Wool's Orphanage

Wool's Orphanage is a Muggle orphanage in London. Most noticeably, it was the home of Tom Riddle during his childhood years.

History
The orphanage was built and operational sometime before 31 December, 1926, when the pregnant witch Merope Riddle came to the orphanage, shortly after her husband Tom Riddle Sr. abandoned her. Shortly after giving birth to her son and naming him after his father, she died there. The orphanage took care of the newborn, without knowing his magical heritage, though unpleasant incidents occurred around him without any solid evidence to condemn the young Tom. in 1937, Albus Dumbledore came to the facility to bring Tom to Hogwarts. Throughout his seven years of education, Tom deeply wished to avoid returning to Wool's Orphanage for the summers, as he even made a special request to the then-headmaster Armando Dippet to remain in school during the holidays. In his sixth year's summer vacation, Tom departed from the facility to head towards Little Hangleton to confront his muggle father before returning, hiding all of his criminal activities by framing his maternal uncle.

Sometime before 1997, the orphanage had been demolished to make way for an office block. During their search for Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley investigated the possibility that he had hidden one of them in the orphanage, even though Harry highly doubted that they would find one there, since Voldemort's Muggle heritage would be something that he would not want to remember. When they went to the site, the orphanage had been replaced by offices, causing the trio to leave to find the Horcruxes elsewhere.

Description
During the 1930s, the orphanage was a square building surrounded by high railings. It was run-down, but clean, and the orphans in residence were well cared for. They even enjoyed holidays at the seaside on occasion. Despite this, it seems the orphanage had some unpleasantness, as Tom despised returning to it, and Harry Potter later noted it seemed "a grim place in which to grow up". The orphanage was run by Mrs Cole.

Orphans

 * Amy Benson
 * Dennis Bishop
 * Tom Riddle (room 27)
 * Billy Stubbs
 * Eric Whalley

Staff

 * Mrs Cole
 * Martha
 * Wool (possibly)

Behind the scenes

 * In the Harry Potter books, no actual name is given to the orphanage. The orphanage is first named in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * It is interesting to note that the design of the walls in the orphanage as shown in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is similar to that of the Department of Mysteries.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7