Mrs. Cole is the head of the orphanage where Dumbledore finds Tom Riddle, Jr. She is wary of Dumbledore at first, uncertain of why anyone would willingly take responsibility for such a troubled, strange bully of a boy. With the help of a little gin that Dumbledore conjures, he is able to get valuable information about how and when Tom's mother left him at the orphanage, and Tom's mean-spirited nature.