He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: How He Rose To Power
written by Alyssa Diggory
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was the most dangerous and powerful dark wizard our world has ever seen. He reined terror on Europe-wizards from 1970-1997. He was finally defeated in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1997, by the "Chosen One" Harry James Potter. To this day, people are still too scared to say his name, in fear that he will rise and reek havoc on the world once again.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
15
Reads
823
First Rise of the Dark Lord: 1970s - 1981
Chapter 7
Tom disappeared for ten long years. He slipped deeper into the Dark Arts, traveled extensively, consorted with disreputable people, began to become distorted in appearance and lost his handsomeness, due to splitting his soul so many times, and began to use the alias "Lord Voldemort" openly. Ten years after Smith's murder, Tom appealed once more to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, who was then Albus Dumbledore, for the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. After a short, superficially amiable chat, Dumbledore directly confronted Tom regarding why he had requested the position, as Dumbledore knew full well that Tom had no desire whatsoever to teach. Tom, unable to make an open request of Dumbledore due to the malicious nature of his true intentions, simply left after a final, gentle rebuke from his former teacher. From that day on, Hogwarts was never able to keep a Defense against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year, which was attributed by Dumbledore to a curse by Tom Riddle.
Tom's visit to Hogwarts was not fruitless, however; he used the opportunity to hide Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement, where he believed it would never be found. He had held onto the diadem for a decade before hiding it at Hogwarts.
Lord Voldemort, as he was now exclusively called, spent the next few years before the war gathering followers in witches and wizards who called themselves, collectively, Death Eaters. Some were supportive of his cause to dominate Muggles and Muggle-borns; while others were greedy for domination, wealth and fame; and yet others joined the Dark Lord out of fear. Voldemort considered them more like servants than friends or family. They freely used the Unforgivable Curses and killed mercilessly and indiscriminately. According to Sirius Black, Voldemort also used tricks, jinxes, and blackmail to get people to willingly join him.
At some point around this time, Voldemort greatly enhanced his skills in Legilimency, to the point that he became known to some (primarily his Death Eaters) as the greatest Legilimens in the world. Voldemort could read, control and unhinge the minds of others, and could almost always tell when he was being lied to. According to Severus Snape, Voldemort often enjoyed telepathically invading the minds of others, creating visions designed to torture them into madness. Only after extracting the last exquisite ounce of agony, only when he had them literally begging for death, would he finally kill them.
By the early 1970s, Voldemort had a growing legion of thuggish followers he called “Death Eaters,” and he was so fearsome that few dared speak his name. Few people realized he was the same handsome and brilliant boy who had been so accomplished and well liked at Hogwarts. In addition to his Death Eaters, Voldemort formed alliances with dark creatures such as werewolves and dementors; he also controlled armies of Inferi (animated corpses).
Many of the witches and wizards who joined him came for a share of the power he offered, but increasingly many joined his following out of fear of reprisal. "The years of Voldemort's ascent to power were marked with disappearances," and increasingly open violence.
Each Death Eater bore a sign, the Dark Mark, a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue, burned into his or her left inner forearm by the "Dark Lord"; when they had killed, Death Eaters would send the same sign into the air, comprised of emerald stars blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, causing terror when it was seen.
Voldemort’s first reign of terror lasted eleven years. During this time, Voldemort and his minions attacked anyone who resisted or who defended the rights of Muggles and Muggle-born wizards, and marked the gruesome scenes of torture and murder with the Dark Mark lest anyone else think to stand in their way. Whole families were wiped out and many others went into hiding.
Overwhelmed by reports of deaths, disappearances, and torture in an atmosphere of terror, Bartemius Crouch, then Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, authorized Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses against suspects, empowered them to kill rather than capture, and some suspects were handed to the dementors without trial. Still, the Ministry could not cope with the situation, so Albus Dumbledore began organizing the resistance, creating the group that became known as The Order of the Phoenix.
The Order was frightfully outnumbered, however, and the Death Eaters were killing the members of the Order off, many times killing their entire families along with them. Lord Voldemort seemed “mightier than any wizard living," and had achieved his goal; most of the wizarding world avoided saying his name, when they spoke of him at all they referred to him as You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Tom's visit to Hogwarts was not fruitless, however; he used the opportunity to hide Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Room of Requirement, where he believed it would never be found. He had held onto the diadem for a decade before hiding it at Hogwarts.
Lord Voldemort, as he was now exclusively called, spent the next few years before the war gathering followers in witches and wizards who called themselves, collectively, Death Eaters. Some were supportive of his cause to dominate Muggles and Muggle-borns; while others were greedy for domination, wealth and fame; and yet others joined the Dark Lord out of fear. Voldemort considered them more like servants than friends or family. They freely used the Unforgivable Curses and killed mercilessly and indiscriminately. According to Sirius Black, Voldemort also used tricks, jinxes, and blackmail to get people to willingly join him.
At some point around this time, Voldemort greatly enhanced his skills in Legilimency, to the point that he became known to some (primarily his Death Eaters) as the greatest Legilimens in the world. Voldemort could read, control and unhinge the minds of others, and could almost always tell when he was being lied to. According to Severus Snape, Voldemort often enjoyed telepathically invading the minds of others, creating visions designed to torture them into madness. Only after extracting the last exquisite ounce of agony, only when he had them literally begging for death, would he finally kill them.
By the early 1970s, Voldemort had a growing legion of thuggish followers he called “Death Eaters,” and he was so fearsome that few dared speak his name. Few people realized he was the same handsome and brilliant boy who had been so accomplished and well liked at Hogwarts. In addition to his Death Eaters, Voldemort formed alliances with dark creatures such as werewolves and dementors; he also controlled armies of Inferi (animated corpses).
Many of the witches and wizards who joined him came for a share of the power he offered, but increasingly many joined his following out of fear of reprisal. "The years of Voldemort's ascent to power were marked with disappearances," and increasingly open violence.
Each Death Eater bore a sign, the Dark Mark, a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue, burned into his or her left inner forearm by the "Dark Lord"; when they had killed, Death Eaters would send the same sign into the air, comprised of emerald stars blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, causing terror when it was seen.
Voldemort’s first reign of terror lasted eleven years. During this time, Voldemort and his minions attacked anyone who resisted or who defended the rights of Muggles and Muggle-born wizards, and marked the gruesome scenes of torture and murder with the Dark Mark lest anyone else think to stand in their way. Whole families were wiped out and many others went into hiding.
Overwhelmed by reports of deaths, disappearances, and torture in an atmosphere of terror, Bartemius Crouch, then Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, authorized Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses against suspects, empowered them to kill rather than capture, and some suspects were handed to the dementors without trial. Still, the Ministry could not cope with the situation, so Albus Dumbledore began organizing the resistance, creating the group that became known as The Order of the Phoenix.
The Order was frightfully outnumbered, however, and the Death Eaters were killing the members of the Order off, many times killing their entire families along with them. Lord Voldemort seemed “mightier than any wizard living," and had achieved his goal; most of the wizarding world avoided saying his name, when they spoke of him at all they referred to him as You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
