Re: Gone... for good?
![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
How about this:
Background: I believe the most likely time for Albus' research about Tom's background is the 10 year period when Tom was out of the country. That was when Albus first visited Little Hangleton. He found an abandoned Riddle House and desolate Gaunt hovel with nothing magical about either of them. (Of course this raises the question of why Albus never reported what he found about Riddle's crimes, and was willing to interview him without reporting to the Aurors.)
I also think the most likely time for Tom to hide the ring in the hovel was when he got control over the Riddle House under the guise of absentee landlord.
When Severus turned his coat he reported Tom claimed to have the ability to return from the dead or to be practically immortal or something along those lines. So he may have believed Tom had a Horcrux. He may have even thought to look for it. But perhaps he had reasons to avoid Little Hangleton. Maybe Tom was using the Riddle House as a hiding place for himself just like he did for parts of GOF. Or perhaps Albus thought Tom would keep his Horcrux in a place he controlled and checked on it every now and then, so stealing it and destroying it wasn't wise unless he also had a plan to get Tom killed soon.
Then came Halloween 1981. Severus reports his Mark was fading. Albus wonders if this has anything to do with the Potters - aren't they at Godric's Hollow? Hey, why can he remember where they are? The Fidelius must be broken! So he hops over to investigate (he can make himself a Portkey directly from his office as we see in OOTP) - and finds an object that does not belong, perhaps with signs that it was intended to become a Horcrux. (As well as the bodies of James and Lily, their wands wherever they were left lying, Harry, and no sign of Tom - who did leave his wand behind, what about clothes and stuff in his pockets?) He quickly works out why Harry lived and what Harry became, returns to Hogwarts and sends Hagrid on his mission. The finding of the proto-Horcrux at the crime scene was such strong evidence that Tom intended to make a Horcrux that night that Albus concludes Tom's prior claims of immortality were about a plan to make a Horcrux, not about one that already existed.
Background: I believe the most likely time for Albus' research about Tom's background is the 10 year period when Tom was out of the country. That was when Albus first visited Little Hangleton. He found an abandoned Riddle House and desolate Gaunt hovel with nothing magical about either of them. (Of course this raises the question of why Albus never reported what he found about Riddle's crimes, and was willing to interview him without reporting to the Aurors.)
I also think the most likely time for Tom to hide the ring in the hovel was when he got control over the Riddle House under the guise of absentee landlord.
When Severus turned his coat he reported Tom claimed to have the ability to return from the dead or to be practically immortal or something along those lines. So he may have believed Tom had a Horcrux. He may have even thought to look for it. But perhaps he had reasons to avoid Little Hangleton. Maybe Tom was using the Riddle House as a hiding place for himself just like he did for parts of GOF. Or perhaps Albus thought Tom would keep his Horcrux in a place he controlled and checked on it every now and then, so stealing it and destroying it wasn't wise unless he also had a plan to get Tom killed soon.
Then came Halloween 1981. Severus reports his Mark was fading. Albus wonders if this has anything to do with the Potters - aren't they at Godric's Hollow? Hey, why can he remember where they are? The Fidelius must be broken! So he hops over to investigate (he can make himself a Portkey directly from his office as we see in OOTP) - and finds an object that does not belong, perhaps with signs that it was intended to become a Horcrux. (As well as the bodies of James and Lily, their wands wherever they were left lying, Harry, and no sign of Tom - who did leave his wand behind, what about clothes and stuff in his pockets?) He quickly works out why Harry lived and what Harry became, returns to Hogwarts and sends Hagrid on his mission. The finding of the proto-Horcrux at the crime scene was such strong evidence that Tom intended to make a Horcrux that night that Albus concludes Tom's prior claims of immortality were about a plan to make a Horcrux, not about one that already existed.