, ration book, RAF, The Blitz, The Blackout (from the 1st of September 1939 until the end of the war), Blackout regulations, Blackout curtains, Battle of Britain (10th of July to 31st of October 1940), bicycles, air raids, air raid sirens, air raid shelters, the London underground, identity cards, evacuation, the wireless, going to the pictures, dancing
Also, no young lady or older woman would be addressed as Ms., as that form of address would only gain popularity in the 1970s. Furthermore, it appears as if it is still not in use in the Wizarding World. Unwed women were Miss, married women were Mrs. After a certain age it was impolite to assume that a woman were unmarried (thereby implying that she was ugly). It was equally impolite to continue to address a woman one had already been told or should know that was a Miss as Mrs., thereby forcing the woman to correct you.
The dark wizard Grindelwald is defeated in 1945 by Albus Dumbledore - ‘Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945’ (PS, p. 77)
Tom Marvolo Riddle buys a diary from a newsagent’s in Vauxhall Road, London, in the summer of 1942 or some time later that year (CoS, p. 173). The diary appears to begin at ‘January the first’ (CoS, p. 174) 1943.
Tom Marvolo Riddle receives an award for special services to the school some time in 1943, after the expulsion of Rubeus Hagrid near the end of the school year 1942-1943 (CoS, p. 173) - “Riddle’s burnished gold shield was tucked away in a corner cabinet. It didn’t carry details of why it had been given to him (‘Good thing, too, or it’d be even bigger and I’d still be polishing it, said Ron). However, they did find Riddle’s name on an old Medal for Magical Merit, and on a list of old Head Boys.” (CoS, p. 175)
Tom Marvolo Riddle may also have been mentioned in the book Prefects Who Gained Power, a book Percy Weasley is found reading in a junk shop by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley the summer before their second year in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This may, however, have been a red herring. (p. 48, CoS) - “[I]n a tiny junk shop full of broken wands, wonky brass scales and old cloaks covered in potion stains they found Percy, deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book called Prefects Who Gained Po wer. ‘A study of Hogwarts Prefects and their later careers,’ Ron read aloud off the back cover. ‘That sounds fascinating … ’” (CoS, p. 48)
Happy Easter!