Marvolo Gaunt

Marvolo Gaunt is Lord Voldemort's grandfather and descendant of Salazar Slytherin.

The Gaunt Family believed strongly in the superiority of pure-blood wizards, and had long practiced inter-family marriage to preserve the purity of their family tree. Not unlike the royal bloodlines of Europe, this resulted inbreeding and birth defects. Once rich and influential, the family was eventually reduced to the obscurity of a ruined cottage in Little Hangleton.

In the 1920s, Marvolo Gaunt lived with his son and daughter. Morfin was mentally deranged and had little regard for secrecy. He commonly used magic in front of muggles, which brought him into conflict with the Ministry of Magic. Bob Ogden, Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement, visited the Gaunts to address the issue, but the Gaunts resisted violently. Ogden returned on a later occasion, arresting Marvolo and his son. Marvolo was sentenced to three months in Azkaban for assault. Morfin received a three-year sentence.

Merope had been badly treated by her father and brother, and took the opportunity of their absence to escape. Marvolo returned from prison to find his home abandoned. He was enraged by his daughter's "betrayal": Her marriage to a muggle, Tom Riddle. He died before Morfin was released from prison.

Marvolo's prized posessions included a Gaunt ring which bore the Peverell crest and Salazar Slytherin's locket. The ring was later obtained by Tom Marvolo Riddle and turned into a horcrux. The ring's final fate was destruction at the hands of Albus Dumbledore. The locket was also transformed into a horcrux and was also subsequently destroyed.