I don't remember if this was in the book or not or if it is still theory. How did Tom Riddle find out he was the heir of Slytherin?

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I don't think its mentioned in the books if I remember rightly... I'm not sure, and its not a very good theory lol, but....

...I can't really imagine Riddle having many friends; adoring fans (think Malfoy) perhaps; but not friends. The age old opinion 'Knowledge is Power' would come in to play I think... I can imagine Riddle spending hours and hours in the library, pouring over old books, trying to gain as much knowledge as possible; to out do his class mates and to see how far he can push his limits. I'd imagine that during one of these study sessions he came over a small piece of information and then afer some research came to the colclusion that he was a descendant. Or maybe, like Harry, he accidentally learned he can speak Parseltongue and then after research relalised that there were too many coincidences. Maybe he somehow came into contact with his Mother's side of the family... Or maybe even the Sorting Hat mentioned something. Or maybe it was Salazar himself...

I think I've just created even more questions lol

Oops

Maybe it was that the sorting hat that gave him a hint of why he was chosen in slytherin.I may agree with the parsel tongue theory , he may have realized,like harry, that he could speak parsel tongue and then did research on it because he wanted to be the greatest sorcerer in the world.Maybe because dumbledore kept a watch on him he got annoyed and tried to prove that he was the greatest and then he found out that he was the heir of slytherin.

He probably suspected it soon after he arrived at Hogwarts. I suspect his attempt to open the Chamber of Secrets occured before he could verify he was an heir of Slytherin. He probably wanted to prove to himself that ability was stronger than blood. He might have had second thoughts because the death of the little girl may have been an accident. Tom may not have known she was in the bathroom and he certainly didn't check all the stalls before summoning the monster. Could it have been a momentary loss of control? Possibly, and as only the heir could control the basilisk, Tom might have wondered if he were the true heir.
We do know his search continued until his confrontation with Morphin Gaunt, afterwhich, there was probably no doubt in his mind about his lineage.

Lets see if I can get this straight...

Chamber of Secrets took place in the 1992-1993 school year (because at Nick's death day party, it said the date that he died 500 years earlier). So, after Halloween and the year of 1992 passed, Harry went into the diary to watch Tom Riddle frame Hagrid, so that was in 1993 while all that really happened in 1943.

The summer of 1943 is when Riddle went to the Gaunts and the Riddles and killed them, right? Therefore, it is safe to eliminate that he learned about there since he had already opened the Chamber of Secrets. None of his friends or cronies could have told him. I'm not sure the Sorting Hat would say, but then again it does recognize Ron Weasley as another Weasley (or was that off the movie?).

Anyway, Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets in the school year of 1942-1943. However, they did say it was half a century ago, meaning that they were just using that just to say. Sort of like saying its 7:00 when its really 6:54 or something. If we can assume that, then it is safe to say that he learned it from the Gaunts in 1943, then framed Hagrid in 1944 in his sixth year and graduated in the 1944-1945 school year. But its hard to assume such a thing. So he did frame Hagrid in 1943, and opened the Chamber that same year, so, again, he had to have learned some time before.

I think he just did his own research. Perhaps he was obsessed with Slytherin and the school, since he had come to love it as a home and a place of refuge from his Muggle orphanage. He realized he could talk to snakes and had extraordinary magical power. After finding the entrance to the chamber and opening it, he must have come to realize at that point that he is Slytherin's heir. If he found the chamber but didn't open it, he would of course found that he wasn't Slytherin's heir. Harry only opened it because he has a piece of Voldemort within him (whether a physical piece or a magical piece).

Ah, I could be wrong. Sorry for the long post...

In the graveyard in the last movie HPGOF when harry arives in the Graveyard the death date on the parents tomb in 1943. This I belive to make that year acurate because JK says many of the clues ect,, are in the movies as well as the books. Ill have to check again ..to Make sure but im fairly cirtine it was 43/ that would make 66 or so since he was a 7th year when he went there.

well it has been made clear that voldy was really obsessed with proving he was better than everyone he was also very obsessed about his family so he researched all he could about his family, so he knew he was the last of the slytherin family i guess when he found out about the chamber of secrets he knew he could open it because he was slytherins heir

Dumbledore said that Riddle found a book listing Slytherin's surviving line. The name Marvolo would have been given. Riddle's ability to speak parseltongue and his middle name must have given a strong enough indication for him to realize that he was the heir.

Yup.This is the point I was going to say!.



After the Burial,Many people would have the name Marvolo right?.It doesn't confirms that he is the heir.And I don't think the name would have been given.I mean,the book must have been written long ago before Marvolo was born.?

Intresting question...

I think it was to do with his researching.. Hogwarts book obviously they wouldn't have told him directly..

But his investigations with the Gaunts and that and the Locket all led up to it i think..

But he had to find out before his fifth or sixth year because that's when he let losse the baslisk wasn't it??

Well this is a good question!

I'd have to say he looked up his ancestry. I mean he could've asked questions from anyone and jumped to conclusions a lot (like when he first met Albus when he assumed that his father had been a wizard unlike his mother). Riddle did go to work for Borgin and Bourke's and also remember that Bourke had made a deal with Merope. Merope could've told him she was an heir of slytherin to sell the ring. The only question that lays now is --- When did Riddle meet Bourke?

First off there is no such thing as the ‘Heir of Slytherin’.

The only person alive at that time who could claim such a thing is Morfin Gaunt, certainly not a half-blood like Tom Riddle.

However, I’m inclined to believe that Tom, or someone convinced him, to use this fanciful legend with the ‘Chamber of Secrets’ nonsense to press his control among any ‘pure-blood’ obsessed Slytherins.

You must know that a basilisk is a wizard created creature. First made by Herpo the Foul, according to a wizard card #94. I rather doubt a creature of that size would go unnoticed since Medieval times if Salazar left such a thing behind at Hogwarts. Consider how much a creature of that size would need to eat during the many centuries! Someone would’ve noticed. I also don’t think a basilisk is a completely bad thing since there were many Goblin wars in the past and it would’ve kept the school safe.

My theory is that someone (Grimwauld?) created this so-called ‘Chamber of Secrets’ underwater and put a basilisk in there. If you look at the CoS movie the room isn’t Medieval in design. In fact it’s extremely 1920’s Art Deco.

I thought ti said Voldemort was obsessed with knowing where he came from so he spent long amounts of time in the library finding information on his family. He is in Slytherin, he speaks parseltongue, his middle name was Marvelo. . .i expect he was able to put two and two together and he was very intelligent. And when he went to the house of Morphin and everything, it was confirmed that he was related to them. I think he did his research and went to see for himself, and being smart he was able to put two and two together. . .