18 little-known facts about Voldemort even die-hard 'Harry Potter' fans may have missed (2024)

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The names Tom Marvolo Riddle and Voldemort have significant meaning.

Names often have deeper meanings in the "Harry Potter" universe, and Voldemort is no exception. The phrase "vol de mort" means "theft of death" or "flight of death" in French, which is an apt description of his main goals throughout the series.

The villain's name remains "Voldemort" in the different translations of the books, but since the letters of his given name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, must rearrange to spell the phrase "I am Lord Voldemort" to fulfill a major plot point, his name varies throughout the translations.

In the French translation, his given name is Tom Elvis Jedusor to rearrange to "Je suis Voldemort," — which means "I am Voldemort."

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Tom Riddle's name was based on a real person.

Authors often use the world as inspiration for characters and plot points. One such source of inspiration for "Harry Potter" was a cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The BBC reported the names of characters, including Minerva McGonagall, Alastor Moody, and Riddle, were inspired by headstones in Greyfriars Kirk graveyard.

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He wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.

Riddle applied for the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts position twice — once when Armando Dippet was headmaster of Hogwarts and once when Albus Dumbledore took over.

Dippet turned him down due to his young age, and when he asked Dumbledore several years later, the headmaster could see his evil intentions.

After being passed over the second time, Voldemort placed a jinx on the position, preventing any teacher from holding the job for more than a year.

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The Riddles and the Potters are distantly related.

Many readers probably remember that Harry Potter is a descendant of the Peverells, a family famous for possessing the three Deathly Hallows.

In the seventh book, we learn that Harry is a descendant of Ignotus Peverell when he discovers the true origins of the invisibility cloak his father passed down to him.

But fans may not have caught that Riddle is also a direct descendent of that same family. The Gaunt family on his mother's side can be traced back to Cadmus Peverell.

Cadmus was the original owner of the resurrection stone, which was eventually passed down in ring form to Riddle's grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, and his uncle, Morfin Gaunt, before Riddle stole it. The later generations of the family did not know that the ring contained the stone.

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More than one actor played Voldemort in the films.

Though Ralph Fiennes is the actor most commonly associated with Lord Voldemort, he didn't take on the role until "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."

In "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" viewers see Voldemort, who Richard Bremmer played, attached to the back of Professor Quirrell's head. The actor is credited as "He Who Must Not Be Named" in the first film.

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Voldemort's parents never really loved each other, which may have eventually led to his demise.

Riddle's mother, Merope Gaunt, lived a life of tragedy and abuse.

Dumbledore said she became so desperate to leave that life behind that she put a wealthy muggle, Tom Riddle Sr., under a love spell so he could take her away from her father and brother. Under that spell, Tom Sr. married Merope, and Tom Jr. — Voldemort — was conceived.

When the potion's effects wore off, Tom Sr. left her, and she felt she had no choice but to leave their child at a Muggle orphanage.

Love conquering all is a major theme of the series, and this backstory makes it clear that there was never love in the villain's life.

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As a boy, he tested his powers on other children at the orphanage.

Riddle's evil nature was apparent from a young age.

In "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," we learn through Dumbledore's memory in the Pensieve that Riddle was testing spells on unsuspecting children at the orphanage where he was raised.

The book references one specific event during which he took two children into a cave and did something so terrible they could never speak of it again. The cave evidently left a lasting impression on Voldemort, as it also became a Horcrux hiding place.

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Albania was an important place to Voldemort before he hid there in the wake of the First Wizarding War.

Most fans probably remember that the bodiless remains of Voldemort hid in an Albanian forest to regain strength after baby Harry defeated him in the First Wizarding War.

He also returned to the same forest after his host body, Quirrell, was killed in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Though it is never exactly revealed why Voldemort chose that location as a hiding place, it does hold a certain significance to him. The first time he visited Albania, his mission was to retrieve the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw — which her daughter Helena had revealed to be hidden in a forest there — to create one of his seven Horcruxes.

A Horcrux is a powerful, dark object that contains a piece of a witch or wizard's soul and keeps that soul fragment alive regardless of the body's fate.

