Chapter 1: Godric's Hollow

I had a peculiar dream where I found myself in a room, dressed in a robe, holding a wooden stick and directing it towards a lifeless body. My entire body was itching, as if my skin was melting like wax. Internally, it felt like icebergs colliding with each other. The absurdity of the situation overwhelmed me, causing me to burst into laughter. However, the sound that escaped my mouth was so powerful that it almost caused me to faint; it was the kind of laugh any supervillain would trade their soul for. Suddenly, I realized that the voice I heard was not my own, which prompted me to rush to the mirror. To my surprise, the reflection staring back at me did not resemble myself either. Gradually, my body began to transform, becoming less human-like and more unrecognizable. It felt like various pieces were merging together within me. Then, the pain struck. I collapsed to my knees, screaming in agony. But abruptly, the pain vanished after a short while, leaving only a lingering headache. It was in that moment that I understood this was not merely a dream...

I am Lord Voldemort! Well, not exactly. My mind was flooded with foreign memories of Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort, who attempted various methods to achieve immortality and alter his body. Some of these methods did not work well together, such as creating horcruxes and implanting fragments of the Veil of Death into the body. It's possible that a sliver of his soul was ejected and replaced with a random soul, or that my soul merged with the remaining fragment in this body. The outcome was clear: his memories, reflexes, and abilities, combined with my consciousness. This proved to be advantageous as I had full control over the body.

However, this raised a thought-provoking question regarding horcruxes: were they fragments of Riddle or myself? Would they still fulfill their purpose and grant me immortality? Until I have the opportunity to verify, it would be wise for me to proceed under the assumption that I am susceptible to death...

Question: What now? The best option is to forget everything and run away. But I was an international criminal. I will not be welcome anywhere. Tom traveled extensively in his youth, recruiting supporters everywhere... Wizards were conservative for a reason: their magical power was backed by local magical sources. The British Isles had three great sources: Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic and Stonehenge. Each source produced unique ambient magic, and the differences between them increased with distance. Using a foreign source was difficult. This usually resulted in a much slower replenishment of magic energy and a lowering of the magic reserve while staying in an adverse area... Simple traveling wasn't a big problem, but fighting for your life was a problem: after the reserves were exhausted, you recovered significantly slower. If now I can do my best every two days, in India it will slow down to once every 30 days at best. (This is why there was a Triwizard Tournament and not an All-wizard Tournament. British sources were more or less felt throughout Europe, allowing Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts to compete with long rest periods of several months between events in order to recover.)

Moving for me was like a death sentence, as I would quickly lose strength outside of Britain. Younger and weaker wizards found it easier to adjust to a new power source. I could eventually adapt after about 20 years, but I would likely be killed before reaching that point.

Should I surrender to Dumbledore? Will he understand and forgive me? I fear he will kill me! The best outcome I can hope for is a cell in Nurmengard next to Grindelwald. Riddle was responsible for the deaths of thousands of muggles and hundreds of wizards. Individuals like him are not granted forgiveness. It is unlikely that anyone will believe my remorse.

Guiding the aristocracy towards peace was not within my power as their leader. The dark mark served as both a beacon and a symbol, yet I lacked the ability to manipulate or eliminate them using it. If I opposed their beliefs, they could potentially band together to eliminate me. Furthermore, it is probable that Riddle's horcruxes no longer held any significance.

It appeared that I had to assume the role of the antagonist, with no drastic alterations, at least not right away, until I could accurately evaluate the circumstances.

What were my assets? I was one of the world's most powerful wizards, possessing power, knowledge, skills, reflexes, and an enhanced body. The Mind Arts granted me good memory and quick thinking, but also brought some detachment and lack of emotion. The wand still worked but not as well as before; this needed to be fixed. Additionally, I commanded approximately one hundred Death Eaters and twenty members of my most trusted Inner Circle.

What was working against me? Dumbledore, who was older, stronger, and more experienced. He had defeated Dark Lords even before I finished school and attended his classes. Additionally,He also sat atop the strongest magical source in England and had a phoenix familiar that could heal and apparate through protective barriers. He would easily overpower me. We fought twice, with me retreating behind a live shield of muggles the first time and a live shield of wizards the second time. Furthermore, he had the support of his Order of the Phoenix, consisting of around two hundred wizards of various levels, including highly skilled members like the Longbottoms. He also had hundreds of followers and recent Hogwarts graduates as backup. Additionally, there were two hundred Aurors and a thousand ministry workers, although they were as insignificant as plankton with wands.

Perhaps I should consider ending my life right now with the Avada spell? No, I should at least give this life a chance first...

It was time for me to start working. I needed to stand up from the floor and retrieve the wand. I felt embarrassed, thinking about how Lily could have easily escaped or harmed me with a kitchen knife while I was in pain and making loud noises on the floor. Imagining the potential headline "Potter Housewife Defeats the Dark Lord" amused me, but luckily she was in shock and had barricaded herself in the nursery. I wondered how long I had spent contemplating my next move - maybe around forty seconds. I realized I needed to come up with a strategy.

I transformed James' body into a rock and placed it in my pocket. Why? I will find some purpose for it! Afterwards, I transformed a replica of his body from thin air. Utilizing magic felt natural, and the amount of energy used for non-verbal spells at the level of NEWTs was much less than what could be replenished, even with a wand that was not ideal for the task.

I walked up to the second floor and pointed my wand at the door. Instead of casting a spell, I simply used my will to make the door open.

