Lord Voldemort isn't just the greatest villain in the Harry Potter series, he's also one of the most formidable antagonists in cinematic and literary history. Unlike some other famous baddies, Voldemort (AKA Tom Riddle) is the living embodiment of the darkest elements of our nature. He represents the suppressed qualities within each of us if they had been brought to the surface and allowed to swallow everything good. This is one of the reasons why the character has resonated with audiences all around the globe. He's a reminder that we are all capable of corrupting our own souls by letting anger, hurt, and jealousy consume us.
Another reason why the character has had such a big impact is due to his backstory. J.K. Rowling created such a vivid and ultimately mysterious history for Voldemort that has caused us all to lean forward. Although Voldemort surprised us with his wicked acts in the Harry Potter stories, Rowling has told us his past is just as dark.
Everything that Voldemort/Tom Riddle did before the events of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone proves he's one of the nastiest characters around. It's hard to determine whether this orphan's tragic past breeds sympathy for him, or just helps to shed light on why he became one of the darkest wizards in history. What is easy to determine is that, even as a young boy, Tom Riddle was a downright monster who had the skills to manipulate the minds of many.
Here are the 20 Most Wicked Things Voldemort Did Before Sorcerer's Stone.
Attacked Animals in His Orphanage
As science and psychology have proven, harming animals is usually a sign of antisocial personality disorders. Tom Riddle exhibited some of these behaviors long before he became one of the darkest wizards of all time. While at Wool's Orphanage in London, Tom manipulated and harmed animals. Although he was unaware of his legitimate magical heritage at the time, To believed that his mother was a circus worker, and therefore he someone how knew magic tricks.
He used his abilities to hang one of the other orphan's rabbits from the rafters when he was angry.
He also discovered that he could speak to snakes, which allowed him to use them as he wished.
Stole From Other Orphans
Voldemort was always a collector of artifacts and objects, even back in the day when he was an orphan boy known as Tom Riddle. When Tom was living at Wool's Orphanage in London, he would steal random objects from other orphans and hide them in his cupboard.
None of the orphans had all that much to their name, but Tom would find a way of determining which things they owned meant the most to them. He then stole these objects and kept them as trophies for his work. When a young Albus Dumbledore came to visit Tom, he found these objects and warned him that thievery wasn't tolerated at Hogwarts. After that, Tom made sure to keep his sticky hands in check.
The Incident In The Cave
One of the scariest and most mysterious moments from Voldemort's past was when he lured two orphans into the cave from The Half-Blood Prince. The two orphans, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop, also lived at Wools with Tom at the time. Both of them were changed forever because of whatever went down in that place. J.K. Rowling revealed very few details about this particular incident, but she does say that the young Tom Riddle performed an act that was so disturbing that the two children never spoke about it again.
Whatever Tom did in that cave traumatized the orpans so much that they absolutely refused to share what he had done.
In fact, they seemed quite strange and removed ever since.
Presided Over His Hogwarts Friends Like A Cult Leader
Every leader needs a following. But in order to do that, one must be a charming, manipulative, and convincing. Tom got his start at doing all of these things with the Hogwarts professors, to whom he only showed his best qualities. Meanwhile, he managed to form a thuggish Slytherin gang that followed him around and backed him up when needed. Tom ruled over them like a cult leader, both because he could and because they let him.
The Slytherins who were in this group would ultimately create the foundation of the Death Eaters. Tom's gang consisted of from the Avery, Lestrange, Rosier, Mulciber, and Nott families. All of these families had children who followed in their parent's sycophantic footsteps.
Opened The Chamber Of Secrets
As detailed in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle's obsession with his magical heritage led him to discover the Chamber underneath the grounds of Hogwarts. This event happened during Tom's fifth year at Hogwarts.
It was triggered by the revelation that Tom's father was a Muggle, which devastated him.
He managed to trace his mother's family line back to Salazar Slytherin, which made him the heir to Slytherin House. His genetic lineage allowed him to open the Chamber of Secrets, tame the Basilisk within, and sick it on the Muggle-born students at Hogwarts, as it was the wish of Salazar. Eventually, Tom was forced to close the Chamber and frame Hagrid's Acromantula for the attacks.
Took Out His Family
Tom had no connection with his family after his mother, Merope, dropped him off at Wool's Orphanage shortly after giving birth to him. She ed away almost immediately after this. Once at Hogwarts, Tom found out about his mother's heritage as well as his Muggle father's.
This revelation caused Tom to return to Little Hangleton where both the Riddles and his mother's family, the Gaunts, lived. He learned the details of his parent's union from his uncle, Morfin, who stated that Tom abandoned Merope once he found out she was a witch. It's also been suggested that she used a love potion on him that eventually wore off, causing him to leave. In either case, the sixteen-year-old Tom ruthlessly took out his father, as well as his paternal grandparents.
Framed His Uncle
J.K. Rowling made it very clear that Tom Riddle was less than impressed with his uncle Morfin Gaunt. The first two met after Tom found out about his mother and father's heritage and returned to Little Hangleton during a break from Hogwarts. After Morfin explained Tom Riddle Senior and Merope's unconventional and sorrowful relationship, Tom decided to eliminate his Muggle family. He did so with Morfin's wand, which Tom took from him.
Tom altered Morfin's memories in order to make Morfin believe that he was the one who eliminated the three Muggles.
The Ministry of Magic soon caught him, inspected his wand, and sent him to Azkaban for life. Tom, on the other hand, returned for another year of Hogwarts.
Split His Soul Into Horcruxes
The splitting of Tom's soul might just be one of the most famous wicked acts that he did before the events of the Sorcerer's Stone. Although Tom preserved part of his soul in his school diary in his fifth year, he didn't truly learn about Horcruxes until his sixth.
As detailed in The Half-Blood Prince, Tom came across this dark magic while reading a book in the restricted section of Hogwarts library. He then managed to convince Horace Slughorn to teach him how to continuously split his soul and hide it in objects in order to preserve his life should his body be wiped out. Throughout the course of Voldemort's younger years, it would become his mission to do track down the objects that he would imprint his soul upon.
Ended A Peasant's Life
After Professor Slughorn informed Tom how to split his soul and hide it in an object, Tom spent the following years creating these Horcruxes. Tom was also obsessed with collecting magical artifacts, especially those pertaining to the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had already received the Slytherin ring through his ancestry but wanted something from Ravenclaw House as well. Before leaving Hogwarts, Tom charmed the ghost of Ravenclaw House, Helena, into telling him where the famous Ravenclaw diadem was.
Tom traveled to a forest in Albania, where Helena claimed the diadem was.
As he found it, he took out a peasant who was in his way. This helped him preserve part of his soul in the diadem.
Swindled Family Heirlooms From Customers
Although Tom was a Slytherin House prefect, a model student, and was expected to do great things, he ended up taking a job at Borgin and Burkes after graduating Hogwarts. Tom received multiple offers to work for the Ministry of Magic, but rejected them all to work at the shop in Knockturn Alley. This surprised many but ultimately kept in-line with his secret mission.
During his time at Borgin and Burkes, Tom persuaded multiple witches and wizards to part with their most beloved magical objects. He was particularly good at this job. He even ended up making Borgin and Burkes decent money, but more importantly, this career led him to tracking down more of his desired magical objects.
