The Harry Potter series introduced the audience to Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard in the Wizard World, who planned his rise to power and takeover of the Muggle and Wizarding worlds for years – but how old was he in the Harry Potter movies? Back in 1997, readers were taken into the Wizarding World with the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first in a series of seven books chronicling the life of “The Boy Who Lived” and his battle against Voldemort.
The Harry Potter book series became a worldwide phenomenon, and it didn’t take long for it to be adapted to the big screen. The Harry Potter movie saga was released between 2001 and 2011, with the seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, divided into two movies, and just like the books, the movie series was a huge success. The Harry Potter movies allowed the audience to get a closer look at the Wizarding World, its events, characters, and more, but it also made way for a couple of questions about its main characters and their backstories, as not all of them were addressed, as is the case of Lord Voldemort, leaving viewers wondering how old he was throughout the whole Harry Potter saga, including flashbacks.
How Old Voldemort Is When He First Appears In Harry Potter
Lord Voldemort made his first appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, where he has revealed to have latched onto Professor Quirrell’s body, which he used to try to get the Philosopher’s Stone, which was being kept at Hogwarts, and to drink unicorn blood, as hosting Voldemort’s soul was weakening Quirrell’s body, and the Dark Lord needed him to be strong. Now, all this happened during Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, but the books and movies might have different timelines. The Harry Potter story covers seven years (that is without counting the epilogue, set 19 years after the events of Deathly Hallows), but the timeline of the books and the movies has been questioned for years. The Harry Potter novels take place between 1991 and 1998, while the movies are said to cover from 2001 and 2008.
According to the books, Tom Riddle was born on December 31, 1926, so by the time he made his first appearance in the Harry Potter series (as Harry arrived at Hogwarts in 1991), he was already 65 years old. Now, it’s unknown when Tom Riddle was born in the timeline of the movies, but if they just adapted the events of the movies to a more modern setting, it’s safe to assume that Voldemort was also 65 years old when viewers saw him for the first time on the back of Quirrell’s head in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
How Old Voldemort Is When He Dies In Harry Potter
The battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort reached its peak in the final book and movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (in the movie series, it happened in Part 2 of Deathly Hallows), where during the Battle of Hogwarts, they finally had a proper duel. As Harry was now the master of the Elder Wand, he had the upper hand unbeknownst to Voldemort, and so The Boy Who Lived finally defeated the Dark Lord. Each Harry Potter book and movie covers a school year, which is why the series is seven books long, so Deathly Hallows is set in 1998 in the books and 2008 in the movies, meaning that Voldemort was 71 years old, as the Battle of Hogwarts happened in May.
How Old Tom Riddle Is During Harry Potter Flashbacks
Although Voldemort’s backstory wasn’t fully explored, there were flashbacks to his troubled childhood and teenage days throughout the Harry Potter series, mostly in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince thanks to Dumbledore and professor Horace Slughorn. Tom Riddle grew up in an orphanage, and these flashbacks showed the moment when he was visited by Albus Dumbledore when he was eleven years old, who told him all about Hogwarts and what he would learn there. Then, in 1943, when he was 16 years old and already studying at Hogwarts, Tom discovered the existence of the Chamber of Secrets, letting the Basilisk free, which then killed Myrtle Warren. The next flashback showed Tom Riddle as part of the Slug Club, a group of students brought together by professor Slughorn. During a dinner of Slughorn and the club during his sixth year at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle asked him about Horcruxes, and by then, he was 17. Last but not least, Voldemort was 54 when he killed James and Lily Potter and failed to kill Harry Potter, which kicks off Harry’s story as “The Boy Who Lived”.
