Who Killed the Riddles?

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

Credit for this idea belongs fully to the fan fiction author BajaB and his short story Fair Trade.

In HBP, Dumbledore claims that Tom Jr. stupefied Morfin, used Morfin's wand to kill Tom Sr. and the elder Riddles, and then modified Morfin's memories. BajaB suggests an alternative scenario where all that Tom Jr. did was physically knock Morfin out and steal the ring. "Later, Morfin woke up, saw the ring was gone, vaguely remembered somebody who looked like Tom Riddle coming in to the house, and ran off to kill him and anybody else he came across."

This provides a simple explanation for how Tom avoided activating the Trace. He never performed any magic.