How Ron Weasley Knew That Voldemort Was in Slytherin - Harry Potter Explained

Hey everyone,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going to be breaking down something that Ron said when he first met Harry in the Philosopher’s Stone. Now, Ron says a lot of things- and some of it’s nonsense and some of it is legitimate. However, when Harry and Ron are on the Hogwarts Express together travelling to school for the first time- he said something that caught my attention.

“What House are your brothers in?” asked Harry.

“Gryffindor,” said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. “Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don’t know what they’ll say if I’m not. I don’t suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin.”

“That’s the House Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?”

“Yeah,” said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

When I read the statement for the first time no alarm bells went off- because, well, I didn’t know the full story at that point. However, after reading all of the books and watching all of the films- it became apparent that there is a bit of a problem with Ron’s statement. It’s well known that Voldemort’s identity was unknown- noone knew that he was Tom Riddle, so HOW did Ron know that he was in Slytherin at that point in time? Ron was just a little kid- how could he have known? Dumbledore discusses Voldemort’s anonymity himself in the next book:

‘Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school … travelled far and wide … sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here.’

So again- How did RON know? Furthermore, if Ron knew and he was just a little kid- then it must have been common knowledge.

The truth is that Ron never knew that Voldemort was Tom Riddle- in fact, noone really made the connection between Voldemort and Tom. So how did people know that the dark lord himself was a Slytherin? Well, I think he bragged about it. Voldemort, even at the height of his power, had a track record of bragging about his heritage- and that’s because he was a descendant of school founder Salazar Slytherin himself. He was proud of it, and he wanted people to know, so he didn’t shy away from sharing his Hogwarts house- he only kept his original identity hidden. Voldemort was so proud of his heritage that he even called himself "Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin", indicating that he intended to keep the Slytherin connection even after he became Lord Voldemort. This is supported by the following quotes:

“Now, Harry, I’m going to teach you a little lesson. Let’s match the powers of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him.”

also

“There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School,’ said Voldemort. ‘There will be no more houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone, won’t they, Neville Longbottom?”

So the answer to this question is simple- Voldemort was a known and proud Slytherin who likely blagged about it- and though people didn’t know WHICH Slytherin student he was- it didn’t matter.

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Until next time

"It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."



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