Useless theory

I'm reading the new Harry Potter, and I'm pretty sure I've set a record for days I have had a Harry Potter book without finishing yet. But I've been rather busy. So I've been stalled since lunchtime yesterday, and in that time I've had lots of time to think about the scene in the spot where I am in the book.

Harry is in his second lesson with Dumbledore, and Albus has pondered on why Merope did not use her magic in her last days. He suggests the reason was heartache, a broken spirit, a lack of desire to be and a disliking of magic. All this sounds as if it could reasonably be so. I, however, have another theory.

Obviously daddy could not have been too happy with his daughter having run off with a Muggle. I believe (and why not it's fiction anyway, right?) that Marvolo cursed her daughter in a way that prevented her from using magic. He made sure the Muggle was disenchanted and deserted her, and rendered Merope as helpless as he could get her. Consciously he may have been seeking revenge, but under the surface Marvolo must have wanted his daughter back, and therefore tried to drive her to return.

I wonder how he felt when he found his daughter preferred death.
theoretically, of course.