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Voldemort made his first Horcrux by killing Moaning Myrtle while he was a student at Hogwarts.

Making a Horcrux is a dark form of magic that requires a witch or wizard to take another's life.

Riddle created his first Horcrux by killing his fellow Hogwarts student, Myrtle Warren, better known as "Moaning Myrtle."

After the murder, the part of his soul that split entered a diary that eventually possessed Ginny Weasley and made her reopen the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts during Harry's second year.

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Nagini was integral to Voldemort's return to power.

Nagini was the longtime serpent companion of Voldemort.

Though the exact date and location of their meeting are unknown, we know she was with him when he was regaining strength in Albania. Her venom was also part of a potion Peter Pettigrew brewed that helped sustain his bodiless form.

Eventually, the snake became Voldemort's final Horcrux after the murder of Bertha Jorkins.

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He created an army of corpses by murdering Muggles.

The books reveal that an Inferius is a corpse reanimated by dark magic.

Fans may recall the scene in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" when a swarm of Inferi surrounds Dumbledore and Harry in the cave as they try to retrieve the locket Horcrux.

What they may not know is that Voldemort created the majority of his army of Inferi by murdering vulnerable Muggles and reanimating their corpses.

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Voldemort ultimately decided that Harry Potter was 'the chosen one.'

As we learn in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy that only a child "born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies" would have the power to vanquish Lord Voldemort. But the identity of that child was not always clear.

Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom fit that description, but Voldemort ultimately decided to go after Harry, a half-blood like himself, cementing Harry's fate as "the chosen one."

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He had a daughter with Bellatrix Lestrange.

In the stage play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" — which became part of the "Harry Potter" canon in 2016 — we learn that Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange had a daughter together named Delphini.

The exact date of Delphini's birth is still a mystery, but she must have been born sometime between Bellatrix's escape from Azkaban in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and the Battle of Hogwarts in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" — during which both Voldemort and Bellatrix died.

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The Death Eaters were almost called the 'Knights of Walpurgis.'

During his school years, Riddle formed a group of friends he could manipulate to do his bidding. Many of these friends became members of his loyal band of Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War and beyond.

In a 2003 interview with the BBC, Rowling said she'd originally planned to call the group the "Knights of Walpurgis." After all these years, she's even kept a scrap of paper referencing that name in case she ever decides to use it.

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Riddle was a brilliant student.

There may not be many positive things you can say of Riddle/Lord Voldemort, but he was a very gifted student.

He was skilled at Legilimency and Occlumency, received top marks in his class, earned a Medal for Magical Merit, and was even made head boy in his seventh year.

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He probably could've gotten a job at the Ministry of Magic.

As one of the top students in his class, Riddle was bound to have many opportunities after finishing at Hogwarts.

In his final year, Professor Slughorn offered to set him up with job interviews using his connections at the Ministry of Magic.

Instead, after getting rejected for the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts, Riddle went to work at Borgin and Burkes antique shop. This job allowed him to acquire both Salazar Slytherin's locket and Helga Hufflepuff's cup, which he turned into Horcruxes.

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It's significant that his wand was made from a yew tree.

Wands can be made from several different woods and materials, but it's fitting that Voldemort's is made from the bark of a yew tree.

Yew trees were once considered sacred in druid traditions, but their toxic needles led them to eventually symbolize death in Celtic culture. They're also known for living for a very long time.

For variousmyths and reasons, yew trees also became popular in cemeteries.

Since Voldemort is a wizard obsessed with death and immortality, the symbolism of his yew wand isn't lost.

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His greatest fear was his own death.

Boggarts are magical shape-shifters that transform into whatever a witch or wizard fears the most.

In a 2005 interview with the fan site MuggleNet, Rowling said that Voldemort's greatest fear is "ignominious death," and if he ever encountered a boggart, he'd probably see his own lifeless body.

Even without this insight, it is clear that Voldemort does everything in his power — including fragmenting his soul seven times — throughout the series to live up to his name and beat death.

This story was originally published on August 1, 2020, and most recently updated on August 2, 2023.

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