This story is for those who enjoy the Harry Potter series but may not have been able to read all the books. In the series both the events in Harry's life and those that happened before his birth, but had a profound effect on his life, are not presented in chronological order. Memories are interlaced in the stories and can be confusing to the casual reader or be forgotten if there was a long time between reading the books.
I hope this story from the official log of the headmasters of Hogwarts will help place thing in order.
The Headmaster's Log
June 13, 1991
Harry Potter's arrival at Hogwarts this September will present special security problems and I believe I should gather all pertinent information concerning his relationship with Tom Riddle who now calls himself Lord Voldemort in order to better understand the possible problems and consequence Harry faces because of this relationship. I plan to give Harry special training to prepare him to eventually face Voldemort and in the event of my death I have instructed my deputy Headmistress Professor McGonagall to read this and act on it as she feels is best. With this in mind I am going back in the headmaster's log and taking any excerpts that refer to Harry Potter, his family, his friends, and Voldemort in chronological order and adding my thoughts where necessary.
Headmaster APWBD
July 7, 1937
The Ministry of Magic has sent a report of an eleven year old boy in a muggle orphanage who is showing magical powers. I have assigned Professor Dumbledore to investigate and if justified to visit the boy and offer admission to Hogwarts. The boy's name according to the ministry is Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
July 22, 1937
Professor Dumbledore has reported that the Riddle boy does indeed show magical powers. Professor Dumbledore has visited the boy explained about Hogwarts and made all the arrangements for Tom Riddle to arrive at Hogwarts for the start of the school year on September 1st. See the included report from Professor Dumbledore.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Report on Hogwarts' Candidate Tom Marvolo Riddle
By Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
I read the Ministry of Magic report on the Riddle boy and determined it was sufficient to require a personal visit. On this interview I determined the boy shows remarkably well developed magical powers for an eleven year old with no record of magical parents and no training. I explained to Tom about Hogwarts and he accepted admission. All arrangements have been made to purchase his robes and necessary magical equipment. He has a ticket for the Hogwarts' Express and the necessary instructions to get onto platform 9¾ on September 1st.
I am disturbed to find that the Riddle boy has been using his powers to control and intimidate other children at the orphanage. He has stolen items and has magically harmed children he feels have not treated him fairly. He seems to feel justified in doing so and I recommend he be watched closely for such antisocial actions after his arrival at Hogwarts. He also admitted talking to snakes (Parseltongue Power).
Sept 5, 1937
I have requested all the professors, ghosts, portraits, and house elves send reports on Tom Riddle to my special attention. So far they show no problems. The boy was sorted into Slytherin House and has made several friends there. He seems to be intelligent and eager to learn. I will continue to check all reports from all sources as necessary.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Oct 22, 1937
After eight weeks there is no sign of problems with the Riddle boy. I have instructed all sources to discontinue special reports to me and I am confident he has adjusted well. Professor Dumbledore disagrees. He insists the boy is extremely cleaver at hiding his misdeeds and thinks we should continue to monitor him more closely.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
I did continue to watch Tom Riddle but although there were several nasty incidents where he was near by I could not get any solid evidence connecting him. APWBD
Oct 5, 1941
Tom Riddle now in his fifth year has collected a group of followers calling themselves death eaters. I find the name chosen for this group disturbing and have once again asked the
professors, ghosts, portraits, and house elves to monitor him more closely and send reports to me immediately if anything unusual happens.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Dec 12, 1941
Incidents of dark magic have been reported in the castle and grounds but no link can be found to Tom Riddle. I conclude either he is very cleaver as Professor Dumbledore reported or he is not connected to the incidents. I continue to have him watched.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Feb 7, 1942
A message written in blood has be found on the wall of the third floor corridor saying the Chamber of Secrets has been opened and the heir of Slytherin has returned. I hope this is a hoax. The legend of the Chamber of Secrets is well known among the students for centuries and this may be just a warped prank to scare somebody. I am however worried that it may be connected to the incidents of dark magic which continue to occur from time to time and have all the castle sources watching for more incidents.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Mar 3, 1942
Another message in blood about the Chamber of Secrets has caused some parents to take their children home. I am afraid more people are thinking the same way and should another message appear we will lose many more students. All my sources in the castle are unable to discover anything about the messages.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Mar 28, 1942
A girl, Myrtle Stebbins, was found dead in the third floor loo. The students are in a panic and the Professors agree that the school will have to close if we cannot discover the cause of the death. Rumor is the monster in the Chamber of Secrets has been set loose by the heir of Slytherin but no proof exists to believe this.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Mar 29, 1942
Tom Riddle has approached me with evidence that a third year student Rubeus Hagrid
has been keeping an acromantula in the dungeons. An investigation has shown this to be true. The Hagrid boy denies that the acromantula, which escaped into the dark forest, was ever loose in the castle and insists it did not kill the Stebbins girl. The board of directors does not believe the boy who is a half giant and has ordered him expelled. The Ministry of Magic has also broken his wand and ordered him never to perform magic again.
Professor Dumbledore does not believe the Hagrid boy is guilty and insists Tom Riddle and his followers are behind all the dark magic and the death but can offer no proof. He has asked that the Hagrid boy be allowed to live on the grounds in an old stone hut near the dark forest. The boy is an orphan and has no relatives and no place else to go so I granted permission with the understanding he can not attend classes, enter the castle, or mix with the other children. I feel this will provide safety for all concerned.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
Apr 21, 1942
Most of the children who left during the trouble have returned to school and there have been no further incidents since the Hagrid boy was put out.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
June 5, 1944
Tom Riddle will graduate this month and he has approached me with an unusual request. He would like to stay at Hogwarts as a Professor. I believe he is the best student that has ever attended Hogwarts but I feel he needs real world experience before teaching and I told him so. I recommended he go out and do other things for a few years then reapply for a position. He was unhappy with this and I felt for a few seconds he was on the verge of attacking me; but he regained his composure and left without further comment.
