Reasons for Becoming the Dark Lord

A wizard like Voldemort, who had traveled so far down the path of magic, could not possibly have failed to realize how dangerous what he was doing was, or how powerful his enemies were.

In the United Kingdom alone, there was Dumbledore, a fierce tiger blocking his path. But what if he cast his gaze upon the entire world?

Nicolas Flamel and those long-lived former headmasters of Hogwarts showed that there were certainly no shortage of wizards who had lived for a very long time. Who knew what immensely powerful wizard, having lived for centuries, might emerge from some forgotten corner?

And that was only wizarding society. The power of Muggles was not to be underestimated either.

Leaving technological weapons aside.

The true upper echelons of Muggles had known of wizards since ancient times. Some royal families had even maintained contact with wizards all along.

From ancient times to the present, Muggles had always stood at the forefront and called the shots. Did they truly have no special means of their own? Returning to the original question.

Why had Tom Riddle become Voldemort and stepped into the center of the stage while the path to immortality still had flaws? Time.

Hearing Roger's words, Voldemort was suddenly startled.

Much of the Department of Mysteries' internal research was highly classified. It was difficult for outsiders to know everything.

Moreover, in-depth research into time had become taboo after a major accident in 1899. That had happened before Voldemort was born, and Voldemort, who had always been engrossed in Dark Magic and rarely paid attention to other matters, had truly never considered this angle.

...I need to find an opportunity to deal with the Department of Mysteries.

After the thought flashed through his mind, Voldemort looked at Roger, who was still waiting for his answer, and said, "Of course I know Horcruxes are not perfect."

Though his path had gone astray and he had been blinded to the matter of time and space, even setting time and space aside, Voldemort still believed there were aspects of Horcruxes that could be improved.

"But as an individual wizard, my talent has limits. And I cannot possibly make the path of Horcruxes public and gather everyone's wisdom to research it."

A genius seen once in a century, the Dark Lord, a leader destined to become Minister for Magic within five years of graduation—Voldemort bore many illustrious titles.

But that did not mean Voldemort's magical talent was unparalleled throughout history. At the very least, Dumbledore alone was enough to give him a crushing headache.

He was strong, but not strong enough to transcend all limits.

Just like the countless geniuses throughout history among the Ritual Path, Modification Path, and External Object Path who had sought to ascend from wizards to gods, only to fall before the Wall of Sighs, he too had never truly surpassed the bounds of an ordinary wizard.

This answered Roger's first question. It was not that he did not wish to continue down the path to immortality; he simply could not go any further.

And Roger's second question.

"Do you know Grindelwald?" Just as Roger was somewhat curious about Voldemort's path, Voldemort was also rather curious about Roger.

He wondered what choice Roger would make when the day came that he faced the same dilemma.

That was why he was willing to explain a little, so long as it did not involve core secrets.

"Of course I do." Though he could not be said to know Grindelwald well, Roger still knew the broad outlines of his deeds.

"For the Greater Good?"

Voldemort nodded through Quirrell's body. "Yes."

"And what was my 'banner'?"

"Pureblood." Roger could not possibly have forgotten even that.

Voldemort neither confirmed nor denied it. "Mm."

"What did the Death Eaters and the Acolytes have in common?"

Recalling the original fate, Roger answered with some uncertainty, "Wizard supremacy?"

"That's right. Whether Pureblood Wizards gathered together or elite wizards gathered together, what we were doing was actually much the same. We were all gathering a community of shared interests that wanted to establish a new world order centered on wizards."

Since he could not transcend alone, then if he wanted to accomplish great things, he naturally needed a pack of loyal allies and hyenas of his own.

"So I gathered the Death Eaters, raised the banner of Purebloods, and brought all kinds of madmen under my command."

"I know Muggle-born Half-blood Wizards are not weak, but Half-blood Wizards are untrustworthy. Many of them do not place their allegiance with 'wizards.'"

At this point, Voldemort's face beneath Quirrell's turban involuntarily revealed a vicious grin. "If you have studied wizarding history, you will find that ever since ancient times, when Muggles were still weak, there had been people who wanted to rule Muggles—but all of them were stopped."

"The ones most ruthless toward wizards were wizards themselves."

Wizards were stronger than Muggles, but that was only on the premise that there were no traitors among them. So long as one powerful wizard was willing to lead the way, the wondrous methods of wizards would be greatly diminished, and the situation would become one where wizards were easily killed by Muggles instead.

"The Knights of Merlin, loyal to the royal family, protecting Muggles, managing wizards, heh heh." Reciting the declaration made by the great wizard Merlin when he founded the organization, then looking at the splendor of Muggle civilization today, Voldemort found it utterly ridiculous.

"Roger, I am over sixty this year. Around 1930, when I first began to remember things, do you know what Muggles were like then? They were not strong. Most heavy weapons were not even as powerful as a wizard's spell, and Muggle production machinery was inefficient."

"But it was as though someone had pressed fast-forward on time for Muggles. I watched with my own eyes as Muggle power continued to grow at a terrifying rate."

"And wizards?"

"Hardly any progress at all! So-called powerful wizards even clung to antique spells from hundreds or thousands of years ago and took pride in them." Voldemort, who had spent his entire youth in the era of the fastest technological development, narrowed his eyes slightly, as though recalling something.

"People said I could become Minister for Magic within a few years, and I did indeed possess that ability. With the long life granted by Horcruxes, it seemed I could even remain Minister for Magic for centuries, perhaps millennia, but..."

"And then?" Voldemort asked in almost exactly the same tone Roger had used when he spoke those words earlier.

"Muggle civilization is advancing at breakneck speed, while wizarding civilization is standing still. What will happen in the future is obvious."

"Two hundred years? Or three hundred? I, once seated high above others, would become a rat crossing the street in the entire world—a rat crossing the street with an incomparably long lifespan, immortal, forever wanted and forever wandering!"

"That is not the fate I want."

"Roger, I have no interest in captaining a ship doomed to sink!"

By this point, Roger understood why Voldemort had been so impatient.

Time waited for no one! Muggle civilization was visibly growing stronger, while his own power had hit a bottleneck that might take who knew how long to break through. It was not just him—even the entire wizarding community could not see where hope for progress lay.

"So, at a time when your future was clearly limitless, you became the Dark Lord?"

"That's right. Before Muggles can crush wizards without any suspense, I have to start this war and rule everything."

Rather than slowly dying, living forever amid endless displacement and hardship.

Voldemort chose to gamble everything.

Did he not know how dangerous his path was?

He knew all too well.

But... from his humble origins in an orphanage to once standing at the pinnacle of the wizarding world, becoming a powerful man of nobility and authority had become his obsession.

To fall back into the dirt again, reduced to something lowly?

He would rather wear a crown and die on the path of battle as a Dark Lord!