======Gaunt House======
=====Location Information=====
  * **Type:** [[Residence]]
  * **Location:** In a wooded area on the outskirts of the village of [[Little Hangleton]], [[England]].
  * **Owner/Residents:** The [[House of Gaunt]], including [[Marvolo Gaunt]], [[Morfin Gaunt]], and [[Merope Gaunt]].
  * **Key Features:** A dilapidated and squalid shack, hidden from view. It was protected by various [[curses]] and enchantments and served as the hiding place for [[Marvolo Gaunt's Ring]], one of [[Lord Voldemort]]'s [[Horcrux]]es.
=====Description and History=====
The [[Gaunt House]] was the ancestral home of the [[House of Gaunt]], the last known descendants of [[Salazar Slytherin]]. By the early 20th century, the family's wealth and status had dwindled to nothing, and their home reflected their impoverished and degraded state. The house was little more than a hovel, hidden away in a dense thicket of trees. Its walls were slimy with moss, sections of the slate roof were missing, and a dead snake was nailed to the front door, a clear symbol of their Slytherin heritage and their ability to speak [[Parseltongue]].
The interior consisted of a single, filthy main room. It was described as having grubby walls, a soot-blackened ceiling, and a floor covered in grime. The furniture was meager and broken, and the general atmosphere was one of extreme squalor and gloom.
In the summer of 1925, the house was visited by [[Ministry of Magic]] official [[Bob Ogden]]. He had come to serve a summons on [[Morfin Gaunt]] for attacking a local Muggle, [[Tom Riddle Sr.]]. The visit escalated into a violent confrontation, resulting in both Morfin and his father, [[Marvolo Gaunt]], being sentenced to [[Azkaban]]. During their imprisonment, [[Merope Gaunt]] used a [[Love Potion]] to ensnare [[Tom Riddle Sr.]] and eloped with him, abandoning the house forever. Marvolo returned from his sentence to find his daughter gone and died soon after. Morfin returned after his own longer sentence and lived in the shack in solitude for many years.
Around 1943, a young [[Tom Marvolo Riddle]] sought out his maternal family and found his uncle Morfin living in the house. It was here that Riddle learned of his heritage, stole [[Marvolo Gaunt's Ring]], and then framed his uncle for the murder of the [[Riddle family]] before leaving him to die in [[Azkaban]]. The house subsequently fell into ruin and was abandoned for over fifty years.
=====Role in the Story=====
The [[Gaunt House]] is a location of pivotal importance in understanding the history and psychology of [[Lord Voldemort]]. [[Harry Potter]] witnesses its state in the 1920s through a [[Pensieve]] memory shown to him by [[Albus Dumbledore]] in //Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince//. This memory reveals the arrogance, poverty, and violent instability of Voldemort's maternal relatives, providing crucial context for his own identity and his deep-seated hatred of his Muggle heritage.
Years after his visit to Morfin, [[Voldemort]] returned to the now-derelict shack to hide one of his [[Horcrux]]es—the stolen [[Marvolo Gaunt's Ring]]—placing it in a golden box hidden beneath the floorboards and protecting it with powerful [[Dark Magic]].
In 1996, [[Albus Dumbledore]] journeyed to the ruins of the [[Gaunt House]] to locate and destroy this [[Horcrux]]. While he successfully retrieved the ring, he was grievously injured by a deadly curse placed upon it, an injury that blackened his hand and ultimately sealed his fate. In //Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows//, Voldemort, realizing his [[Horcrux]]es are being targeted, returns to the shack to check on the ring's safety, only to discover that it is gone. This moment confirms his fears and triggers his frantic race to secure his remaining soul fragments.
=====Known Areas Within=====
  * **Main Room:** The only described room in the house, serving as the kitchen, living area, and sleeping quarters. It was exceptionally filthy and poorly furnished, reflecting the [[Gaunts]]' squalor. This was the scene of the confrontation between the [[Gaunts]] and [[Bob Ogden]].
  * **Floorboards:** Beneath the floorboards of the main room, [[Lord Voldemort]] hid a golden box containing [[Marvolo Gaunt's Ring]]. He protected this hiding spot with complex and powerful enchantments.
=====Behind the Scenes=====
  * In the film adaptation of //Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince//, the scene of [[Bob Ogden]]'s visit to the [[Gaunt House]] is omitted. The film instead shows a memory of [[Albus Dumbledore]]'s visit to retrieve the [[Horcrux]]. The hiding place of the ring is depicted as a crystalline container within a cave-like structure in the shack, rather than a box under the floorboards. (film)