Part 6 : Gaunts continued...

Slytherin heir line must have definitely come on the verge of extinction or changed names or become too quite or probably no males left. I say so on the basis of Marvolo’s statement to the ministry official. He told he was the heir of Slytherin, showing the ring and locket as the proof. This means he had to prove his very existence in the family.

Things were however different by now. Even the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw descendants were quiet. Nothing much of them is known. However, wherever they had been, they were respected. I mean they had to be. However, no special treatment was offered. So to the minister official, it didn’t matter if the Gaunts were Slytherin’s descendants. But I am sure that you can tell that it was extremely important for the Gaunts.

Well the rest of the story (about Gaunts) is told well enough by Dumbledore of how Merope liked a muggle Tom Riddle and how after imprisonment of Morfin and Marvolo, she married Tom Riddle with him under the influence of Love Potion. Later Professor Dumbledore also tells us how Voldemort was a result of loveless fusion. If you don’t know this, do read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I shall start from when Tom Riddle (muggle) deserted his pregnant wife and went back to his parents. He didn’t tell them about Merope being a witch (squib ofcourse but neither he nor his parents would know the difference). He just told them that they were hood winked. However, we don’t know that he remarried. Probably he didn’t, because when we read of Voldemort killed his father and grand parents, there is no mention of Tom Riddle’s wife and neither does the gardener Frank mention anything.

So we can conveniently conclude that either Tom Riddle was scared too much to remarry or there were slim chances that he felt guilty for abandoning a pregnant lady but still he didn’t have the courage to return.