AN: Voldemort always seems like he doesn't get enough attention in fanfics. That's partially the reason I decided to write this, but also because I just got really inspired. While in I can't really see him sitting down and writing a memoir, I can see him dictating one to a lower Death Eater. Anyway, if Voldemort did write one, "A Memoir of a Dark Lord" is what I think it would look like.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. That copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling.
My Name
My name has been one to fear for nearly thirty years now, but very few actually know how it originated.
I created the name 'Lord Voldemort' so I could rid myself of everything to do with my Muggle father and so I could possess a name fitting of my future great achievements.
Even when I was younger I hated my name, though my reasons have changed since then. Tom. So common. Not at all fitting for a Dark Lord. I remember voicing this seemingly trivial complaint to Albus Dumbledore the day he came to the orphanage to tell me of the magical powers I possessed. I already knew somewhat of my powers at that time, but that is for a later chapter.
The name continued to bother me through school as I encountered too many 'Tom's and 'Thomas's to count. I became fed up with the mundane name when I was sixteen. I rearranged the letters in my old name, Thomas Marvolo Riddle, to form my new identity, Lord Voldemort.
I decided then, or soon after, that my name would be one to be feared and that I would become the greatest and most powerful Dark Lord in Wizarding history.