Lily Potter, standing without a wand in front of the baby's bed, protected him with her body. She possessed both youth and beauty, which explained Severus' desire for her. Her bright green eyes and thick, dark red hair were particularly striking.

"Please, not Harry! Please, I'll do anything!" she begged.

The girl was panicking as she heard me laughing and screaming. Despite her fears, I had no intention of harming her or her child. My reasons were twofold: the prophecy that haunted me, and the potential usefulness of Lily. It was not in a romantic sense, especially considering to her husband's murderer, who was a well-known maniac. Additionally, Snape might seek revenge if I interfered with his relationship with Lily. Moreover, being associated with her would harm my reputation. Although faking her death was simple, rletting her go would damage my image.

For a brief moment, she stood frozen with her eyes wide open. I could hear her inhale a deep breath in complete silence, as if the air itself had become lifeless. Lily had never anticipated that her desperate plea would yield any results.

"Anything!" she repeated. "Just don't kill Harry!"

"Very good," I replied.

She fell to the floor without fainting, and I assisted her in getting up. Harry observed us from behind her.

"Very good?" Lily asked incredulously.

"I will spare your life and your son's life as long as you promise to serve me faithfully and never betray me. You must vow on your life and your son's life. The vow will result in your death if you attempt to go against me or share confidential information."

A little wave of the wand - and glowing patterns appeared in the air around us, strangely surrounding us. It was a rather mysterious magic that did not need a tome but required sincere intent from both parties and could only be performed once every ten years. Riddle came across it while searching for ways to control Death Eaters. But once every ten years wasn't funny. Only the Lestrange couple were under this covenant (although they served voluntarily and were completely loyal anyway). Tom wanted to use it on Lucius Malfoy last year, but Lucius didn't trust anyone in principle, so he didn't take the vow. Since then, Riddle began calling him "my slippery friend."

"Do you agree to these terms?" This was actually complete slavery without any responsibilities on my part. I didn't plan to kill them, but I still had to add a paragraph about Harry's self-defense.

"I, Lord Voldemort, swear, Lily Potter, that I will not kill Harry Potter if you swear on your life and the life of your child to serve me faithfully and never betray me."

"I...I swear...on Harry's life. And mine. To serve you faithfully," her voice was growing quieter with each word. "I swear...on his life and mine never to betray you."

"Please repeat what I say."

"I vow to be faithful to Lord Voldemort both in his actions and in his omissions and never and under no circumstances will I disclose any confidential information relating to Lord Voldemort that I receive today or at any time thereafter, whether orally, in writing or in other form, including but not limited to: telepathy, legilimency, veritasetum or similar drugs or potions, consciously or unconsciously, except in compliance with the direct and express orders of Lord Voldemort."

"I swear not to kill your son in the circumstances described above, but reserve the right to use deadly force if necessary in self-defense."

We were surrounded by a red glow. The vow has been taken.

"What now?" She asked.

As I gazed into her eyes, I found no trace of occlumency. I then searched her thoughts for the whereabouts of her wand and other essentials for herself and the baby, using space expansion charms to store everything in my pocket.

"Before we move, please give me your arm."

The marking went smoothly. I could sense a new Death Eater in close proximity. The fear on Lily's face was impossible to put into words. Another flick of the wand resulted in Lily and Harry being transformed into small statues and placed into a magically enlarged pocket. Why did I do this? I still had unfinished tasks to attend to, and having a distressed woman with a baby would only hinder me.

After visualizing the Mark, I found and contacted Pettigrew and the Lestranges. They all showed up shortly after.

"My Lord…"

"Time is of the essence, Wormtail. Go to London. You will be Sirius Black's bait. The Lestranges will help you set the trap. The story is that Black betrayed the Potters and tried to murder you, but you managed to kill him first. You will gain Dumbledore's trust, and Black will become our prisoner."

I gazed into their eyes in order to transmit the information through legilimency. Rodolphus was diligently committing everything to memory, while Bellatrix admired me and Wormtail trembled with fear.

"Go. Time is of the essence," I ordered. Three claps and I was alone again. I transfigured copies of Lily and Harry's bodies, cast several spells to confuse the evidence of today's events, and hid myself under a powerful concealment charm.

Several minutes later, Sirius Black arrived and mourned over the bodies for an extended period, overwhelmed by grief. As I worked on subduing his will, I chose to use more subtle charms rather than the Imperius. I eventually bypassed his family amulet, exploiting the fact that he had never learned occlumency despite being a powerful wizard. My goal was to intensify his sorrow and desolation carefully, without driving him to suicide.

When Hagrid arrived and started comforting him, I was able to immobilize Hagrid without speaking. Even though he was no match for me, it was difficult to control a half-giant who was resistant to magic while also dealing with Black. Eventually, I used the Imperius curse on Black and he resisted, but his protective amulets were ineffective since I had been inside his mind for a few minutes.

Black said "Avada Kedavra!" and the half-giant immediately died.

Black's desperate attempts to throw off the curse proved to be futile, especially considering the fact that I was pointing a wand at him from just a few feet away. I successfully transformed Hagrid's body and added it to the rest. I can't help but wonder if a top-notch zombie-Hagrid could persuade acromantulas to align with me.

Black rode his motorcycle while I sat beside him, casting concealment charms on us and Fiendfyre at the house. The cursed fire was simple to create but challenging to control, quickly spreading through the house. Even if I left some evidence, the evidence would be impossible to find due to my misdirection charms and Fiendfyre. After Black cast the Dark Mark over the house, we departed for London.