According to the information Howl had previously, Riddle indeed possessed Slytherin blood.
However, by today, this line had long since died out, leaving only Tom as the sole descendant.
As for others who branched out, they likely perished long ago due to certain bloodline-related 'traditional virtues'.
According to Dumbledore, in the sixteenth century, one of Riddle's ancestors murdered his own sister and brother-in-law.
The reason was that they had shown some friendliness towards Muggles.
In comparison, the Malfoy family's past actions of using deception and magical diseases to drive away Muggles and seize land seemed much gentler and more cunning.
Northern England.
Howl looked at the nearby village and said, "So this place is called Slytherin Plain? Just like the naming of Godrics Hollow."
Dumbledore smiled wryly, then explained, "Slytherin had no male heirs, erm... after the Chamber of Secrets incident, I spent a lot of time investigating this founder.
After leaving Hogwarts, he seemed to become disheartened, finding everything in the mundane world tasteless, caring neither for his daughter nor whether his surname would be passed down."
Howl nodded and asked in return, "And how did you come to that conclusion?"
"Mainly considering the qualities required of the Slytherin house itself.
I think, if Slytherin's own mindset hadn't changed, he would never have allowed his daughter to abandon his surname and marry into another Wizarding family.
As the most powerful Wizard of his time, he wouldn't have needed his daughter to 'marry up'."
"Marry up?!"
"Exactly, that would be the Gaunt family. They are descendants of the Peverell family," Dumbledore explained. "As for the Peverells, that's another story."
"That's possible," Howl largely agreed with Dumbledore's idea. Slytherin, who valued honor, would sit idly by as his surname was abandoned? This was clearly a decision made under unusual circumstances.
No, it shouldn't be called a decision.
It should be said that at that time, he probably didn't care about these things at all.
"I wonder what he did in his later years," Howl sighed. "If he was researching magic, then I'd still be interested."
"That's unknown," Dumbledore sighed. "However, what can be confirmed is that even if Slytherin himself didn't care whether his surname and bloodline continued, the Gaunt family cared very much.
According to existing information, the Gaunt family has considered themselves the bloodline descendants of Slytherin for the past few centuries. And to maintain the purity of their bloodline, they had a more obsessive habit of inbreeding than other families.
However, unfortunately, the most prominent person in their family besides Riddle was one of the founders of Ilvermorny, Isolt Sayre.
Do you remember the Gaunt family Witch I just mentioned who was murdered by her own sister? Isolt was their daughter."
"I remember that person," Howl nodded. He had seen a brief introduction of this Witch in "History of Magic in the United States" which he had read previously.
Well, it was a book as thin as a British menu, and it dedicated considerable space to this Witch.
She was one of the first Wizards to arrive in the United States via the famous Mayflower.
She also took Slytherin's own wand, a snake-wood wand.
This wand has now regrown into a giant snake-wood tree, the only magical snake-wood tree in the world.
"Slytherin's true lineage is in the United States?!" Howl exclaimed.
Dumbledore also laughed, then moved on from the topic.
The two walked along a country path and soon stopped before a signpost.
Two arrow indicators, the one pointing to their direction of arrival read: Great Hangleton, 5 miles. The one pointing forward read: Little Hangleton, 1 mile.
"Let's go," Howl turned around. "Is this a Wizarding village or a mixed village?"
"This is a Muggle village," Dumbledore's lips curved upward. "Because the Gaunt family used to care so much about show, they spent all their money.
So by the time of Riddle's parents' generation, the Gaunt family could only come here to live a poor life while cursing the Muggles.
Oh, and they would occasionally accept alms from the villagers.
Because they truly couldn't do 'lowly work' like farming."
They walked for a while, seeing nothing but tall hedgerows on both sides and a somewhat gloomy sky above, indicating that rain would soon fall.
Then, the path turned left, descending steeply down a slope, and a valley unfolded before them.
Looking further down, a village nestled between two steep slopes, with a church and cemetery clearly visible. On the opposite slope of the valley, there was a very grand mansion surrounded by large stretches of green lawn.
However, they were not going to that village. After striding down for a while, the path turned right, and as they rounded the bend, Dumbledore stepped forward, first slipping into the hedge and disappearing.
Howl followed him onto a narrow dirt path, where the hedgerows on both sides were taller and denser than those they had just passed.
At this point, the scene became strangely peculiar; the dirt path inexplicably twisted and turned, riddled with potholes and scattered stones. It led steeply downwards into a small patch of dark woods.
Not far along, they reached the low-lying woods, and a house was half-hidden among the gnarled trees.
Its walls were covered in moss, many roof tiles had fallen off, and rafters from the house's structure were exposed in several places.
Dense nettles grew around the house; no one would willingly use these as yard grass, yet here the tall nettles reached up to the windows.
At the same time, an eerie silence emanated from the house.
Absolute silence, no rustling of leaves in the wind, no chirping of insects.
When ambient sounds vanished, a sense of eeriness naturally crept into one's heart.
It reminded Howl of Lord Voldemort's infiltration of Hogwarts, when Quirrell's turban-wrapped head was similarly 'empty'.
"This is the Gaunt family's mansion, so where is the Riddle family's?"
"In the nearby village," Dumbledore said. "The Riddle family are all Muggles.
That's why I so agreed with your theory just now; perhaps Riddle killed them precisely because he couldn't accept his father being a Muggle, such an inferior existence!
Furthermore, the Riddle mansion is now just an ordinary, spooky house with eerie rumors. But this one, this is the real trouble."
"Alright," Howl nodded, raising his hand. A ripple spread out, releasing forward, instantly slicing through the bothersome nettles.
But the next moment, those nettles grew wildly again, like some kind of twisted green snakes.
In the blink of an eye, the nettles in the yard had returned to chest height, swaying in the wind.
Dumbledore revealed a helpless smile: "This is the problem—"
His words stopped abruptly, because he found that Howl wasn't listening to him at all.
His wand appeared in his hand, and a blazing, brilliant blue-purple flame instantly spread out, scorching towards the green plants.
Crackle—
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