Frank Bryce

"Is that right? Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, "My Lord". Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?"

- Frank Bryce confronts Lord Voldemort

Frank Bryce (August, 1917 – 16 August, 1994) was a Muggle who lived in the village of Little Hangleton, England. After serving in the Second World War, he returned to Little Hangleton and became the gardener for the Riddle family. He was the prime suspect of the Riddle murders, a crime he did not commit.

Two unidentified families lived at the house, but neither stayed long. A wealthy man owned the Riddle house during Frank's last days, although he did not live at the house, being said to keep it "for tax reasons". Shortly before his 77th birthday, Bryce was murdered by Lord Voldemort after Nagini told Voldemort Peter Pettigrew that Bryce was overhearing them discussing their plans to murder Harry Potter.

Early life
"Horrible temper. I remember, when he was a kid..."

- Dot regarding Frank

Frank was born in 1917 to a Muggle family. He lived in Little Hangleton along with Dot in his childhood: this makes it likely that Frank was born in the village.

Second World War
"He had a hard war, Frank."

- A woman at The Hanged Man

In 1939, the Second World War started, and Frank was called into military service. After three years into the war, his leg was wounded and remained very stiff, so he left the service afterwards presumably because the wound made him incapable of fighting any longer.

Gardener for the Riddles
"He likes the quiet life."

- A woman at The Hanged Man By 1943, Frank returned to Little Hangleton with a great dislike of crowds and loud noises, yet his leg was still stiff. He started working as caretaker and gardener for the snobbish Riddle family, in which he was given a small cottage in the Riddles' property.

The Riddle murders
"Who else had a key to the back door, then? There's been a spare key hanging in the gardener's cottage far back as I can remember! Nobody forced the door last night! No broken windows! All Frank had to do was creep up to the big house while we was all sleeping..."

- Riddles' cook thinks Frank murdered the Riddles

Around August, 1943, 16-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle came to Little Hangleton in search of his family. Upon learning of his father's actions toward his mother Merope and himself from his uncle, he decided to murder his father. That same evening, Frank Bryce saw Riddle climbing the hill towards the Riddle House. The next morning, a maid found Thomas Riddle, Mary Riddle and Tom Riddle dead in the Riddle House's drawing room. The local villagers suspected Bryce, and he was taken by the police in the neighbouring Great Hangleton to be questioned, given that he had the only key to the mansion. Though Bryce explained that the last person he saw near the Riddle House was the dark-haired boy, nobody else had seen him and was sure that Bryce invented him. However, the report on the Riddles' bodies was unable to determine the cause of their death, and Frank was released due to lack of evidence, although he was still widely suspected by his neighbours.

After the murders
"'S far as I'm concerned, he killed them, and I don't care what the police say. And if he had any decency, he'd leave here, knowing as how we knows he did it."

- Dot a Little Hangleton resident Frank had no family, and continued to live a solitary disconnected life in his small cottage on the Riddle House grounds. He continued to be paid as the gardener by the house's succession of owners. As he aged, he was plagued by the pain in his leg, and by the vandalism of local boys, which he suspected was motivated by the belief that he was a murderer. The boys would usually throw rocks into the Riddle House, trample or ride their bicycles on the flowerbeds that Frank worked hard to keep smooth or even break in the House for a dare, then flee when Frank tried to pursue them, unsuccessfully due to his injured leg.

Death
"He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumbled. He was dead before he hit the floor."

- Description of the murder for Frank Bryce



On 16 August, 1994, Frank Bryce, now nearing his 77th birthday, woke from the pain in his leg, and saw a light in the Riddle House, and he assumed the local boys had broken in and set fire to it. Not having a telephone or trusting the police since his arrest, Frank entered the house to investigate and was surprised to see not vandals, but Lord Voldemort, hidden from view, and his servant Wormtail, discussing on taking Harry Potter's life. Going very deaf from old age, he listened with his better right ear, and though confused with terms such as "Muggles" and "Quidditch," he thought they must be code, and he figured enough to learn that the master had killed a woman with amusement and plotting another murder, directed to a boy. Frank thought he must report this to the police at once, but before he could successfully flee he encountered Nagini, the snake.



When Nagini discovered Frank and reported to Voldemort, the Dark Lord welcomed the gardener into the room. In a failed attempt to bluff his way out, Frank said that his wife would notice his disappearance, but Voldemort saw through this deception and found that nobody knew he was there. After challenging Voldemort to show his face "like a man", to which Voldemort replied that he was "much more than a man", Frank was horrified to see a mutilated body in the chair. He screaming so loud that he never heard the incantation of the Killing Curse that took his life, nor did he live to learn that this gruesome form was the "dark-haired boy" he saw that killed the Riddle family and caused all the distrust in Frank for half a century.

Post-mortem
"He was a real wizard, then? Killed me, that one did... You fight him, boy..."

- Frank Bryce's echo on Voldemort, encouraging Harry

Frank's "disappearance" was reported in the Muggles news. Apparently none were aware that he has died.

