======The House of Gaunt======
=====Introduction=====
The **House of Gaunt** was an ancient and formerly wealthy [[pure-blood]] wizarding family, notorious in their final generations for their poverty, instability, violence, and fanatical pride in their ancestry. They were the last known direct descendants of [[Salazar Slytherin]], one of the founders of [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]]. The family's legacy is primarily defined by its inherited ability to speak [[Parseltongue]] and its ownership of two priceless Slytherin heirlooms. The Gaunt line ultimately culminated in the birth of its most infamous member, [[Tom Marvolo Riddle]], who would become [[Lord Voldemort]].
=====History=====
The Gaunts prided themselves on being the last descendants of [[Salazar Slytherin]]. For centuries, they maintained their [[pure-blood]] line through a tradition of marrying their own cousins. This practice of inbreeding, while preserving their bloodline, likely contributed to their growing mental instability and proclivity for violence, as well as their eventual fall into squalor and poverty. Despite their destitution, they clung fiercely to their belief in their own superiority over other wizards and especially over [[Muggles]].
In the 1920s, the last of the family lived in a dilapidated shack on the outskirts of the [[Muggle]] village of [[Little Hangleton]]. The family consisted of the patriarch, [[Marvolo Gaunt]], and his two children, [[Morfin Gaunt]] and [[Merope Gaunt]]. Their squalid living conditions were witnessed by [[Ministry of Magic]] official [[Bob Ogden]], who visited to issue a summons to [[Morfin]] for attacking a local [[Muggle]], [[Tom Riddle Sr.]]. During Ogden's visit, [[Marvolo]] boasted of his ancestry and showed off two family heirlooms: a ring with a black stone and a heavy gold locket. After [[Morfin]] and [[Marvolo]] attacked Ogden, they were both sentenced to [[Azkaban]].
With her father and brother imprisoned, [[Merope Gaunt]] was freed from their oppressive influence. She used a [[Love Potion]] to ensnare [[Tom Riddle Sr.]], the [[Muggle]] she was infatuated with, and they eloped. However, after she became pregnant, she stopped administering the potion, hoping he had genuinely fallen in love with her. He had not, and immediately abandoned her and their unborn child. Destitute and heartbroken, [[Merope]] sold [[Slytherin's Locket]] to [[Caractacus Burke]] for a mere ten [[Galleon]]s. She later gave birth at a [[Muggle]] orphanage in London, naming her son [[Tom Marvolo Riddle]] before she died.
Years later, a young [[Lord Voldemort]] sought out his maternal family, only to find his uncle [[Morfin]] living alone in the Gaunt shack. After learning the story of his parentage, [[Voldemort]] murdered his [[Muggle]] father and grandparents, the Riddles. He then used his magic to alter [[Morfin]]'s memory, framing him for the crimes. [[Morfin Gaunt]] died in [[Azkaban]], believing himself guilty, thus ending the male Gaunt line and the family name.
=====Family Traits=====
Due to generations of inbreeding, the Gaunts were described as having a "strangely proportioned" and "ugly" appearance. [[Marvolo]] and [[Morfin]] both had brutish features and were unkempt. [[Merope]] was described as plain and defeated-looking, though it was noted she might have been beautiful had she not been subjected to years of abuse.
The family's defining personality traits were extreme arrogance, a violent temper, and a fanatical devotion to [[pure-blood]] supremacy. They held non-magical people and [[Muggle-born]] wizards in utter contempt. Their pride in their lineage from [[Salazar Slytherin]] was their only remaining source of status, which they proclaimed aggressively. This pride was coupled with deep-seated paranoia and instability, which manifested as violent outbursts.
=====Magical Abilities and Skills=====
The most significant magical trait passed down through the Gaunt family was [[Parseltongue]], the rare ability to speak with serpents. This skill was a direct inheritance from their ancestor, [[Salazar Slytherin]]. [[Morfin Gaunt]] often preferred speaking [[Parseltongue]] to English.
While they possessed magical ability, it was often uncontrolled and fueled by hatred. [[Merope]] was considered almost a [[Squib]] by her family, but she proved capable of brewing a powerful [[Love Potion]] and performing other charms once freed from their tyrannical presence. [[Lord Voldemort]] would inherit their magical lineage and develop it to a prodigious and terrifying extent.
=====Possessions=====
The Gaunts were the custodians of two incredibly valuable heirlooms passed down from [[Salazar Slytherin]].
  * **[[Marvolo Gaunt's Ring]]:** A heavy gold ring set with a black stone, which was unknowingly the [[Resurrection Stone]], one of the three [[Deathly Hallows]]. The stone was engraved with the symbol of the [[Peverell family]], which [[Marvolo]] mistook for the Slytherin coat of arms. [[Voldemort]] stole the ring from [[Morfin]], turned it into a [[Horcrux]], and wore it at [[Hogwarts]].
  * **[[Slytherin's Locket]]:** A heavy gold locket bearing a serpentine "S" made of green stones. This heirloom was sold by a desperate [[Merope Gaunt]] to [[Borgin and Burkes]]. [[Voldemort]] later tracked it down, stole it from [[Hepzibah Smith]], and also transformed it into a [[Horcrux]].
=====Family Tree and Notable Members=====
  * **[[Salazar Slytherin]]:** The family's legendary ancestor.
  * **Corvinus Gaunt:** An ancestor who was a student at [[Hogwarts]] and was responsible for concealing the entrance to the [[Chamber of Secrets]] within the school's new plumbing system. (Pottermore)
  * **[[Marvolo Gaunt]]:** The last patriarch of the family. He was cruel, abusive, and immensely proud. Died in [[Azkaban]] for attacking [[Ministry of Magic]] officials.
  * **[[Morfin Gaunt]]:** Marvolo's son. Violent and mentally unstable, he was imprisoned for attacking [[Tom Riddle Sr.]] and later died in [[Azkaban]] after being falsely convicted of the Riddle family murders.
  * **[[Merope Gaunt]]:** Marvolo's daughter and the mother of [[Lord Voldemort]]. She was oppressed and abused by her family for most of her life. She died shortly after giving birth.
  * **[[Tom Marvolo Riddle]]:** The son of [[Merope Gaunt]] and [[Tom Riddle Sr.]]. As [[Lord Voldemort]], he was the last descendant of the Gaunt line.
=====Etymology=====
The word //gaunt// means "lean and haggard, especially because of suffering, hunger, or age," or "grim or desolate in appearance." This name perfectly reflects the physical and spiritual state of the family in its final years—impoverished, emaciated, and living in grim squalor, a shadow of their former glory.
=====Behind the Scenes=====
The history of the Gaunt family is revealed to [[Harry Potter]] by [[Albus Dumbledore]] in //Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince// through memories viewed in the [[Pensieve]]. The film adaptation of the book includes the scene of [[Bob Ogden]]'s visit to the Gaunt shack, visually depicting the family's poverty and aggressive nature.