Darkness.
Not the comforting kind—no. This was the kind that swallowed thought and form, the kind that came with death.
One moment, I had been crossing the stage at my university graduation with two earned doctorates in hand—Physics and Biomedical Engineering. The next… there was nothing. No applause. No proud smiles. Just a void.
Then a voice echoed through the emptiness:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Host Life Status: CriticalHost Identity: Tom Marvolo RiddleCurrent Condition: Disembodied soul formAction Necessary: Immediate intervention
System is adapting to ensure Host's survival…
Tom Riddle? Voldemort? Me?
Before I could even begin to panic, the voice continued:
System Module Installation
Necromancy Authority: Complete
Magical Talent Amplification ×2: Complete
Yin–Yang Magic Regulation: Complete
Host compatible. System fully integrated.
"Oh, brilliant," I muttered—well, thought—since I had no mouth. "I get isekai'd into Harry Potter… and I'm the final boss."
I tried to gather my thoughts, but a tidal wave of memories slammed into me.
The cold, lonely orphanage.The marble halls of Hogwarts.The creation of Horcruxes—so many mistakes.Battles with Dumbledore where retreat was the only rational strategy.Rituals, blood, spells—dark knowledge beyond comprehension.
I felt myself drowning in it all… and then I surfaced.I remembered my double doctorates, my life of study, of reason.Those academic instincts anchored what used to be Tom Riddle.
"I am not him," I whispered into the void.
"But I have everything he ever learned."
Power. Knowledge. Obsession.All absorbed… but controlled.
I sensed my surroundings—Godric's Hollow.Or what remained of it.My former body lay charred, broken, unrecognisable.The infant Harry Potter cried somewhere nearby, the Boy-Who-Lived marking the moment history had "ended" Voldemort.
Not this time.
I drifted up through the shattered window, a wisp of darkness with a purpose.
Find a body. Regain strength. Survive.
"Target: Young wizard with high magical potential," the System advised."Pure-blood preferred."
I didn't care who. Girl, boy, rich, poor—irrelevant.Survival came first. Redemption—or domination—could wait.
I shot off into the night sky like smoke chased by a storm.
A new existence.A new plan.A new Voldemort—me.
And unlike the old one…I would not make the same mistakes.
Especially the biggest one:
I would never underestimate Albus Dumbledore.
As I flew into the cold night, I spoke one final oath to the void:
"This time, I will win."