Frank Bryce was born into a muggle family in 1917 in the village of Little Hangleton. Little Hangleton was mostly a Muggle village and had almost no trace of magic. Frank Bryce served in the Second World War but returned after three years when he was considered unfit to fight because of his leg being injured. He had developed a hatred towards crowds and loud noises after the war and therefore decided to stay alone and indoors. He worked as a gardener and caretaker for the Riddle household, which belonged to Thomas Riddle.
In August 1943, Thomas Riddle, his wife Mary, and his son Tom were murdered without any trace of a weapon or any clue regarding the cause of their death. Frank Bryce was taken in for questioning to Great Hangleton, a neighboring town where the investigation was being held. Although cleared of all charges, Frank Bryce was considered to be a murderer by most of his neighbors and the villagers of Little Hangleton.
Early Life
Frank Bryce was born in 1917 in the village of Little Hangleton in England and lived very close to the mansion of the Riddle family during his childhood. He knew Dot when he grew up and was close to her. He was told to be very short-tempered, even as a child. As World War II broke out in 1939, he joined the military service and served for three years until his leg got injured. Deemed unfit to fight, he returned to Little Hangleton and worked as a caretaker and gardener for the family of Thomas Riddle. He was given a small cottage to live in within the premises of the Riddle compound.
The Riddle Murders
In August 1943, one evening, Frank Bryce saw a 16-year-old boy climbing the hill towards the Riddle house but didn’t react or question the boy. However, the next day, Thomas Riddle, his wife Mary, and his son Tom Riddle were murdered. Most of the villagers in Little Hangleton believed that Frank Bryce was the murderer as all evidence pointed towards him, and there was no one else in the vicinity who could have possibly murdered them as there was no one else in the compound that night. However, the police let him go as they were yet to determine the cause of the Riddles’ death. All three bodies were unharmed and had no indication of being poisoned, drowned, or attacked in any way except for the fact that they were dead.
It would later be revealed that the 16 year-old-boy who Frank Bryce saw earlier was Tom Riddle Jr, the son of Merope Gaunt, who had found out from his uncle Morfin about his father and mother. Since the boy was a wizard and had used the Killing Curse to murder his father, Tom, and his grandparents, there was no way the Muggle police could determine what caused their deaths. The boy would grow up and become Lord Voldemort, the most feared Dark Wizard of his era.
Later Life
After Frank Bryce was cleared of all charges due to lack of evidence, he returned to the Riddle house and lived in the cottage he had previously stayed in. However, there were new owners for the household, and they barely stayed there. Frank maintained the garden and continued to live there for several years. The belief among the villagers and townspeople that he was a murderer made it easy for most people to just ignore him. Several children would trouble him and would sometimes run in the gardens and sometimes ride their bicycles through it.
Death
On 16 August 1994, Frank Bryce woke up in the middle of the night due to his leg hurting. He was nearing his 77th birthday. He saw a light in the Riddle house and decided to investigate. He found Wormtail and Barty Crouch Jr talking to a voice whose source wasn’t visible. Before he could react, he suddenly came across Nagini, the snake, and stood there terrified. Nagini told the voice about him, and it told Wormtail and Barty Crouch Jr about Frank. They made him enter the room and Frank made up an imaginary wife to protect himself from getting harmed by claiming that she would know if he didn’t return.
The voice happened to be Lord Voldemort, who saw through Frank’s story and decided to kill him. Frank first saw a mutilated body that looked very weak and frail and then saw a flash of green light accompanied by a rushing sound, and he was dead. Meanwhile, Harry Potter happened to be dreaming about this whole incident and woke up suddenly at his place in Privet Drive. Frank Bryce’s story was, therefore, a very tragic arc as he was injured in the war, got accused of a murder he didn’t commit, and eventually got killed for a trivial reason. His disappearance was also not considered alarming, especially because there was no family or anyone to really care for him.
The Return
Despite Frank Bryce’s death, he would eventually return in the form of an apparition. During the duel between Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter in the graveyard of Tom Riddle Sr in Little Hangleton, Voldemort’s wand, and Harry’s wand would end up producing a strange magical phenomenon, and all the people that Voldemort had previously killed with his wand would return in the form of apparitions. This included Frank Bryce, Cedric Diggory, and Harry’s parents. They joined forces and helped Harry escape from the graveyard unharmed.
Albus Dumbledore would later explain to Harry that this phenomenon was called Priori Incantatem and was caused because of Lord Voldemort and Harry’s wands sharing the core made of the same Phoenix feather.
The First Instance of the Harry-Voldemort Mind Connection
Interestingly, the killing of Frank Bryce is the first instance where the reader is introduced to the connection between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort’s mind. Furthermore, this is the first reference to the connection between their minds, which hints at the plot point of Harry being a Horcrux of Voldemort. Harry encounters many of these visions due to this connection. This includes the time Arthur Weasley is attacked by Nagini and several times when Voldemort realizes his Horcruxes are destroyed. Frank Bryce’s murder is still fresh on Harry’s mind but he never remembers it after a while and therefore misses out on several important details of how Barty Crouch Jr was sent to sabotage the Triwizard Tournament.
FAQs
Who played Frank Bryce in Harry Potter?
Frank Bryce was played by the late veteran British actor Eric Sykes. Eric Sykes started his career as a writer for the radio but was later seen in several TV shows and films as well. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Comedy Awards in 1992. He was mostly known for his work in the British sitcom Sykes.
Who is Frank Bryce in Harry Potter?
Frank Bryce was a gardener and caretaker in the Riddle household. He maintained the gardens and took care of odd jobs in the compound. He fought in World War II and returned to Little Hangleton after getting injured. He decided to work for the Riddles after his retirement. However, he was soon accused of the murders of the Riddle family but was later cleared of the charges because of insufficient evidence. He was killed by Lord Voldemort.
Why does Harry Potter see third-person visions in The Goblet of Fire, like when Frank Bryce got killed?
Harry was an unintentionally made Horcrux of Lord Voldemort. When Voldemort killed Lily Potter and later tried to kill Harry, his spell backfired on him due to Lily’s protection for Harry. However, since Voldemort couldn’t die because of his previous Horcruxes, the remaining part of his soul latched onto Harry, thereby creating a connection between the minds of him and Voldemort. This is why Harry was capable of seeing visions like the killing of Frank Bryce and the attack on Arthur Weasley by Nagini.
