Harry Potter or Tom Riddle? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harry

Obviously, Harry didn't know much about Hogwarts or being a wizard when he was on his way to school. But after meeting Draco Malfoy, who he immediately disliked, he knew that he did not want to be sorted into Slytherin, and was happy to be placed in Gryffindor House with his new friend, Ron Weasley.

While the Sorting Hat took Harry's preference into consideration, in "Chamber of Secrets" it still thought that Harry would have made a great Slytherin. Perhaps this was because Harry was carrying within him a piece of Tom Riddle's soul, which was not revealed until "Deathly Hallows 2". Nevertheless, when Harry needed help against the Basilisk, Fawkes came with the Sorting Hat, which contained the Gryffindor Sword; the Gryffindor Sword was believed to appear whenever a true Gryffindor showed need or valor, so that settles that!

Answer: Harry

In "Deathly Hallows 2", during a ceasefire at the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry learned from seeing Snape's memories in the Pensieve that he was also a Horcrux that had to be destroyed. Although it was implied that Harry had suspected this for quite some time, Snape's memories confirmed the matter and also spelled out what had to be done from conversations Snape had with Professor Dumbledore.

Harry understood that he had to allow Voldemort to use the Avada Kedavra, or Killing Curse, on him to destroy that fragment of his own soul and to save the others from certain death. It was his mother's sacrifice that continued to protect him with ancient magic. This magic allowed Harry to choose what course he wanted to follow and come back to the present, and was explained by Professor Dumbledore when he and Harry met on the other side.

Answer: Harry

It was obvious in the movie that young Harry was accustomed to not having any friends at all, and finding friends at Hogwarts was an exciting experience for him. From the moment he and Ron first met on Platform 9-3/4 in "Sorcerer's Stone", they had an instant connection, and over time established a friendship that made it through some rough spells as the series continued. Neither of the boys were too sure about Hermione at first, but when she took the blame for them all being in the bathroom with the troll - which kept the boys out of big trouble - they decided that tolerating her "know-it-all" personality was a small price to pay for having a friend. The three became almost inseparable.

Over and over throughout all the movies, it was apparent that Harry's friends meant a lot to him. He worried over their safety, and in "Deathly Hallows 1" even considered leaving The Burrow without them to search for Horcruxes on his own so that they weren't put in harm's way.

Answer: Harry

Harry had many feelings toward Dumbledore; in the beginning, Harry admired and respected the Headmaster, almost like he was a grandfather figure. At times, however, Harry became frustrated and angry with him, especially after Sirius was killed in "Order of the Phoenix". At that time he felt that Dumbledore was being too secretive and perhaps sheltering him too much.

By the end of the story, it seemed that Harry had accepted the flaws he had previously seen in Dumbledore. Perhaps it helped him realize, after having the conversation with him on the other side, that Dumbledore was human like everyone else. Harry showed his love and respect for him by naming his second son Albus.

Answer: Both

Often viewed as suspicious and evil, Parseltongue was a language used by Salazar Slytherin to speak with snakes; only his descendants had the same ability. In "Sorcerer's Stone", it was revealed that Harry was able to communicate with snakes while he was visiting the zoo with the Dursleys. He did not, however, understand this ability until "Chamber of Secrets"; in a duelling club session with Draco, he made the snake appear in an attempt to intimidate Harry. When Harry spoke to the snake and revealed that he was a Parseltongue, the whole school became suspicious. Ron and Hermione even had to explain to Harry that he had used the dark language, but Harry later knowingly used the language to open the Chamber of Secrets.

By the end of "Deathly Hallows 2", it was revealed that because Harry was a Horcrux and contained within him a piece of Voldemort's soul, he too could speak Parseltongue. The books indicated that after the Horcrux in Harry was destroyed that he could no longer speak the Slytherin language.

Answer: Both

Tom Riddle's mother died while giving birth to him at Wool's Orphanage after being abandoned by Tom Riddle Sr. He never knew his father, but when his uncle, Morfin Gaunt, eventually told Tom that his father was a Muggle who had abandoned his mother, Tom exacted his revenge by killing not only his father, but his grandparents as well. He lived at the orphanage, where the others thought him odd and a bully, stealing small items and harming others he didn't like, until Professor Dumbledore told him that he was eligible to attend Hogwarts, but did have to return in the summer, which he hated.

Likewise, Harry was taken to live with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley Dursley after his parents were murdered. They never showed him love, or really even gave him anything beyond basic essential care. It seemed they used him more as a servant, and forced him to live in the cupboard as a young child, neglected and emotionally abused. Was it any wonder that Harry was willing to leave with Hagrid, someone he didn't even know, after he personally delivered Harry's Hogwarts acceptance letter to him? And, because of the protective spell that Dumbledore had cast with his mother's bloodline, Harry had to return to their house each summer until he was seventeen.

