User:Chosen One/Vol de mort

Lord Voldemort, born Tom Marvolo Riddle, is the most powerful of all dark wizards. He has once lead his followers, the Death Eaters into a war, and he is starting another one. He has committed several murders, including those of Lily and James Potter, parents of Harry Potter. His reputation is such that most wizards are too afraid of him to speak his name.

Childhood
Tom Marvolo Riddle, born to Merope Gaunt, one of the last surviving members of the House of Gaunt, and to Tom Riddle, Sr., a Muggle, is the last surviving heir of Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts. He is named after his father, Tom, and his grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt.

Tom Marvolo Riddle was born in a Muggle orphanage in London, where he stayed for the next eleven years, since his mother died in childbirth, and he was not claimed by his father or grandfather. During these eleven years, he discovered and developed his magical powers for bullying other children. He made his fellow orphan's rabbit hang itself from the rafters of the building after the two boys had had an argument. On a trip to the countryside, he led two younger children to a seaside cave and terrorised them there. He found out early on that he could talk to snakes, an unusual ability which only few wizards, called Parselmouths, have.

In 1937, Riddle was invited by Albus Dumbledore to study at Hogwarts. Only then did Riddle discover he was a wizard. Before he left for Hogwarts, Dumbledore admonished the boy that his hobbies of stealing and bullying would not be appreciated at Hogwarts. It was Riddle's cruelty that worried Dumbledore, not his ability to converse with snakes.

Hogwarts
At Hogwarts, Riddle, sorted into Slytherin House, showed no signs of the cruelty and arrogance he had shown in the orphanage, another reason Dumbledore chose to observe him. His suddenly endearing personality made him a favorite of many of the teachers, including his House Head, Horace Sluhorn. It was he who gave Riddle the information he needed to transform into Lord Voldemort.

In 1943, Riddle, already aware of his ancestry and biased against Muggle-borns, opened the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts, a secret underground hall built by Slytherin himself, and reputed to hold his monster, which would rid the school of Muggle-borns when Slytherin's heir would call on it. Riddle set the monster upon his fellow students, eventually resulting in the death of one girl. Eager to find a scapegoat, he framed Rubeus Hagrid for having set his pet Acromantula upon the students, and Hagrid is expelled.

In that same summer, Riddle sought out his wizard ancestors using the only clue he had, his middle name "Marvolo." After searching through many Slytherin genealogy books, he finally located the Gaunt family, whose last members were in Little Hangleton. Upon arriving there, he met his uncle Morfin Gaunt, and was told that his mother and grandfather were already dead. In a fit of rage