Roughly a year later, after Voldemort's rebirth, Frank's shadow reappeared in the Priori Incantatem caused by the duel between Harry Potter and Voldemort. Frank then realised that Voldemort was indeed a wizard, and supported Harry to defeat the Dark Lord in revenge for his demise. He, and the other echoes, helped Harry escape by distracting Voldemort.

Personality and traits
"Always thought he was odd. Unfriendly, like. I'm sure if I've offered him a cuppa once, I've offered it a hundred times. Never wanted to mix, he didn't."

- The Riddles' cook on Frank Bryce

Frank is described to have a "horrible temper" since he was a child. He was not very sociable; according to the Riddles' cook he "never wanted to mix". After his experiences during the War, he developed a great dislike of crowds and loud noises. When the time finally comes to take action, he manages his fear much easier; in 1994, despite being terrified of the murderer who is standing besides a door in the Riddle House, he confronts him, when he was caught eavesdropping. Upon his temporary return to Earth during the duel between Harry and Voldemort he seemed to have a dry acceptance of his death. Bryce supported the former despite never meeting him before, while distracting the latter in revenge for killing him.

Possessions

 * Cottage - This cottage was Frank's permanent residence and was not very far from the graveyard.
 * Walking stick - Frank also had a walking stick and kept it whenever he went anywhere. He drops it when he see's Voldemort's shrivelled and shrunken body, leaving its fate unknown.

Little Hangleton residents
Ever since Frank returned from his military services, he preferred the quiet life, avoiding relationships with the residents of Little Hangleton. He lived a disconnected career, refusing the Riddles' cook offers for a drink. After the murder of the Riddle family, the townspeople suspected Frank to be the murder, and despite his release due to lack of evidence, they nevertheless remained distrusting of him, and looked down on him for daring to remain in the village. Children would often trample the garden he worked to keep clean, running away before he could catch up with them.

Lord Voldemort
Frank first saw the teenage Lord Voldemort approaching the Riddle House during the summer of 1943. He had no way of knowing that this boy would be the one to forever taint his reputation within Little Hangleton, for murdering the Riddles. The police did not believe Frank's alibi of seeing Voldemort approaching the house, but due to lack of evidence, they released the gardener.

Over half a century later, Frank would come face-to-face with Voldemort inside the Riddle House, not knowing that he was the very same boy he saw approaching place. Overhearing Voldemort's discussion with his servant Wormtail, Frank learned that Voldemort is a remorseless madman who killed a woman, that he plotted to kill a boy, and that he must be informed on to the police. However, Frank was caught by Voldemort's pet snake, Nagini, who reported to her master for the gardener's presence. Invited into the drawing room where Voldemort and Wormtail reside, Frank courageously faced the murderer, trying to bluff that his wife would know of his absence. However, Voldemort easily saw through Bryce's bluff, knowing that no one knows of his whereabouts and that he had no wife. When Bryce challenged Voldemort to face him "like a man", he was utterly horrified at the mutilated, rudimentary body he saw as Voldemort cast the Killing Curse to end Frank's life.

When Frank later returned to earth temporarily due to a Priori Incantatem from Harry and Voldemort's spells clashing, he supported Harry by haunting Voldemort.

Harry Potter
Although Bryce had no idea who Harry Potter was, he knew the boy would be in danger when he overheard Voldemort's plot to kill him, and attempted to call the police on the Dark Lord to protect the boy.

During his temporary return, Bryce supported Harry in the duel against Voldemort.

Etymology
The name "Frank" comes from a Germanic name which referred to a member of the Germanic tribe, the Franks. The Franks settled in the regions now called France and the Netherlands in the 3rd and 4th century. They derived their tribal name from the name of a type of throwing axe that they used. The name was brought to England by the Normans. Notable bearers include author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) and architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959).

Behind the scenes

 * Frank was portrayed by Eric Sykes in.
 * Frank is one of only five characters in the Harry Potter book series whose thoughts have been disclosed by the narrator, the others being Harry Potter, Vernon Dursley, Narcissa Malfoy, and the British Prime Minister. However, Tom Riddle's viewpoint is shown via Potter. Other scenes depict Severus Snape, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, and Albus Dumbledore, but these scenes do not appear to be told from anyone's point of view in particular.
 * Albus Dumbledore incorrectly suspected that Frank's death was used by Voldemort to turn Nagini into his final Horcrux, but it was officially stated that Bertha Jorkins's death was used instead. However, as Jorkins was omitted from the films (and she did not appear in the stream of people who appeared in the Priori Incantatem), Frank's death might have been used instead in the film timeline. However, this still leaves in question how Voldemort knew about the Triwizard Tournament. So Bertha may have been present offscreen, but not killed with Voldemort's wand, perhaps by Nagini instead.
 * In the book, Frank is invited into the room and killed when he demands Voldemort to show himself. In the film, Voldemort does not tell Wormtail to beckon Bryce, but tells him to stand aside and merely kills Bryce at the spot where he was standing.
 * In the film, he has only one line of spoken dialogue – "Bloody kids!". He also screams in fear before his death.
 * Frank Bryce's role in the story is replaced by a milkman in.

Notes and references
Frank Bryce Frank Bryce Frank Bryce Фрэнк Брайс Frank Braam Frank Bryce pt-br:Franco Bryce