Answer: Both

Tom Riddle's father was a Muggle, while his mother, Merope Gaunt, was a pure-blood witch. The Gaunt family, although rather poor by the time of Tom's birth, was proud of its connection to Salazar Slytherin, and Tom was his last descendant. The family was also related to Cadmus Peverell of the famous "Three Brothers" legend; Cadmus was the one to whom Death gave the Resurrection Stone, so the family possessed the stone, although they did not know it. Odd, wasn't it, that a half-blood wizard was a pure-blood supremist?

Harry, too, was a half-blood wizard. His father, James, was a pure-blood wizard whose family was wealthy; James was a descendant of Ignotus Peverell, who received the Invisibility Cloak from Death. Lily, Harry's mother, was Muggle-born, and her parents were very proud of her invitation to attend Hogwarts. Her sister, Petunia, however, never let go of her jealousy of Lily's special powers.

Answer: Both

In "Sorcerer's Stone", when Harry went into Ollivander's Wand Shop for the first time, it was obvious that only one wand would do. After a couple of disastrous tries, Mr. Ollivander took out the wand that he said was the brother to the one that gave Harry the scar. In other words, when Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes gave just two tail feathers, they were used to make Harry's and Tom Riddle's wands, making them brothers.

Because the wands were brothers, they could not work properly against each other. This was seen in "Goblet of Fire" in the graveyard scene when the two wands produced a reaction called Priori Incantatum. The wands were locked together, making it difficult to break the connection, but the losing (Voldemort's) wand was forced to show its most recent spells. This enabled Harry to see Cedric once more and also his parents, who gave him important advice concerning an escape.

After that Voldemort began to realize that his wand wasn't working well, and in order to prevent another Priori Incantatum he took Lucius Malfoy's wand, which Harry destroyed in the Battle of the Seven Harrys at the beginning of "Deathly Hallows 1". Voldemort then went on a quest to find the Elder Wand, which didn't work well for him either, even after he killed Snape, who he believed to be the master of the wand.

Answer: Tom

Really, the entire series of "Harry Potter" books or movies is a testimony as to how much the evil wizard Voldemort feared death. Isn't that why he wanted the Sorcerer's Stone?

Answer: Tom

As revealed in "Half-Blood Prince", Dumbledore first met Tom Riddle at Wool's Orphanage. Unmoved by Tom's admitted control of snakes, Dumbledore focused instead on Tom's stealing from other children. Tom had to have caught his breath when he saw that Dumbledore could set his wardrobe on fire.

In the "Chamber of Secrets" flashback, Dumbledore made it clear to Tom that there was really no reason for him to be out and about in the school, as it seemed like Dumbledore saw through him, and knew about his scheme. Tom had no choice but to close the Chamber of Secrets after he killed Moaning Myrtle.

The fact that he sent Draco Malfoy, a mere boy, to carry out Dumbledore's assassination shows that Riddle was not sure that he could manage the task to kill the most powerful wizard of the day himself.

Answer: Tom

Although Riddle's sorting was not shown in the movies, his wearing of the Slytherin uniform and relationship with Professor Slughorn, the Head of Slytherin House, certainly was in "Half-Blood Prince". It was written that the Sorting Hat immediately put Tom into Slytherin due to his cunning and desire for power and greatness.

Tom Riddle was the heir of Salazar Slytherin through his mother's family, and was his last living descendant. In "Chamber of Secrets" it was revealed that Tom had sought to complete Slytherin's plan of doing away with Muggle-born witches and wizards by reopening the Chamber of Secrets while he was a student at Hogwarts.

Answer: Tom

Tom Riddle didn't have friends; he had a gang of minions - those who thought there was something to gain by attaching themselves to him. All of those shown in the movies - Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and even Peter Pettigrew - followed him out of fear, desire for power, or from the fact that they too were evil. Even the fanatical Bellatrix thought twice before doing something that Voldemort wouldn't like. All Snape had to do to stop her from killing Harry at the end of the "Half-Blood Prince" was to remind her that Harry belonged to the Dark Lord.

Although Riddle's inability to love wasn't explored to a great extent in the movies, in "Order of the Phoenix", he did try to coax Harry into killing Bellatrix after she killed Sirius. Even as Voldemort was attempting to take over Harry's body in the Ministry For Magic, trying to goad Dumbledore into attacking Harry, he couldn't stand the connection; Harry at the time was filled too much with the pain of Sirius' loss and concern for his friends - something that Voldemort could never understand. Harry even had the parting shot as he told Voldemort that he felt sorry for him because he would never know love or friendship.

Growing up in the orphanage, Tom Riddle never knew what it was like to be loved. Some have hypothesized that because he was conceived while his father was under the influence of a love potion, and his mother died after his birth, Tom never really knew true love. The only thing that was shown affection was the snake, Nagini; perhaps that was because he had made her into a Horcrux.