Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following is set in an alternate universe, where Voldemort went on one last muggle-hunting expedition to 'warm up' for the main event of Hallowe'en 1981. At which point, canon goes out the window...

Disappearance of a dark lord – wizarding Britain, 1981 to 1982

With one significant exception, nobody who woke up in the wizarding world on the morning of the first of November, 1981, knew quite what had happened overnight, beyond the fact that for some reason Voldemort had disappeared, and the Death Eaters were falling apart in confusion. Soon the celebrations and trials were getting well underway though. The wizards didn't care that in a small provincial muggle town forensic investigators were picking over the remains of a muggle dwelling which had been apparently destroyed in a gas-explosion.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, possessor of far too many names, awards and offices, and headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in the vast majority of those who didn't know, and he had consequently spent several days picking over reports in the wizarding world of what had happened on the fateful night of Hallowe'en. There had been a prophecy. The Dark Lord had been supposed to be laid low by either Neville Longbottom or Harry Potter, and he should have taken action against at least one of those boys and their families. Voldemort had believed in what he knew of the prophecy. Albus had certainly believed in it. So what had gone wrong? Both boys were still alive and well, although there had been a close call at the Longbottom house, when Bellatrix Lestrange had shown up in the wake of the Dark Lord's disappearance. Her cousin Sirius and a team of aurors had only just been in time to stop her from causing serious harm to Frank and Alice Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse. Frank and Alice were a bit shaky, and subject to nightmares, but the healers at St. Mungo's were confident they would recover within six months.

Anyway, Voldemort had apparently failed to interact with either of his likeliest nemeses – and yet he had apparently completely disappeared.

Albus was baffled.

In December, Albus Dumbledore was approached by Severus Snape, who proceeded to give him six months notice. Severus informed the headmaster that since the Dark Lord had apparently been vanquished, and Lily and her family were now safe, he intended to leave Hogwarts and strike off in business on his own.

Albus argued about this a bit, but his heart wasn't in it, and there had been grumbles from the students about Severus' rather acerbic teaching methods. Anyway, with the war over, Albus could bring Lily out into the open and give her the potions job, and a secure income and position in the magical world. Lily would be a much better potions teacher than Severus, Albus was certain.

A muggle coroner's inquest in January of 1982 determined that some sort of intruder had apparently broken into the home of two promising dental students on the night of Hallowe'en the previous year, and that there had been a struggle, in the kitchen, and that a gas explosion had somehow resulted. Whilst the bodies of the young couple whose home it had been had been identified, the identity of the intruder remained undetermined, although his possessions and samples of his blood were sent into storage, for future case reviews, should more advanced science become available. There was hardly any mention made of the couple's child, who had been removed by the appropriate authorities as she had no known relatives able and willing to care for her.

Amongst the other, more casual, members of the public, the inquest was sat through by a black-haired man with a dark trenchcoat, who took many notes, and had some sort of press credentials which identified him as one 'S. Snape'. The fact that he was actually a moonlighting teacher from a school of magic in Scotland who was taking the week off teaching to 'allow his future replacement to familiarise herself with the job' was neither here nor there. Court officials who tried to do more than check his credentials were treated to a withering glare or scowl that functioned as an incentive adequate to discourage further interactions. Once the inquest was finally over, with an open verdict returned, he paused long enough to verify what official documents he could gain access to regarding the inquest, then departed, not to be seen in that courtroom again.

Author Notes: (revised, March 2013)

There are so many different accounts in fanfiction of who was or wasn't an auror, in the first wizarding war, that I'm unsure who was/wasn't in canon. For the record, the Longbottoms in this particular alternate universe are, and neither Lily nor any of the Marauders (as of 1981) are, although they sometimes worked with them, and James is certainly interested in training to become an active auror once the wizarding war is over. When Sirius turned up to help rescue the Longbottoms in November 1981, he was functioning in a purely civilian role at the time.

This originated as an experimental piece, the initial aim being to look at some of the goings on in an alternate universe where, as far as the wizarding population is concerned, Voldemort inexplicably vanished on Hallowe'en 1981 without interacting with any boy that might have been the vessel of prophecy intended as his nemesis.