Frank Bryce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harry Potter character | |
 Eric Sykes as Frank Bryce in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
|
| Frank Bryce | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | Grey |
| Parentage | Muggle |
| Allegiance | The Riddle family (employee) |
| Actor | Eric Sykes |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
Frank Bryce (1917-1994) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter universe. He was a reclusive World War II veteran who worked as the caretaker of the Riddle family mansion in Little Hangleton. He oversaw the day to day activities involved in maintaining the grounds, especially the lawn. In 1942 he was arrested and questioned in connection with the murders of the Riddle Family.
The character is portrayed by Eric Sykes in the 2005 film version.
In fact the Riddles, and their son Tom, were murdered by Tom Marvolo Riddle, later to become Lord Voldemort. Since Bryce had the keys to the large house where the deaths occurred, he was the easiest suspect.
The Police were forced to release Bryce because of a lack of evidence. They (and the Muggle community) could not make sense of the Riddle family's deaths, as their bodies were unmarked. The Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, which Tom Marvolo Riddle used to kill his grandparents and father, leaves no sign of violence or damage on the victims, and the Police were unable to prove that the Riddles had in fact been murdered.
The community of Little Hangleton still believed Bryce to be guilty. As a result, he lived out the rest of his life as a pariah, isolated and living on the grounds of the Riddle's estate.
It is stated that the estate passed through several wealthy but uninterested owners. The house remained unoccupied and fell into disrepair. Presumably, enquiries made into the Riddles' affairs after their deaths had failed to turn up any record of the birth of Tom Marvolo Riddle, although such records must surely have existed. (At the time, Britain was engaged in the Second World War, and records might have been destroyed or not available, or a proper search might not have been possible in the circumstances.) Since Tom Riddle Sr. abandoned his wife before the birth of his son, he almost certainly would not have made any will in his son's favour, nor even acknowledged his existence in any document. Nevertheless, as the legitimate issue of the marriage of Tom Riddle Sr. and Merope Gaunt, Tom Marvolo Riddle would certainly have had a claim to the estate under English law. However, at the age of fifteen, it is clear that his ambitions lay in directions other than Muggle wealth and status.
In 1994 Voldemort secretly returned to the Riddle home. Bryce discovered Voldemort and overheard his plan to kill Harry Potter, but was discovered by the snake Nagini and revealed to Lord Voldemort, who killed him almost immediately. He would appear once more in the same book (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), during Harry and Voldemort's graveyard duel. "Priori Incantatem," also known as the reverse spell effect, brought back an image of Bryce from the tip of Voldemort's wand. Upon appearing, Bryce's spirit encouraged Harry to keep fighting.
Dumbledore states his belief in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that the murder of Frank Bryce was used to create Voldemort's presumably sixth and final Horcrux.
