Chapter Text
People often said that Albus Dumbledore was a wonderful man, always thinking of the greater good. Always doing the right thing. But Albus Dumbledore knew that what was great for the majority may not be right for everyone. Sacrifices were needed sometimes, whether they be demanded from him or from a newborn child who had not yet walked the path of evil.
He sighed and finally pointed his wand at a newly christened Tom Marvolo Riddle and casted an old forgotten ancient curse named “Charismatum e converso”. It was a highly complex and draining spell but nothing that he could not do. He hoped that it prevented Tom from becoming a Dark Lord as how can one be a lord without followers and which pureblood would follow a person who had nothing to give and no charisma at all.
He hoped that it was worth coming thirty five years into the past and destroying the potential of a genius wizard. Because yes, Tom Riddle had great potential however evil it may be. But he had to do this as the dark side was winning and there was no end to the war in sight. He did not want to see how much more death and destruction the war could bring.
So, he took one last look at the boy who was once a dark lord and went on his way back to his own time knowing that the Dark lord Voldemort would exist no more, neither in reality nor in his memories which would be overwritten as soon as he went back.
And thus ended the story of the strongest Dark Lord in the history of the wizarding world.
But it certainly was not the end of Lord Voldemort.
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Tom Riddle grew up to be called a freak, a demon child, a devil in human skin, so he decided to become one. Everyone thought that he was a liar, a cheat because there was no way for someone like him to be great at all the things he did, so he became a liar (though he still thought that cheating was beneath him).Tom Riddle was the most hated child at the Wool’s Orphanage so he decided to hate everyone else too.
Tom knew that he was different, that he was special. He had to be because he did not want the matron or the children to be right, he did not want to be a freak, a devil, a demon child (PLEASE NO MORE!!! HELP, HELP! As the priest continued to drown him in holy water and his terrible chants, and permanently marked his skin with a holy cross as it charred his heart as much, if not more, than his skin.)
So when a young Dumbledore came to tell him that he was a wizard he hoped to finally be accepted, to finally belong. But the wizarding world was just as much of a disappointment as the rest of his life had been. He had been sorted into Slytherin house, the so called home of the ambitious and cunning wizards. But what he found was just a house full of spoilt, rich pureblood kids who depended more on their family name then on their own potential.
Even after being the best in class the teachers did not pay any attention to him and his house punished him for doing better than his pureblood peers. It was as if his hard work, his talent meant nothing to anyone. Professor Dumbledore still looked at him with suspicious eyes as if an eleven year old child in a completely new environment was about to go on a murder spree.
The Slytherins tore his clothes, destroyed his equipments and sabotaged his assignments so he had to learn quickly as many spells as possible to protect himself and his possessions. Because that was all he had, himself and his possessions, and if no one was going to protect him, he would protect himself. And if a tiny corner of his mind whispered that he was a freak and no one wanted to befriend a freak and it was entirely his fault, he ignored it with great vehemence.
From then onwards he threw himself into learning magic and becoming better than everyone else. Even though no one recognized his efforts he would still become the greatest wizard ever and then no one would ignore his existence. By his third year Tom could protect himself even from the seventh years but he did not stop there, he devoured every book he came across with the same hunger as before and kept on improving himself even further.
During his fifth year although he was not made a prefect, he found something better. He learnt that he was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, he found the Chamber of Secrets. But the Slytherins treated it as a fluke, saying that it must be a mistake, that he could never be related to someone so great. So when even his bloodline, the only thing that the purebloods seemed to care about, did not make him did not make him good enough to follow (to become friends with) him, he decided not to care about them anymore.
While visiting the basilisk in the chamber he met Myrtle Warren who was constantly being bullied for being little different than others, for being a muggleborn. During his constant visits they started talking and became somewhat like friends (but if someone asked Tom they were just acquaintances). He then realized that he was not the only one suffering and decided to change the world in his own way. And what better role model than Robin Hood, the one who made the rich prats suffer and helped people like him who never had anyone be there for them.
No, he certainly did not become a good person overnight; he knew that he would do these things more out of spite for people who rejected him than for the good of someone else. But it was time for the purebloods to learn that they were just some stupid inbred idiots who could not even hold a candle against people with real talent and what better way to teach them than using their own fortune to help those people whom they detested.
And thus began the story of the greatest thief the wizarding world had ever seen.