Yes, I was a death eater.
Yes, I wanted to own the world.
I admit my sins.
And yet, I don't.
I never saw my actions as sins.
Call me what you will, I believed in what I did. I devoured death, and I loved every moment of it.
Why, then? Why abandon my beliefs?
Because power is frail. Difficult to obtain. Slightly easier to keep, but at what cost?
Mass destruction.
I want power. But not that way.
I don't pretend to be a saint. I don't pretend to see the error of my ways. I'm admittedly bloodthirsty. I don't regret a single action I took. You know why?
I learned from every mistake I made.
My first mistake was my greatest. The one most difficult to rectify.
I sold my soul to him. That was my first mistake. My first and worst faux pas.
I made many, many others. They, on the whole, taught me more than any professor ever did. The mended every wrong I had been taught in school. Especially that life was fair.
Life is definitely not fair.
I can smile about it now. Smile at my naiveté. Points dealt out to the good actions, and taken for the bad. At one time, that was how I judged life. That was the one false lesson that almost killed me. No student of mine will ever make that mistake, I assure you.
That still explains nothing, I know.
Why, then?
It's obvious to anyone but a fool.
There are too many fools nowadays.
Power is one thing, and control is another. Yes, you can have one without the other. Power without control is dangerous. Control without power is worthless. The dark lord didn't see the difference between the two. He wanted power. Control was optional.
As it was, he only kept that power by annihilation. He had absolutely no control. I knew, then, that he would fall. His reign would not last, could not last, simply because destruction eventually goes wrong. Someone would make a stupid mistake and destroy his empire instead of his target. And even if it didn't end, it would be an existence of chaos. What then, when there was nothing left to destroy? Yes, that would be complete control. Simply because there would be nothing left to control but himself.
Left with shards of his own empire. Destroyed because he had no other means of control.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as the muggles say.
Needless to say, there were better ways of gaining power. So I left. And I found the man who could get that power. Albus Dumbledore is very trusting, after all.
Just call it Slytherin ambition. And cunning thrown in to boot. Cunning is a trait so many Slytherins lack these days...
And now, I wait. Someday, I'll get the chance to own the world. Then again, maybe I won't. At least I know what it takes. And if the opportunity ever arises, all I have to do is step up to the pitch.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
No more faux pas.
Yes, I wanted to own the world.
I admit my sins.
And yet, I don't.
I never saw my actions as sins.
Call me what you will, I believed in what I did. I devoured death, and I loved every moment of it.
Why, then? Why abandon my beliefs?
Because power is frail. Difficult to obtain. Slightly easier to keep, but at what cost?
Mass destruction.
I want power. But not that way.
I don't pretend to be a saint. I don't pretend to see the error of my ways. I'm admittedly bloodthirsty. I don't regret a single action I took. You know why?
I learned from every mistake I made.
My first mistake was my greatest. The one most difficult to rectify.
I sold my soul to him. That was my first mistake. My first and worst faux pas.
I made many, many others. They, on the whole, taught me more than any professor ever did. The mended every wrong I had been taught in school. Especially that life was fair.
Life is definitely not fair.
I can smile about it now. Smile at my naiveté. Points dealt out to the good actions, and taken for the bad. At one time, that was how I judged life. That was the one false lesson that almost killed me. No student of mine will ever make that mistake, I assure you.
That still explains nothing, I know.
Why, then?
It's obvious to anyone but a fool.
There are too many fools nowadays.
Power is one thing, and control is another. Yes, you can have one without the other. Power without control is dangerous. Control without power is worthless. The dark lord didn't see the difference between the two. He wanted power. Control was optional.
As it was, he only kept that power by annihilation. He had absolutely no control. I knew, then, that he would fall. His reign would not last, could not last, simply because destruction eventually goes wrong. Someone would make a stupid mistake and destroy his empire instead of his target. And even if it didn't end, it would be an existence of chaos. What then, when there was nothing left to destroy? Yes, that would be complete control. Simply because there would be nothing left to control but himself.
Left with shards of his own empire. Destroyed because he had no other means of control.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as the muggles say.
Needless to say, there were better ways of gaining power. So I left. And I found the man who could get that power. Albus Dumbledore is very trusting, after all.
Just call it Slytherin ambition. And cunning thrown in to boot. Cunning is a trait so many Slytherins lack these days...
And now, I wait. Someday, I'll get the chance to own the world. Then again, maybe I won't. At least I know what it takes. And if the opportunity ever arises, all I have to do is step up to the pitch.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
No more faux pas.