Tom Riddle's gang

"There were half a dozen teenage boys sitting around Slughorn with Tom Riddle in the middle of them, Marvolo's black and gold ring gleaming on his finger."

- The structure of the gang, as seen in Horace Slughorn's memory in the Pensieve

Tom Marvolo Riddle's gang was a group of fellow students Riddle had around him during his time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He claimed they were his friends, and made it appear so in public. In truth, however, he had no attachments for them, as he never once desired a friend, and he only manipulated them to do his deeds, which led to nasty incidents over the years. Through Riddle's intelligent and discreet methods, the gang was never connected to these incidents.

"Tom Riddle nearly smiled as the others laughed again. Harry noticed that he was by no means the eldest of the group of boys, but that they all seemed to look at him as their leader."

- Harry noticing the hierarchy of the gang in the Pensieve memory

Presumably, although this group disbanded after Riddle graduated from Hogwarts in 1945, it was a precursor to the Death Eater organisation. The group was originally called the Knights of Walpurgis. Indeed, some (if not all) of the members became the earliest known Death Eaters.

Known members
"They were a motley collection; a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty."

- Albus Dumbledore on the the principal attributes of the gang, many of whom would later go on and become Death Eaters.


 * Tom Riddle (Leader)
 * Avery
 * Lestrange
 * Rosier (possibly)
 * Mulciber (possibly)
 * Nott (possibly)
 * Antonin Dolohov (possibly)

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)