Voldemort's Mother

[Girl]

That makes. It would also explain why Harry looks alot like his father and Tom riddle.

[FawkesBox]

Originally posted by Alastor D (original post)
To pretend to be dead and let her only son grow up in a muggle orphanage doesn't seem 'good' to me.

However- she was good enough to love someone and have a relationship long enough to have (at least one) child

[Weatherby]

I'd like to know how she met Riddle Sr and married him.
How do pure blooded wizards add muggles to their social circles?

[Lupins Ladee]

My personal theory is that Volde's mother was not against muggles or mudbloods but her pureblood (Sytherin) family was. So she left and moved to a small muggle town. Since she did not grow up there she was new "blood" for Tom Sr. and she didn't know the Riddle's reputation though experience only though word of mouth. And I think she was a good women who tryed to think the best about people so she gave Tom Sr. a chance. If he married her then he must have thought she would be a good trophy wife (I think she was gorgeous and smart). If she lived with pureblood Slytherin's then they may have had money so she had the breeding. She would be the "perfect" rich man's wife. If they merely had an affair that's believable too. A Beautiful young women living alone in a new town. When he found out she was a witch it either ruined her perfect status or allowed him to break the affair more easily. We don't know if he knew she was preggers or not but, I think he did. I think that is the only reason she had to tell him she was a witch. Beacuase like Harry little Tom would be doing emotion magic and Tom Sr. wouldn't know what was going on. Plus they must have been togeather for a while for her to get preg and for her to love him enough to name the baby after him. It seems to me that she was a good women who was surrounded by evil people who hurt and betrayed her. And I think it is feasable she died during childbirth. It was the 30's, a muggle hospital, she may have been a tiny women, mixed with her depression from being abandoned by everyone, and add maybe even her not being able to properly take care of herself b/c she may have had little money and no support after Tom Sr. left. So I think it would be very easy for her to die. Or maybe she killed herself. (I assume a witch or wizard could) She realized that she couldn't care for a baby by herself and in the 30's being a single mother was the scarlet letter unless your husband died. So she knew she could not care for him but, if she didn't kill herself then she could never give up her baby. So she was out of options. That would add another layer to the story. And maybe even devastate Voldemort to know that is mother left him on purpose too. It could push him over the edge to the piont where he would be destroyed.
Ok now I am treading into Drama Soap Opera territory but, these are my theories.

[Earendil]

Interesting theory, Lupins Ladee.

I think that V's mom's death does add a layer to the back story. We need to have a feasible explanation to contribute to the degeneration of Tom Riddle into Voldemort, and I think that the untimely death of his mom adds to his pent-up trauma.

I would like to know more about Marvolo. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Marvolo the father of Momma Voldie? It's probably irrelevant, but I would still like to have his story cleared up in the next 3 books.

[migo]

Originally posted by Yadiami (original post)
That's true, but if JKR manages to make some of them nice it would be much better (and realistic)

I think Snape's nice...

[Blayde]

I posted in another thread that I think Harry's grandfather (James' father) did some traveling too and that's where he bought/found the Invisibility Cloak.

So, he could have been to that country and met someone from the mother's "lost family" and married her. In that case, James and Harry would have been descendants to Slytherin, and that's why Voldemort wanted to kill them too.

In this way, James and Harry are descendants to Slytherin, but not related at all with Voldemort himself. Does this makes sense to you? As far as we know, this could be right. What do you think?

I like this idea very nicely, it fills in a lot of the gaps, including why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry. Since we already know that Harry may well be the heir of Gryffindor, through one side or the other.

Come to think of it, this would also explain why Voldemort didn't feel the need to kill Lily, if James's side was descended from Slytherin.

I would be willing to bet that it was Lily's side that was descended from Gryffindor.

[Rowena Ravenclaw]

I don't think how Voldemort became what he is is as important as the fact that he did. I can't see how giving him a living mother would add anything besides complication to the story, unless she was used to generate sympathy for him, and I don't think we're supposed to feel that.

Besides, I very much doubt Voldemort's mother is still alive in any form. People still die from childbirth complications today, and as others have mentioned, her depression would make her less likely to fight for her life. And I've always sort of pictured Riddle/Voldemort's life story as something of a carryover from Victorian times (Oliver Twist, et.al.). Mothers never survive in those.

[Auri DeMeer]

Originally posted by Blayde (original post)
I like this idea very nicely, it fills in a lot of the gaps, including why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry. Since we already know that Harry may well be the heir of Gryffindor, through one side or the other.

Come to think of it, this would also explain why Voldemort didn't feel the need to kill Lily, if James's side was descended from Slytherin.

I would be willing to bet that it was Lily's side that was descended from Gryffindor.

Although I think Harry has some Slytherin blood in his veins (as I explained earlier in this thread), I still think that he's Heir to Gryffindor too. And not through Lily or through James. It takes more than a blood link to be an Heir to Godric; in other words, you don't need to be his descendant, imo.

