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In CoS, Harry, Ron and Hermione stumble upon a trophy for Tom Riddle, which he was awarded for catching the heir of Slytherin.

As we know, at least Dumbledore knew that Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort, so why did he never bother to remove a trophy honoring the darkest and most evil wizard of the century from Hogwarts?

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    Well I know I'd get the hell out of there if they told me that the Dark Lord studied at Hogwarts. – Voldemort Apr 15 '14 at 10:35
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    @Voldemort: Do you always speak about yourself in the third person? Hehe. But on topic: Dumbledore definitely knew about Tom Riddle being Lord Voldemort, so he could have removed it without telling anyone, couldn't he? – Lars Ebert Apr 15 '14 at 10:37
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    Because Dumbledore was a sentimental old thing? – NiceOrc Apr 16 '14 at 5:15
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    I think the stronger argument in favor of the trophy's removal is that (spoilers) Voldemort actually was the heir of Slytherin and directly responsible for the death of Moaning Myrtle. In other words, he never should have been awarded the trophy - he only obtained it through deceit and only that to cover up his own crimes. – Dacio Apr 16 '14 at 17:39
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    Even if he didn't have it removed because Tom Riddle turned out to be Voldemort, shouldn't he have had it removed because it was awarded for catching HAGRID, back when he was accused of being the Heir of Slytherin?? Wouldn't it be MORE alarming to keep it up, considering the 'evil' that Riddle supposedly banished was, in fact, the groundskeeper at the school? That must have really sucked for Hagrid, knowing that trophy was still there, all those years. – PotterFan May 7 '17 at 14:11
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  1. Not many people from the current generation knew that it was Voldemort's real name

    The name "Voldemort" was associated with "Tom Marvolo Riddle" only for the chosen few amongst whom Voldemort used the name Voldemort. That is why very few people knew that Voldemort was in reality Tom Marvolo Riddle. So in present day, it's just like very few people knowing that Spiderman is really Peter Parker. I hope the analogy makes sense.
    I could include the relevant excerpts, or they are very well quoted here: Was Voldemorts secret identity always known to the Ministry of Magic? Was it ever secret?

  2. Dumbledore might not have deemed it necessary

    Dumbledore already encouraged people to use the name Voldemort. I don't think he would want to hide Voldemort's real identity. But neither is it something that he would willingly share, considering the general condition in the wizarding world. He might have left it there, so that somewhere down the line, people would start to learn who he originally was.

    Please note. I'm referring only to Dumbledore and not any other headmaster of Hogwarts, as we know that Dumbledore had been the headmaster from before Voldemort became known as “The Dark Lord”. This is seen in HBP, where Dumbledore denies him the post of DADA professor. From this we can safely assume Dumbledore was headmaster even since before Voldemort rose to power.

  3. The removal of the trophy could have raised unnecessary suspicion and panic.

    Had anyone noticed the removal of the trophy, questions and rumors would have started off, which Dumbledore would certainly want to avoid. Removing a trophy from the school would certainly not go unnoticed.

Considering these things, I really don't think it would have been worth the effort.

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    Also he probably WANTED the trio to find it. Wouldn't be surprised if he suggested Filch take one to clean the trophy room. – Mac Cooper Apr 15 '14 at 14:46
  • Yes. But there was quite a significant gap between Dumbledore's promotion to Headmaster, to Voldemort rising to power, to his vanquish, and to Harry coming to Hogwarts. I don't think he could've foreseen THAT far in the future. My answer focuses on the things not dependent on Harry. – Stark07 Apr 16 '14 at 9:29
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    Which is why I didn't make it an answer :) it's far-fetched indeed and caters to the "universe-revolves-around-Harry" crowd, not to mention the "Dumbledore-is-omniscient" faction. Then again ... Dumbledore ;) – Mac Cooper Apr 16 '14 at 10:42
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    In that case, fair enough :) – Stark07 Apr 16 '14 at 10:57
  • @Doresoom - you are right. But what I was trying to indicate is that by the time of the great wizard war, very very few people knew that "You-know-who" was just another student at Hogwarts named "Tom Marvolo Riddle". I did not mean to indicate that the identity was secret in general. But rather that very people knew the real name associated with the identity. I hope the edit makes more sense. – Stark07 Jul 18 '14 at 4:50

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