10 Things Harry Potter Fans Probably Didn't Know About Voldemort
7. He Was Conceived Via A Love Potion
Much has been made of Voldemort’s apparent inability to feel any form of compassion towards his fellow human beings. Harry Potter explicitly tells him that he feels sorry for him over this in The Order of the Phoenix. But the reason for this emotional shortcoming is a more tragic one than many fans might first assume.
Tom Riddle's mother was Merope Gaunt, a witch who endured a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her father and brother. According to Albus Dumbledore, Merope slipped Tom Riddle Senior, a wealthy Muggle, a love potion so that he would marry her and she could be free of her family.
It was under the effects of this love potion that Tom Riddle Junior, who would grow up to become Lord Voldemort, was conceived. When the potion wore off, Riddle Senior quickly left the family and Merope was forced to put her child in a Muggle orphanage, where Dumbledore first found him.
It's often made clear that the true difference between Harry and Voldemort is how much love each of them receive from the people around them. Perhaps if the young Tom had been shown more affection, he wouldn't have grown to become such an evil man.