I told Professor Dumbledore of the incident and he was upset that I would even consider appointing Mr. Riddle or that I suggested he come back and reapply in a few years. Dumbledore insists Riddle is behind the dark magic incidents over the past few years and also the Stebbins girl's death but still he can offer no proof.
I explained that the matter is moot since I am thinking of retiring and will most likely not be here by the time Tom Riddle returns.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
June 15, 1946
I have handed in my resignation as headmaster and June 30 will be my last day. The board has accepted my recommendation that my Deputy Headmaster Professor Dumbledore be appointed the new headmaster and he takes over immediately on my leaving. I feel my tenure as headmaster was for the most part successful; but the incidents of dark magic a few years ago and the Stebbins girl's death will of course always be a blot on my record. My only regret is that I was unable to discover who was behind those events.
Headmaster Armando Dippet
July 1, 1946
I make my first entry as headmaster with comments on the last ten years. Headmaster Dippet was correct in stating I believe Hagrid to be unjustly punished. I have spoken to him many times and believe him to be truthful and trustworthy. While there is nothing I can do to return him to school or restore his wand and magical rights he will have a place here as long as I am headmaster.
I still feel strongly that Tom Riddle was the source of Headmaster Dippet's problems and have resolved to begin looking deeper into his activities with the thought that he will continue to cause problems. Once a werewolf always a werewolf; and Tom Riddle seeks power and notoriety. He will continue to do so and will eventually have to be stopped like Grindewald. The more I know about him the easier it will be to do something eventually.
When the dark magic incidents started and I suspected Tom Riddle and his followers I decided I needed to know more about him. In the summer of 1944 after Tom Riddle's graduation I took some time to look into his life. I interviewed the headmistress at the orphanage where I first met Tom and got the story of his life in more detail than the original interview. The boy's middle name Marvolo came from his mother's father and suggested a magical connection and I began to check records of wizards with the name Marvolo. I discovered a Marvolo Gaunt who had a son Morfin and a daughter Merope. By this time Marvolo was dead and the daughter had disappeared but the son Morfin was in Azkaban and I interviewed him. From that interview and another with Bob Ogden a ministry official that arrested Morfin I have pieced together a story of Tom Riddle's history.
The Gaunt family are descendants of one of the founders of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin. This fits with the chamber of Secrets being open by Tom Riddle a descendent of Slytherin not Rebus Hagrid. Morfin had attacked a muggle his sister Merope fancied and when the ministry
official Bob Ogden came to check on the incident Morfin and Marvolo attacked him to. Merope apparently ran off with this muggle Tom Riddle Sr. while her father and brother were in Azkaban. She was later abandoned by Tom Riddle while she was pregnant and she died giving birth to Tom Jr. at the orphanage which matches the headmistress' story.
Marvolo was eventually released from Azkaban and died shortly later. When Morfin was released he returned home and several years later was accused of killing Tom Riddle Sr. and Tom's parents. He admitted this and was returned to Azkaban. In my interview of him I discovered that a false memory of the murder had been implanted in his mind.
From the memory of Morfin I found that Tom Riddle Jr. came to the Gaunt house the day of the murder and took Morfin's wand. Tom Jr. killed his father then returned the wand and implanted the false memory so Morfin would take the blame. Morfin also explained about a ring that had belonged to Salazar Slytherin and was passed down in the family for generations. It had disappeared that day and if Voldemort has that ring it will be proof that he murdered his father and grandparents. I will continue to investigate his life.
Headmaster APWBD
Feb 12, 1963
Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort, asked for an appointment with me today and my meeting with him just finished. I knew he was going to ask to be appointed as a professor and I will in no way allow that to happen; but I don't believe he really wants to teach and I thought he may tip his hand as to his real intent. I feel he may want to be here as teacher because he is still recruiting death eater followers and I will do everything in my power to see that he has no connection with students here at Hogwarts. His reputation since leaving school is one of dark magic and even murder and I resolve to increase my efforts to uncover more of his past for that time I will have to try and stop him.
He did not take my refusal to offer him a position very well and like Headmaster Dippet I think he was tempted to attack me when I told him I would never allow him to teach here. I did not however ascertain any other motive for his actions.
Headmaster APWBD
Feb 20, 1963
I believe the investigation into Voldemort's actions cannot wait. I have called together a few old friends that can be trusted in order to get help since I do not have the time to investigate on my own in the depth I feel necessary. I call this secret society "The Order of the
Phoenix" and all members have pledged not to reveal what we discover about Voldemort to outsiders least Voldemort find out that there is an organized resistance to him and become even more secretive and harder to investigate.
Headmaster APWBD
Mar 17, 1963
Facts about Voldemort's parents and early life are hard to come by but we have discovered several about his life after he left Hogwarts. I have begun extracting memories from people who knew him and storing them in vials for viewing in the Pensive since it gives a more complete picture of events than writing extracts. I will continue to keep highlights in the Headmaster's Log of each memory acquired.
For the present, besides the memories I acquired from Morfin Gaunt, the headmistress of the orphanage, and Bob Ogden the ministry official that arrested Morfin and Marvolo I have also acquired memories that show Voldemort travelled to Albania, worked for Borgin and Burke's for several years and quit that position suddenly without explanation. The Order continues to look for people who knew him at any time.
Headmaster APWBD
