In many people's eyes, Voldemort was simply a Dark Lord who spread death and all kinds of misery.
But to Dumbledore and Grindelwald, Tom Riddle was clearly more than that.
As one of the greatest wizards of the age, Tom possessed a powerful ability to organize—a talent Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Anton, and Nicolas Flamel all lacked.
It was completely different from the way Grindelwald stirred up the tide of history. Tom knew how to use glory, greed, self-interest, and promises of the future—in fact, anything that could persuade the most powerful old factions to join him and work toward a common goal.
Even Grindelwald had never managed that: getting ancient families, full of ambition and scheming, to commit all their manpower and resources, without hesitation or thought of retreat, and pledge every ounce of loyalty they could to the Dark Lord.
Old Dumbledore had truly changed.
The old honeybee no longer seemed to float above it all or keep things to himself. He had begun carefully explaining to Anton the significance of Tom Riddle's existence.
First, there were the Squibs. Tom might be the only great wizard capable of bringing the entire Squib population—Muggle Squibs transformed from Muggles with Wizard Bloodlines—into the Wizarding World.
Whatever Tom's plans might be, he would ultimately accomplish what Dumbledore hoped for: transforming the millions of Muggle Squibs with Wizard Bloodlines in the Muggle World into wizards.
Tom would make a start and build momentum, forcing the old, decaying Ministries of Magic in Europe to make the same effort.
The wizarding population would leap from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions. That would turn the Wizarding World upside down.
And under that tide, the divisions between Pure-blood, Half-blood, and Muggle-born wizards would be squeezed away, paving the way for perfect integration.
"Even that alone is