Voldemort: Origins of The Heir is an unofficial fan made prequel to the Harry Potter series. The film was made by an independent film company named Tryangle, by Gianmaria Pezzato and Stefano Prestia and financed through a crowdfunding scheme.[1]
Warner Bros. intervened with the crowdfunding scheme on grounds of copyright, and the two companies eventually reached an agreement that the film will be a non-profit but professional video project.[1][2]
Plot[]
The film is about Tom Marvolo Riddle and how he became Voldemort, exploring his life following his graduation from Hogwarts, to his job at Borgin and Burkes and his return to Hogwarts in search of becoming the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It will also explore his rise and downfall in the First Wizarding War.[2]
A British witch, Grisha McLaggen, assaults several Soviet Aurors with a unique dematerialisation spell, before their commander, General Makarov, imprisons and interrogates her. Under Veritaserum, Grisha relates how she joined two Seventh Years - Ravenclaw Wiglaf Sigurdsson and Slytherin Tom Marvolo Riddle - in the Room of Requirement with her Hufflepuff year mate Lazarus Smith. The four of them claim descent from the Hogwarts founders. After Lazarus is injured duelling Tom Riddle, Wiglaf intervenes. In the years since graduation, General Makarov hears of how Lazarus was tracked down and killed, and how Tom meets Hepzibah Smith for her artefacts: Slytherin's Locket and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup. Hepzibah's statement that Merope Riddle stole Slytherin's Locket triggered an animal-like rage in Tom who, his eyes turning red, gloated about murdering Lazarus and kills a panic-stricken Hepzibah, leaving Hokey her House-elf as witness whom Tom frames. Grisha tells Makarov of Horcruxes, and how they're objects a dark wizard deeply cares about, like Slytherin's Locket, and how she found an older heavily-bearded Wiglaf to brew a Wiggenweld Potion for an injury he had sustained. Wiglaf had heard of the Death Eaters and Grisha insists they find Tom before he kills again, but Wiglaf refuses due to his belief that Tom is irredeemable and is eventually killed. Grisha tells Makarov of T. M. Riddle's Diary being a Horcrux and seeks to stop Tom. A flashback shows Grisha's disgust for what Tom was becoming on the day of his leaving Hogwarts and she pleads with him not to go over to the Dark Arts.
Makarov summons his men and decides Grisha's story is inconsistent, yet takes a leap of faith and grants her Riddle's diary and returns her wand. After finding Riddle's diary in his guard, General Makarov releases Grisha but becomes suspicious when he asks how Grisha knew he had Riddle's diary. Grisha reveals herself as Voldemort, using his dematerialisation magic since Tom himself uses it in the Room of Requirement. A scene shows Makarov's men finding Grisha's body after being used in a Dark Arts ritual. A young Auror, Igor, despairs the constant changing and re-emergence of the Dark Arts in first Gellert Grindelwald and then whoever killed Grisha due to the loss of good people it entails, and his veteran colleague tells him it has no end and that there will always be darkness as it is the only way to remember the light.
Trivia[]
- Ironically, despite the film's title and numerous promotions stating that the film would focus on Voldemort and his transition from Tom Riddle into Voldemort, the majority of the film does not feature Voldemort himself, but rather centres around "Grisha McLaggen" and her flashbacks.
- Grisha McLaggen is implied to be a relative of Cormac McLaggen, as well as the descendant of Godric Gryffindor. However, in the main series, there is no evidence whatsoever that the McLaggen family are related to Gryffindor in any way, or that Godric Gryffindor produced any heirs himself.
- It is unclear why Voldemort would have hidden one of his Horcruxes in Russia, given that he had no personal connections to anything or anyone there from his past.
Errors[]
- In several of the flashbacks of her days at Hogwarts, Grisha McLaggen claims that she is a second year (age 12), despite the actress playing her in those scenes being far older.
- Canonically, it would have been impossible for an heir of Rowena Ravenclaw to exist in the film's continuity, as the only known descendent of Rowena Ravenclaw was her daughter Helena, who was killed by the Bloody Baron and produced no heirs of her own before her death.
- At the end of the film, it is revealed that "Grisha" was in truth Voldemort in disguise. However, this contradicts many of the flashbacks described by Grisha during her interrogation, given that Voldemort should have had no knowledge of them, such as the scenes with the other Heirs where he was not present, nor should he have been aware that Dumbledore possessed the memory of Voldemort's meeting with Hepzibah Smith.
- In the film, Grisha is interrogated with Veritaserum by having it injected into her arm similar to an IV drip, instead of the proper method established in the series, shaking three drops of Veritaserum into the subject's mouth.
- It is unknown how the Soviet Aurors knew of Riddle’s Horcrux, as such magic is considered so dark that such knowledge is considered banned.