Voldemort was still very weak and about to give up all hope when, in 1994, his servant Peter Pettigrew, a.k.a. Wormtail, who had faked his own death years earlier and hid from authorities in his Animagus form of a rat, had returned to his master. Together, they built a rudimentary body that Voldemort used for travel and performing magic. While in this form, Voldemort was forced to drink a potion made from unicorn blood and venom from Nagini the snake to sustain him. Knowing that Dumbledore was sure to have seen the Philosopher's Stone destroyed, Voldemort knew he would not be able to use the Elixir of Life to create a new body for himself so he would settle on regaining his old body and strength. To achieve this goal, Voldemort would require the use of an old piece of Dark Magic and that required him to return to England to obtain one of the three main necessary ingredients, bone of the father, flesh of the servant, and blood of the enemy.

Pettigrew lured Ministry official Bertha Jorkins to Lord Voldemort in his forest hideout in Albania. He used magic to glean information about the Triwizard Tournament from Jorkins. Before killing her, Voldemort was surprised to find that someone else had put a Memory Charm on her and interrogated her to find the whereabouts of a loyal Death Eater, Barty Crouch Jr, who had been imprisoned in Azkaban and was thought to be dead. Voldemort uncovered that Barty Crouch Snr was concealing his son at his home after helping him escape prison. Jorkins had stumbled upon Barty Jr at his house, and Crouch Snr placed a Memory Charm on her so that she would not report it.
Returning to the Riddle House in Little Hangleton, Voldemort also killed Riddle groundskeeper Frank Bryce for overhearing their plan to crash the Triwizard Tournament. They went to the Crouch estate, where Voldemort placed Crouch Snr under the Imperius Curse and freed Crouch Jr.
Voldemort ordered Crouch Jr to capture Alastor Moody, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. Crouch Jr and Peter Pettigrew did so, and created Polyjuice Potion which Crouch Jr used to impersonate Moody for the entire school year. He influenced the Tournament for months, ensuring that Harry would be the one to get to the Triwizard Cup first which, unbeknownst to anyone, was a Portkey.

Harry, in the spirit of sportsmanship, requested Cedric Diggory to tie with him for the win. When they both touched the Portkey, they were transported to a cemetery in Little Hangleton where Wormtail and Voldemort were waiting. Under Voldemort's orders, Pettigrew murdered Cedric with the Killing Curse and went on to have Harry tightly bound and gagged to the Riddle Family tombstone.

After Wormtail had placed Voldemort's rudimentary body into a cauldron containing the near finished potion, he added the first two ingredients causing it to turn from a poisonous-looking blue to burning red before he proceeded to obtain Harry's blood and added it to the Potion for his master's rebirth. Once the final ingredient was added, the potion turned blinding white, sending out bright sparks as it simmered before dying down and a thick white steamed the ritual now complete, Voldemort regained his physical body and emerged from the cauldron. Calling on Wormtail to robe him, the reborn Dark Lord took some time examining his body and getting re-accustomed to it. Then he called for his servant to show him his arm and used the now returned Dark Mark to summon his Death Eaters.

Those who were perhaps most loyal to him, save for those who willingly went to Azkaban in his name, appeared. Voldemort welcomed them before he scorned them for believing him to be dead and informed them that he would expect better of them now that he had returned. The Dark Lord told the Death Eaters of the events that had led to his first downfall, his years in hiding before he tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone by possessing Quirinus Quirrell and eventual defeat before finally of how Wormtail had located him, and they set out to orchestrate his resurrection.

Voldemort then set his attention on Harry, and began to mock and humiliate the boy before the Death Eaters. He then had Harry untied so he could force the young wizard into a duel where the Dark Lord had a greater advantage over Harry. After inflicting the Cruciatus Curse several times and the Imperius Curse on Harry, Voldemort was ready to end the one sided duel and kill Harry once and for all. Yet as Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra, Harry simultaneously cast Expelliarmus and their twin-core wands became locked in Priori Incantatem.

People who had been killed by Voldemort's wand came out as spectral visions. First Cedric Diggory, then Frank Bryce, followed by Bertha Jorkins, Lily and James Potter. They encouraged Harry, while distracting Voldemort. Harry pulled away and had enough time to grab Cedric's body and the Triwizard Cup to return to the Hogwarts grounds.
Voldemort now had some of his followers, but Barty Crouch Jr had been discovered, and was subjected to the Dementor's Kiss before he could be tried before the Wizengamot. Thus, the only knowledge of Voldemort's return was Harry's word, which was vigorously disputed by the Ministry. Voldemort was able to grow in power in secret.