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In the Harry Potter movies, Voldemort made the Horcruxes and hid them in different locations, but he hid two of them in the same place: Hogwarts.

  • Tom Riddle's diary in the Chamber of Secrets;
  • Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement;

Is there some explanation in the book of why he leaves these two in the same place?

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  • 3
    Because the books took place at Hogwarts, of course! Nov 24, 2015 at 19:18
  • 1
    @MasonWheeler except, no
    – user428517
    Nov 24, 2015 at 19:36
  • 1
    I think the real question is why would he hide ANY of them there? I don't hide candy in my kids' rooms...
    – corsiKa
    Nov 24, 2015 at 22:36
  • 1
    @corsiKa: The answer is that Tom Riddle was so arrogant, he didn't believe anyone but himself could find the Room of Requirements. Nov 25, 2015 at 2:22
  • 5
    Just an educated guess, but isn't Hogwarts a - kind of - secure location? I mean it is protected from muggles, over the suspicion of aurors, protected from instant travel and - while it is full of children - rarely populated with people skilled enough to distinguis between a horcrux and a harmless artifact.
    – mg30rg
    Nov 25, 2015 at 11:55

4 Answers 4

68

He didn’t leave the diary at Hogwarts.

He left the diary with Lucius Malfoy for safekeeping, thinking that he would later pass the diary to another Hogwarts student, and open the Chamber of Secrets by proxy. Quoting Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix:

“There could be no doubt that Riddle really wanted that diary read, wanted the piece of his soul to inhabit or possess somebody else, so that Slytherin’s monster would be unleashed again.”

He thought he could trust his loyal servant to keep the diary safe – a faulty assumption, which is part of the reason why Lucius is so poorly treated in the latter half of the series.

It only found its way to Hogwarts when Lucius dropped it in Ginny’s cauldron (when they meet in Flourish & Blotts, at the start of Chamber of Secrets) – when Malfoy was trying to rid himself of incriminating possessions.

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  • 3
    Shame on me! I absolutely forgot when Ginny got the diary. Thank you for remember me.
    – James
    Nov 23, 2015 at 23:23
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    Actually, he planted it on her intentionally. He wasn't just trying to get rid of it. Nov 24, 2015 at 2:51
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    @Deduplicator trying to get rid of the diary was his main aim – being able to frame a Weasley was just a nice bonus.
    – alexwlchan
    Nov 24, 2015 at 6:51
  • what about Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement; ?
    – BCLC
    Dec 27, 2020 at 12:10
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He didn't hide the diary in the Chamber of Secrets. Did not Lucius Malfoy have that in his possession upon passing it off to Ginny?

Re: the other location - I think it is said that in his arrogance, Riddle thought only he knew of the Room of Requirement.

7

He didn’t - he gave the diary to Lucius, intending him to guard it.

The Dark Lord didn’t put the diary at Hogwarts - he gave it to Lucius Malfoy. Though at one point his intention was that Lucius would smuggle it into Hogwarts when he ordered him to, so he could cause the Chamber of Secrets to reopen, the diary was hidden with Lucius, not at Hogwarts. The Dark Lord expected that Lucius would guard the diary until he was given further orders.

“But I thought he meant Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it into Hogwarts?’

‘Yes he did, years ago, when he was sure he would be able to create more Horcruxes, but still Lucius was supposed to wait for Voldemort’s say-so, and he never received it, for Voldemort vanished shortly after giving him the diary. No doubt he thought that Lucius would not dare do anything with the Horcrux other than guard it carefully, but he was counting too much upon Lucius’s fear of a master who had been gone for years and whom Lucius believed dead. Of course, Lucius did not know what the diary really was. I understand that Voldemort had told him the diary would cause the Chamber of Secrets to reopen, because it was cleverly enchanted.”
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 23 (Horcruxes)

He gave Lucius the diary shortly before losing his body, and Lucius would have had it from that time until he slipped it into Ginny Weasley’s book. In addition, the Dark Lord was never planning for the diary to be hidden at Hogwarts as a way of keeping it safe - he’d only be having it brought into Hogwarts for the purpose of using it as a weapon to open the Chamber of Secrets.

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  • what about Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement; ?
    – BCLC
    Dec 27, 2020 at 12:11
3

I don't know the exact Statements, but Dumbledore once said to Harry that Voldemort had developed a certain attachment to Hogwarts. This was the only place he could call home. He even applied for teacher's post. This may be a reason for him to chose to keep a piece of soul there. Another reason might be his thinking that only he had dived deep in Hogwarts secrets, Only he knew about the Room of Requirement.

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