A wizard like Voldemort, who had walked far on the path of magic, couldn't possibly be unaware of how dangerous his actions were or how powerful his enemies were.
Just in Britain alone, there was Dumbledore standing in his way like a fierce tiger. And what about the rest of the world?
From Nicolas Flamel to the long-lived former headmasters of Hogwarts, it was clear that the wizarding world had plenty of old and powerful sorcerers. Who knew when another wizard, hundreds of years old and overwhelmingly strong, would emerge from some hidden corner?
And that was just the wizarding society. The power of Muggles was not to be underestimated either.
Setting aside their technological weapons, Muggle elites had always known about the existence of wizards. Some royal families even maintained contact with them.
Throughout history, Muggles had always been the ones running the world in the open. Did they really not have any special means of their own?
Now, back to the original question.
Why did Tom Riddle choose to become Voldemort? Why did he step onto the center stage while the path to immortality was still incomplete?
Time.
Hearing Roger's words, Voldemort was suddenly startled.
The research inside the Department of Mysteries was highly classified, and outsiders rarely had full access to its secrets.
In particular, research on time had been forbidden ever since a major accident in 1899—long before Voldemort was born. He had been so focused on the Dark Arts that he had never paid much attention to it.
…Looks like I need to find a way into the Department of Mysteries.
That thought flashed through his mind before he turned to Roger, who was still waiting for his answer.
"I am well aware that Horcruxes are not perfect," Voldemort said.
He had been blinded by his own path and overlooked time and space as a factor, but even ignoring that, he still saw flaws in the Horcrux method.
"But as a single wizard, my talents have their limits. And the path of Horcruxes is not something I can make public and research collectively."
A once-in-a-century genius. The Dark Lord. A wizard who was supposed to become Minister for Magic within five years of graduation. Voldemort carried many dazzling titles.
But that didn't mean his magical talent was truly peerless. Even Dumbledore alone was enough to give him endless trouble.
He was powerful, but not beyond limits.
Just like the countless geniuses in the history of wizardry who sought to transcend into godhood, only to fall at the Wall of Sighs, Voldemort, too, had failed to surpass the boundaries of ordinary wizards.
That answered Roger's first question: it wasn't that Voldemort didn't want to continue down the path to immortality—it was that he had reached a dead end.
As for Roger's second question...
"Do you know about Grindelwald?" Voldemort asked. He was just as curious about Roger as Roger was about him.
Curious about what choice Roger would make if he ever found himself in the same situation.
"Of course," Roger replied. He wasn't deeply familiar, but he knew the general history.
"For the Greater Good?"
Voldemort, using Quirrell's body, nodded. "Yes."
"And your 'banner'?"
"Pureblood," Roger answered without hesitation. There was no way he would forget that.
Voldemort neither confirmed nor denied it. "Hmm."
"What's the commonality between the Death Eaters and Grindelwald's followers?"
Roger thought for a moment before hesitantly saying, "Wizard supremacy?"
"Exactly. Whether it was the pureblood gathering or an elite wizard coalition, what we were doing was fundamentally the same—we were forming a collective interest group that sought to establish a new world order centered around wizards."
Since he couldn't transcend alone, the only way to achieve something great was to gather a pack of followers under his command.
"That's why I assembled the Death Eaters, raised the banner of pureblood supremacy, and attracted all sorts of fanatics under my wing."
"I know that Muggle-born wizards are not weak. But they are unreliable—their loyalties often don't lie with wizards."
Quirrell's turban twitched slightly as Voldemort's face beneath it twisted into a sinister smile.
"If you've studied wizarding history, you'll find that ever since ancient times, when Muggles were still weak, there were wizards who tried to rule them—but they were always stopped."
"And who do you think dealt the harshest blows to those wizards?"
"Other wizards."
Wizards were indeed stronger than Muggles—but only if there were no traitors among them. The moment a powerful wizard chose to act as a guide for the Muggles, the advantage of magic would be drastically reduced, and the situation would flip. Wizards would be the ones getting slaughtered.
"The Order of Merlin… swearing loyalty to the crown, protecting Muggles, managing wizards... Ha." Voldemort sneered as he recited the founding principles of Merlin's organization. Looking at the splendor of modern Muggle civilization, he found it laughable.
"Roger, I'm over sixty years old now. Since around 1930, I started remembering things. Do you know what the world was like back then?"
"Muggles weren't strong. Most of their heavy weaponry wasn't more powerful than a single spell. Their machines were slow and inefficient."
"But then, as if someone pressed a fast-forward button, I watched as Muggle power grew at a terrifying rate."
"And wizards?"
"They barely made any progress! So-called powerful wizards were still content using spells from centuries or even millennia ago."
Having spent his youth in an era of rapid technological advancement, Voldemort's eyes narrowed as if recalling something.
"They said I could become Minister for Magic within a few years. And with the longevity granted by my Horcruxes, I could have ruled for centuries."
"But then what?"
Voldemort repeated Roger's words in the exact same tone.
"Muggle civilization will keep advancing at breakneck speed, while wizarding society will remain stagnant. What do you think will happen?"
"In two hundred years? Three hundred? I, once standing at the pinnacle, will become nothing more than a hunted rat. An immortal, unkillable, but eternally fugitive rat!"
"That is not the fate I want."
"Roger, I have no interest in piloting a sinking ship."
At this point, Roger finally understood Voldemort's urgency.
Time waits for no one.
Muggle civilization was visibly growing stronger, while the growth of wizarding power had reached a bottleneck with no clear breakthrough in sight.
"So, in a time when you had a bright future ahead, you chose to become the Dark Lord?"
"Exactly. I must start this war and seize control before Muggles gain the power to crush wizards completely."
Rather than waiting for a slow and inevitable death, living an eternity of exile and persecution...
Voldemort chose to gamble everything.
Did he not know how dangerous his path was?
He knew it better than anyone.
But from a humble orphan to the peak of the wizarding world, power and status had become his obsession.
To fall back into the dirt, to become insignificant again?
He would rather wear the crown and die as a Dark Lord in battle!
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