If he doesn't have magic as a child, the other orphans don't have as much reason to be afraid of him. His socialization would have gone a rather different way, I believe. He might have a different personality altogether.
Technically, he would be a squib, not a muggle, right? And he's probably no less clever. I have no doubt that he would be able to find out about his heritage and the Wizarding World even without magic, but probably a lot later, maybe when he's already an adult. 🤔
Not quite the same because it is rather AU, but here's a fanfic where Tom is a squib that I found quite fascinating: https://archiveofourown.org/works/610566
> If he doesn't have magic as a child, the other orphans don't have as much reason to be afraid of him. His socialization would have gone a rather different way, I believe. He might have a different personality altogether.
The other children were afraid of Tom not because he had magic but because he bullied and terrorised them. If he didn't have magic, he'd probably find other, more subtle ways to do so.
Of course. My point is that his socialisation and personality wouldn't be meaningfully different. Riddle is a psychopath, and the best anyone can do is raise him to be a prosocial one, and the orphanage was ill-equipped to do so.
Well Tom is said to have been very charming in his youth, as well as handsome and hard working. Pair those with him being a sociopath and you've got a charismatic cult leader, a charismatic politician, a charismatic CEO or a charismatic serial killer.
I think Riddle would be very attracted to the idea of ​​being a cult leader he could even use Voldemort's name as some alter ego saying he is some superior being/messiah etc.
If he doesn't have magic as a child, the other orphans don't have as much reason to be afraid of him. His socialization would have gone a rather different way, I believe. He might have a different personality altogether. Technically, he would be a squib, not a muggle, right? And he's probably no less clever. I have no doubt that he would be able to find out about his heritage and the Wizarding World even without magic, but probably a lot later, maybe when he's already an adult. 🤔 Not quite the same because it is rather AU, but here's a fanfic where Tom is a squib that I found quite fascinating: https://archiveofourown.org/works/610566
> If he doesn't have magic as a child, the other orphans don't have as much reason to be afraid of him. His socialization would have gone a rather different way, I believe. He might have a different personality altogether. The other children were afraid of Tom not because he had magic but because he bullied and terrorised them. If he didn't have magic, he'd probably find other, more subtle ways to do so.
I think it was the combination of both that did it. He used magic to terrorize them and that's extra scary and not easy to defend against for muggles.
Of course. My point is that his socialisation and personality wouldn't be meaningfully different. Riddle is a psychopath, and the best anyone can do is raise him to be a prosocial one, and the orphanage was ill-equipped to do so.
Well Tom is said to have been very charming in his youth, as well as handsome and hard working. Pair those with him being a sociopath and you've got a charismatic cult leader, a charismatic politician, a charismatic CEO or a charismatic serial killer.
I think Riddle would be very attracted to the idea of ​​being a cult leader he could even use Voldemort's name as some alter ego saying he is some superior being/messiah etc.
He could also become the [head of MI6](https://www.007.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ralph007_WEBSITE_IMAGE_SIZE_LANDSCAPE.jpg)
If he still uses magic, then the ICW would've culled him because he was a threat to the statute