by Aberforth » Wednesday 25 February 2004 11:34:54am
Tom Riddle being Slytherin's true heir has confused me a little. Salazaar lived like a 1000 years ago, so I think it unlikely that he only have one heir or descendent. The wizarding community isn't that large and many only breed with fellow magic-doers, thereby increasing the chances of a higher number of descendents practising magic.
Ok, if Slytherin had 1 child, who went on to have 1 child who had 1 child ad infinitum, then it is possible that there is only 1 heir (since Tom killed his mother). BUT, if you introduce a second child into a couple of the earlier generations then it gets messy. We're talking about 40 generations (based on 1000 years and a generation being 25 years) and it was common practice to have large families until the last one or two generations (due to lack of adequate birth control, high child mortality rates etc.)
Ok, some may have been wiped out during the plague or some wars but I just find it hard to believe, but then what do I know about geneology?