So, he's got Slytherin blood through James' mother and he's got a Gryffindor side because of his own personality and choices.

[jordmundt6]

Bzzt. How James' mother? The math doesn't work for her to be Voldemort's aunt and Voldemort has no syblings. And being the Heir does have something to do with bloodline. This isn't Prydain where it's only "noble worth." Don't get me wrong, that's a huge part of it, but there has to be some ancestral link. And James is the only candidate unless Molly Weasley's family (whatever their surname is) were the descendants of Gryffindor and Mr. Evans is the Squib in their line (thus it could have passed to Harry through Lily; this is, however, very doubtful since then Voldemort's targets would have been Lily and Harry and James would have been fought only because he was in the way).

Edit: On Voldemort's mother--She had a difficult delivery (like Agnes) she was disowned by her family (Like Agnes) Unlike Agnes, she lived long enough to name her son. I doubt she was "pretending to be dead" because she would have been buried. Could she have survived underground and dug herself out (without a want, probably) without being crushed or suffocating? I doubt it. She's dead. Her father Marvolo is a descendant of Slytherin. We don't know anything else about him. He could have had other kids but we don't know that.

[Blayde]

I still see it as more logical that Lily's side being descendants of Griffindor, and James's side being descendants of Slytherin.

Also: We know Voldemort went looking for his family.

By te time he wrote that diary, he was already able to trace his lineage back to Slytherin.

[Auri DeMeer]

Originally posted by jordmundt6 (original post)
Bzzt. How James' mother? The math doesn't work for her to be Voldemort's aunt and Voldemort has no syblings.

Voldemort's mother and James' grandparents are very well in the same generation.

It says nowhere that Voldemort's mother was an only child. She could have had 7 brothers/sisters for all we know. One of those could be James' grandparents.

[jordmundt6]

James' grandparents? James was born in like 1960. Voldie's mother was born in the teens or maybe the midtwenties. She'd have been what 60 when James was born? That's sort of a tweener age. It's old for James' parents (maybe--see extensive Weasley discussion) but way, way too young for James' magical grandparents at the time of his birth.

[DocHollidaywe]

I dont think it uncommon that she could have died in labor

[jordmundt6]

Not at all uncommon. It's become uncommon only in the last four decades or so in wealthy western countries. Still actually quite common in developing countries.

[Auri DeMeer]

Originally posted by jordmundt6 (original post)
James' grandparents? James was born in like 1960. Voldie's mother was born in the teens or maybe the midtwenties. She'd have been what 60 when James was born? That's sort of a tweener age. It's old for James' parents (maybe--see extensive Weasley discussion) but way, way too young for James' magical grandparents at the time of his birth.

Ok, this is how I see it (I had to write it down myself ) :

Tom Riddle's mother was born in, say 1901 - she had Tom at the age of 25 - so Tom was born in 1926.

Tom Riddle's mother had a sister/brother. This one was born in, say 1909 (eight years later than the other) - she/he had James' mother at the age of 25 - so James' mother was born in 1934. This one had James at the age of 25 - so James was born in 1959 and it fits.

I considered everyone had children at the same age (25). I know this is complicated and may lead to nothing more than nothing, but anyway;D

[jordmundt6]

I like the last section. Just two things in the beginning are bugging me.

1. Voldie's mother didn't seem that old. Off the top of my head i'd guestimate someplace between 19 and 21.

2. If she had a younger sister who was younger by that much, her mother should still have been alive. If anything at all like her daughter, she would have tried to aid her somehow, perhaps clandestinely but TR's mother is cut off from the magical world. Other than that, it may fit.

[Auri DeMeer]

I wondered about her family too - earlier in this thread, and this is what I came up with:

Originally posted by Auri DeMeer (original post)
What became of her family though? It's a big mistery.
They didn't take care of her son when she died... Possible reasons:

* they were already dead;
* they didn't accept him for being the son of a Muggle - they had other options to carry the family line;
* they never knew she had had a son.

Or maybe she was too proud and preferred not to ask anyone for help. What bugs me is, we may never know about this!

[jordmundt6]

I think option 1 and 2 that you came up with are the most likely, though I don't think that Marvolo would have thought he had many other options for extending the family line, he'd consider it at an end. His daughter would be dead to him and a half-blood grandson? Bah.

I don't think she was too proud. She would have wanted the best for her son and the best chance for him. I think she tried but she was out of options. In a similar situation I don't think Narcissa would ever consider a Muggle orphanage an option. Not even if she were starving, abandoned, and had not a Knut in the world.

[Auri DeMeer]

Yes, I don't think she was too proud either. After all, she named her son with her father's name Marvolo. It seems as if she would have wanted to give her son the best from both worlds.

A pity that she blindly fell in love with such a **. Muggles are not very well portrayed in the series.