Lord Voldemort
Appears 1,467 times in the books
- Born:
- 31 December 1926
- Died:
- 2 May 1998
The name Tom Marvolo Riddle made from his own. He split his soul to survive, fell in 1981 when Lily’s sacrifice rebounded the curse, and returned in 1995. He dies in the Great Hall when the Elder Wand refuses him.
Same person, later entry: Tom Marvolo Riddle
Appears in
On the timeline
- 1926-12-31
Tom Marvolo Riddle is born
Merope Gaunt gives birth in a Muggle orphanage on New Year’s Eve and dies shortly after. The child is named for his father and his grandfather. - 1938
Dumbledore fetches Tom, who is sorted into Slytherin
Dumbledore visits the orphanage and brings Tom to Hogwarts. The Hat places him in Slytherin. He already frightens the other children. - 1943-06-13
The Chamber opens; Myrtle dies; the diary becomes a Horcrux
In his fifth year Tom opens the Chamber. The basilisk kills Myrtle Warren. He frames Hagrid, and after the murder he makes his first Horcrux, the diary. - 1942–1943
“I am Lord Voldemort”
Tom rearranges the letters of Tom Marvolo Riddle. The diary shows he was already using the name at school. The day he coined it is not given. - Summer 1943
The Riddle murders and the ring Horcrux
In the summer between his fifth and sixth years Tom finds the Gaunts, kills his father and grandparents, frames Morfin, and takes the ring. He makes it a second Horcrux. - Date unknown
The ring is hidden at the Gaunt shack
The ring Horcrux is later returned to the ruined shack. When, exactly, is not said. - 1945
Riddle leaves school and Dippet refuses him
Tom graduates, leaves the diary at the school, and asks Armando Dippet for the Defence post. Dippet says he is too young. Dippet, not Dumbledore, is headmaster. - Late 1940s
Hepzibah Smith is murdered
While working at Borgin and Burkes, Tom flatters Hepzibah Smith, kills her, and takes Slytherin’s locket and Hufflepuff’s cup. Both become Horcruxes. Her house-elf is blamed. - Mid to late 1940s
Borgin and Burkes, and the search for the diadem
Tom works in the Knockturn Alley shop, hunts founder relics, and will turn Ravenclaw’s diadem into a Horcrux after a murder abroad. He does not become headmaster of anything. - Mid to late 1950s
Dumbledore refuses the Defence post
Tom returns, already changed, and asks again to teach Defence. Dumbledore refuses. On that visit the diadem Horcrux is hidden in the Room of Requirement. - 1970
The Death Eaters gather
Voldemort, long out of sight, recruits. The mark and the name Death Eater spread. - During the first war
The cup goes to the Lestrange vault
The Hufflepuff cup, already a Horcrux, is placed in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts. Bellatrix will treat the vault as her charge. - 1979
The cave, and Regulus dies
Voldemort hides the locket in a cave of Inferi. Regulus learns the secret, has Kreacher help him switch the locket, and is dragged under. Kreacher is left with the real one and an order he cannot bear. - Early 1980
The prophecy, and Snape changes sides
Sybill Trelawney makes the prophecy at the Hog’s Head. Snape overhears part of it and tells Voldemort. When he realises it points at Lily, he goes to Dumbledore. - 1981-10-31
James and Lily die; Voldemort falls
Pettigrew has betrayed the secret. James dies in the hall. Lily refuses to stand aside, and the curse rebounds. Voldemort is torn from his body. A piece of soul attaches itself to Harry. - 1991–1992
First year: the Philosopher’s Stone
Quirrell shares his body with Voldemort. Harry becomes the youngest Seeker in a century. The Stone is destroyed with Quirrell. Voldemort flees again. - Summer 1994
Frank Bryce dies; Nagini becomes a Horcrux
Pettigrew finds what is left of Voldemort. The Riddle gardener, Frank Bryce, is killed. Nagini is made into a Horcrux. This is the summer before the World Cup. - 1995-06-24
The third task; Voldemort returns
The cup is a Portkey. Cedric is killed at once. Voldemort regains a body. The wands connect. Harry escapes with Cedric’s body, and Crouch Jr is kissed. - 1995-12
Nagini attacks Arthur Weasley
Harry sees it because of the scar. Arthur survives. Occlumency lessons with Snape begin, and fail. - 1996-01
The Azkaban breakout
Bellatrix and other Death Eaters escape. Broderick Bode, who had been made to steal the prophecy, is murdered in St Mungo’s. - 1996-06-18
The Department of Mysteries; Sirius dies
A false vision draws Harry and five friends into the Department. The prophecy sphere breaks. Bellatrix kills Sirius. Dumbledore and Voldemort duel in the atrium. The Ministry can no longer deny the return. - Summer 1996
The ring, the vow, and a new Minister
Dumbledore puts on the ring and takes a fatal curse. He asks Snape to kill him when the time comes, rather than let Draco do it. Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa. Fudge is out. Rufus Scrimgeour is in. Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance are dead. - 1997-08-01
The wedding, and the Ministry falls
Bill and Fleur marry. The Patronus comes during the reception: Scrimgeour is dead and the Ministry has fallen. The trio flees to Grimmauld Place. - 1998-03
Malfoy Manor; Dobby dies
The taboo on Voldemort’s name gets them caught. Dobby rescues them and dies on the beach. In the same stretch of weeks Voldemort opens Dumbledore’s tomb and takes the Elder Wand. Xenophilius Lovegood has already tried to trade them for Luna. - 1998-05-02
The Battle of Hogwarts
The trio breaks into Gringotts for the cup. At the castle the diadem is destroyed, Neville kills Nagini, and fifty-odd defenders die, among them Fred, Lupin, Tonks, and Colin. Harry walks into the Forest and comes back. Voldemort dies in the Great Hall on 2 May 1998.