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In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it is revealed that there is an out-of-wedlock birth in that

Delphini "Diggory" was born to Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix was already married to Rodolphus Lestrange, and Voldemort doesn't seem like the sort to want to get hitched.

All the protagonists of Harry's generation were born to married parents, and that seems to have applied to the "19 years later" generation as well. Were there any out-of-wedlock births in the Harry Potter universe outside of the one previously mentioned?

Thunderforge
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2 Answers2

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I believe Tom Riddle, Jr. (aka Lord Voldemort) qualifies.

Merope Gaunt had Tom Riddle, Sr. under the effects of love potion (or at least that is what Dumbledore and Harry believe). They were technically married, but Tom Sr. had left Merope prior to Tom Jr being born.

We see the following quotes in The Half-Blood Prince

Albus Dumbledore: "Can you not think of any measure Merope could have taken to make Tom Riddle forget his Muggle companion, and fall in love with her instead?"

Harry Potter: "The Imperius Curse? Or a love potion?"


"Tom Riddle left her while she was still pregnant... I believe that Merope, who was deeply in love with her husband, could not bear to continue enslaving him by magical means. I believe that she made the choice to stop giving him the potion."


"Within a few months of their runaway marriage, Tom Riddle reappeared at the manor house in Little Hangleton without his wife. The rumour flew around the neighbour­hood that he was talking of being 'hoodwinked' and 'taken in'... He left her, never saw her again, and never troubled to discover what became of his son."

An "out-of-wedlock" birth literally means children born of a mother and a father who were not married at the time of birth. If we take a strict definiton of the phrase I feel Tom Jr qualifies because even though Merope and Tom Sr were married when Tom Jr was conceived, they were not married when he was born.

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Skooba
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    In Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore describes Riddle and Gaunt as having had a "runaway marriage". It seems clear that they were married before she became pregnant, and I don't think it's ever mentioned whether he sought a divorce or annulment. – recognizer Aug 12 '16 at 20:08
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    I see that their marriage is now edited into the answer - it seems like a stretch to claim that Riddle's leaving his wife dissolved their marriage. – recognizer Aug 12 '16 at 20:09
  • @recognizer maybe legally, if Tom Sr never sought an annulment, but by the same token I doubt their marriage was registered with the courts or church. So Tom Sr leaving is effectively divorce – Skooba Aug 12 '16 at 20:10
  • Isn't birth in or out of wedlock an entirely legalistic matter? At least, within the scope of this question. One might say that certain people would consider a child to be illegitimate, in a customary sense, because the father wasn't present, but that would for sure be a matter of opinion. Unless someone within the narrative expressed an opinion on the matter. – recognizer Aug 12 '16 at 20:13
  • my question is how did they get married and where which legally married was it, wizard legal, or muggle legal! – Himarm Aug 12 '16 at 20:17
  • @Himarm I doubt there was any legality to it. No one attended the wedding IIRC, just that the Riddle family knew he ran off with with Merope – Skooba Aug 12 '16 at 20:19
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    plus im sure a love potion induced marrages are probably illegal and null and void – Himarm Aug 12 '16 at 20:20
  • While I think this may technically be an out-of-wedlock marriage, I'm wondering if there is a more clear-cut case where the parents were never married before the child's birth. – Thunderforge Aug 12 '16 at 20:32
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    @himarm - Not in Vegas. – Valorum Aug 12 '16 at 20:45
  • We can imagine that the use of a love potion might be grounds for annulment in some sort of court that recognises the existence of potions. However, I'm not aware of any attempt by Tom Sr to annul the marriage. In that case, I don't see how we could not consider the marriage to still be in effect when Tom Jr is born. – Blackwood Aug 13 '16 at 03:09
  • @Blackwood We can consider the marriage to not be in effect because Tom Sr. left. There was no "legality" to it in the first place (not registered, not administered by a church, etc.), so by the simple act of leaving Merope, he is leaving the marriage. – Skooba Aug 13 '16 at 11:40
  • Technicalities aside, Voldemort was the character that leapt immediately to mind when I read this question. – Slytherincess Aug 16 '16 at 03:40
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Someone mentioned the Half-Blood Prince. If memory serves, Severus Snape was born out of wedlock, hence the reference to being a half-blood (his mother's last name was Prince; his father was a Muggle named Tobias Snape). Considering their hatred of 'mud-bloods,' one has to wonder why Voldemort and the Death Eaters tolerated Snape's presence.

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