Voldemort & The Death Eaters

Explanation: Merope Gaunt, the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin. Pure-blood but abused by her father Marvolo and brother Morfin. She bewitches the handsome Muggle Tom Riddle Sr with a love potion, marries him, falls pregnant, then dies in childbirth.

Explanation: Tom Riddle Sr, a wealthy Muggle from Little Hangleton. Seduced by Merope with a love potion, he abandons her when she stops bewitching him — appalled at fathering a "half-Muggle" child. Adult Voldemort kills him along with his paternal grandparents out of revenge.

Explanation: Salazar Slytherin, through his mother''s Gaunt lineage. That''s why Voldemort is a Parselmouth (inherited gift). As a student, Tom Riddle reopens the Chamber of Secrets built by his ancestor and releases its Basilisk.

Explanation: Wool''s Orphanage in London, a grim Muggle establishment. Dumbledore comes to deliver his Hogwarts letter and discovers that young Tom already terrorises other children with consciously controlled powers.

Explanation: Parseltongue — the ability to speak to snakes. This gift is rare and often associated with Dark magic. Harry loses it at the end of Book 7, when Voldemort''s soul fragment inside him is destroyed in the Forbidden Forest.

Explanation: A skull with a snake emerging from its mouth. It burns when Voldemort summons his Death Eaters and lets them Apparate instantly to his side. Cast into the sky (Morsmordre spell), it signals that a murder has just been committed.

Explanation: Nagini, a giant snake. Voldemort feeds on her venom when he''s weak (revealed in The Crimes of Grindelwald that she was originally a Maledictus — a human woman cursed to transform permanently into a snake). Neville beheads her in Book 7.

Explanation: Narcissa Malfoy, Lucius''s wife and Bellatrix''s sister. She checks if Harry is alive, whispers to ask if Draco is at Hogwarts, then falsely declares to Voldemort: "He is dead." A maternal act of love that saves Harry and dooms Voldemort.

Explanation: Regulus Arcturus Black (R.A.B.). He discovers the Horcrux secret and, horrified, steals Slytherin''s Locket from the cave with Kreacher''s help. He dies drinking the potion, leaving a fake in its place. His note inside is later found by the trio.

Explanation: Inferi — corpses reanimated by Dark magic. They surge from the lake as soon as Harry tries to drink the water. Only fire scares them away. Dumbledore drives them back with a wall of flames before he and Harry flee by boat.

Explanation: Hepzibah Smith, a wealthy witch and collector of precious artefacts, an elderly descendant of Helga Hufflepuff. Tom, working as a clerk at Borgin and Burkes, charms then kills her. Her house-elf Hokey is framed (memories shown by Slughorn in Book 6).

Explanation: Kreacher. He adored Regulus and helped him steal the Locket from the Inferi cave. Voldemort had tortured Kreacher while testing the cave — Regulus never forgot. In Book 7, Kreacher leads the Hogwarts elves into the Battle.

Explanation: Antonin Dolohov, one of the oldest and most violent Death Eaters. His silent curse injures Hermione''s ribs in Book 5. He also kills Remus Lupin at the Battle of Hogwarts. He is eventually arrested and returned to Azkaban.

Explanation: In the Forbidden Forest, near the castle. He gathers his troops there, waits for Harry, and "kills" him with Avada Kedavra — without realising he only destroys the soul fragment inside Harry, not Harry himself. It''s also where Narcissa declares Harry dead.

Explanation: 13 years — the time Voldemort spends wandering Albania in spectral form, occasionally possessing animals. He manages to parasite Quirrell in Book 1, gets a baby-like body in Book 3, then his new adult body at the end of Book 4.