#i've probably forgotten something that explains away all of my qualms

[theonceandfuturequeenoftarts]

I'll preface this by saying it's been a hot minute since I read the books, so there might be an easy answer and I'll be mildly ashamed but better informed.

But I don't see how Tom Riddle could have publicly (but covertly) announced the Heir of Slytherin was the one siccing the basilisk on muggleborns back in the 1940s and also claimed his heritage as a descendant of Slytherin, even if only within Slytherin house.

You're telling me that there wasn't a single Slytherin who wasn't under Tom's thumb or enamoured of him -- even for two consecutive hours -- who wouldn't have immediately ratted him out as part of a power play? Or who wouldn't have used it as blackmail at some point?

(And maybe it's fanon that he told the Knights of Walpurgis that he was the Heir of Slytherin? But I believe the implication was that Tom's change of status in his house is in large part because of the discovery of his ancestry.)

I know there's probably a "what happens in Slytherin stays in Slytherin" mentality at play, and the Heir of Slytherin means something significant to this group in particular, and that this is far from the only inconsistency regarding Tom's adolescence, and we've got a couple pretty unreliable narrators/interpreters presenting Tom's past.

But I simply cannot fathom that every single stuffy, bigoted pureblood in that house cowtowed to Tom, that upstart, no-name mudblood (well, halfblood) for the more than two years before he graduated. They all had two months away from Hogwarts shortly after Myrtle's death, too, during which they could have spread the information and made it more difficult for Tom to pin down who tattled. They have the power, due to their names and wealth -- with the correct pressure on the right person, Tom might have had his wand snapped and never returned to Hogwarts to take vengeance on them.

If he's ruling through fear while maintaining the perfect reputation facade, that's bound to create friction with whichever knight is on the outs at any particular time. Piss off enough people and at least one of them is bound to try to bite back, no matter how powerful Tom is nor how ill-advised the course of action.

If they're all so in awe of him that they wouldn't think to move against him, then why not assist him with a job or support after Hogwarts? It must pinch the purebloods to worship a lord who's working retail in the shady part of town for a pittance.

I dunno. I have issues with Tom's intelligence being very "told to the reader" rather than "shown." Whether as Tom or as Voldemort, he makes plenty of bad plans and decisions and sets up a lot of Batman gambits that work out for plot convenience as much as (or more than) the characters acting in-character. But this point in particular rankles because it could -- and should, based on the players -- fall apart so easily.